Tom Cotter: Howard Stern inspired me to audition for 'America's Got Talent'

Monday November 26, 2012 6:32 PM By Kirthana Ramisetti

Photo credit: NBC | Stony Point's Tom Cotter advanced to the semifinals on NBC's "America's Got Talent."

Tom Cotter, the Rockland County comedian who was runner-up on this season’s “America’s Got Talent,” stopped by Howard Stern’s SiriusXM radio show Monday and revealed that the self-proclaimed King of All Media inspired Cotter to audition for the reality competition series.

Cotter, a Stony Point resident, told Stern that he decided to audition after learning that the radio host was replacing Piers Morgan as a judge. The 48-year-old comedian said Morgan was notoriously tough on comedians, and with Stern joining the judge's panel alongside funnyman Howie Mandel, he figured he had a better chance for success on the show.

The chance to sit down with Stern was likely meaningful to Cotter, since in an interview with Newsday Westchester he said that “Howard, in particular, was just unbelievably supportive and wonderful to me [on 'America's Got Talent'], and it meant the world to me."

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Other highlights of the interview include Cotter saying that 2012 was the best year of his career and that he was shocked he made it to second place on the show because the reality show wasn't traditionally supportive of comedians.

Stern had praise for the Rockland County comic, telling him that he was an exceptional talent and that he was impressed by the comedy material he performed during the competition.  

Cotter was the runner-up on “America’s Got Talent” this season, losing the grand prize to the Olate Dogs, a trained animal act. Despite not winning the million-dollar prize, Cotter showed he still has a sense of humor about his runner-up status. When asked by Newsday Westchester what he was most thankful for this year, he joked that "Newsday broke the story about Olate Dogs getting their puppy treats from Lance Armstrong.”

Cotter has kept a busy schedule since the show ended, including a stint as a master of ceremonies for the "America's Got Talent" variety show at The Venetian in Las Vegas, which concluded earlier in November.

Tags: Stony Point , Tom Cotter , Howard Stern , America's Got Talent , celebrities , TV