ANESTI DANELIS: THIS SHOW WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE written and performed by Danelis (Anesti Danelis/Toronto Fringe Festival). July 8 at 4:45 pm, July 10 at 5 pm, July 11 at 9:30 pm, July 14 at 6:45 pm, July 15-16 at 5 pm. Al Green Theatre (750 Spadina Avenue). See listing. Rating: NNN
Here’s an example of a venue doing no favours to a talented Fringe performer and his act.
Musical satirist Anesti Danelis’s material relies on nuance and subtlety; he’s got a quiet, sly delivery that works beautifully for his viral TikTok videos on everything from listening to suggestive song lyrics to musicalizing bizarre Yahoo Answers questions.
On camera, he can control sound and zoom in on facial expressions, something that’s not as easy to do at a Fringe show, especially one in the cavernous Al Green Theatre. Some opening night technical glitches involving microphones and lights obviously didn’t help. (This would have worked so much better in a more intimate space like the Factory Studio, the Tarragon Extraspace or the Aki Studio.)
Playing with the theme of ridiculous self-help books, the amiable, low-key Danelis gets laughs about getting older, bad breakups and, in a wickedly twisted ditty, being bisexual and targeting a date’s parents for sex. This last song gets a much-needed visual boost by the addition of photos projected onto a screen, Danelis’s older crushes circled, his fictional dates X’d out.
A talented songwriter and multi-instrumentalist – many tunes are incredibly catchy – Danelis is at his best when he expresses his anger in amusing passive aggressive ways. He’s comfortable ad-libbing and knows how to forge a connection with an audience – if only that audience were sitting a little closer to him to appreciate every line.
