A Canadian-Greek comedian asked ChatGPT to write a show for him, and he’s performing it at the Toronto Fringe Festival from July 4-13.
From sharing the dirtiest confessions of his fans to performing a song based on helping his grandfather make friends on Grindr, Toronto-based queer comedian Anesti Danelis is returning to the stage at Toronto Fringe Festival for a fourth time with his new show, Artificially Intelligent.
Growing up in a loud traditional Greek family full of souvlaki and dysfunction while navigating the world as a first-generation Canadian coming into his bisexuality left Danelis feeling stretched between so many identities that he did not really know who he was.
Lost in those feelings, he decided to ask ChatGPT to provide him with an outline of a comedy show, and it gave him the most “terrible” show that had all the trending words and topics but was still “culturally flat.”
But he added his own twist to the show, and turned it into a satirical, musical comedy.
Danelis started his journey into comedy at 18 years old when he started taking sketch comedy and improv classes at The Second City Toronto in 2011. When asked why he got into comedy, “Oh, just to disappoint my parents,” he said while chuckling.
However, it was not until 2017 that he stumbled upon his big break when he accidentally found himself performing his first solo show at the Toronto Fringe Festival.
Originally signed up with a friend for a comedy performance, he missed the deadline to back out and decided to take a risk and perform some of his satirical songs he had written.
This unexpected turn marked the beginning of his comedic career leading to a second Toronto Fringe show which was sold out in 2019.
He says he owes his funny bone to his late-grandmother, Panagiota Tsiklis, who is the “funniest” in his family, and whom he lost in May 2023.
Danelis and his grandmother also performed many comedy songs including Self-Isolation which became a viral hit during the pandemic.
He says he owes his musical genius to his grandfather who was a sought after violinist in Greece, and taught him how to play piano when he was four years old.
As an homage to his grandmother and grandfather, he has even dedicated a song to them in his latest show, Grandpa on Grindr, where he puts his widowed grandfather on grindr to make friends his age since he lost his partner.
Since his last show at the festival in 2022 when he performed his critically acclaimed show This Show Will Change Your Life, a lot has changed including the growing fear among people including artists around artificial intelligence.
His latest show delves into themes of self-identity in the digital age, and the broader issues surrounding AI and creativity.
Can AI replicate the nuances and complexities of the human experience, or will it do what it always does and flatten culture? The audience will find out as he performs the actual songs ChatGPT wrote for him with guitar and piano.
Through his personal experience, he says AI is going to “continue to advance,” but it can never be as good as a comedian who draws inspiration from their own lives and “real, human experiences.”
“AI will never replicate it because it has nothing to pull from,” he concluded.
Tickets to Danelis’ new show are available on his official website.
