Writer: Anesti Danelis
The prospect of artificial intelligence worming its way into the art of stand-up is gut-wrenching. Constricting the life out of everything, compiling pinched gags and Wikipedia entries into ‘routines’ ready to go. It’s cheap, tacky, and troubling.But the utterly brilliant Anesti Danelis is everything an AI can’t replicate. Yet…
Their comedy special, Artificially Intelligent, is (funnily) a show about AI, partially conceived with AI, but entirely human in its sharp wit, balanced humour, and terrifically upbeat song writing (even the more macabre numbers). Or rather, it’s a show about Danelis feeling lost in life and reaching out to the new-fangled and constantly pushed AI programmes like ChatGPT to find a cheat sheet to life and a boom in their career, trusting their co-star Siri knock-off with constructing an entire comedy musical routine for them to perform at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Cleverly, Artificially Intelligent’s use of actual elements of AI is limited – incorporated to highlight the shortcomings of placing so much trust into systems designed to ‘aid’ us in stripping away any of the genuine efforts. Danelis channels a sincere and authentic interest in the people he speaks with, audience interaction at its best. Constructing songs live relating to select members’ experiences, Danelis’ is a genuine stand-up looking to provide entertainment and mirth rather than ridicule. This isn’t an experience to shy from; the show certainly strengthens once the audience opens up.
A few of the tech-heavy elements have their traditional Fringe gremlins, which cause a few re-starts and pacing issues. Artificially Intelligent heavily relies on these lighting changes and audio timings, so fingers crossed, these teething issues are sorted fast.
Writing songs on the fly, working the crowd and providing sharp wit and anecdotes about their life as a bisexual Canadian, with Greek heritage, the audience can connect with Danelis regardless of shared experiences or not thanks to their charisma and faux innocence. His latest Fringe show leaps with intelligence (artificial or not) and uniqueness, which no AI system could match: Danelis may have bought originality sometime before the inevitable AI overhaul.
Runs until 25 August 2024 | Image: Contributed
The Reviewshub Score
Leaps with intelligence (artificial or not)
