ANESTI DANELIS: SIX FRETS UNDER by Anesti Danelis (Danelis/Fringe). At the Tranzac Club Tiki Room (292 Brunswick). July 5 and 10-12 at 8 pm, July 6 and 13 at 5:30 and 7 pm. See listing. Rating: NNN
Anesti Daneliss latest musical comedy show is a light and absurdist diversion from our age of anxiety. It’s charming and uplifting, but doesnt linger very long.
Directed by Tricia Black and located in the Tranzac’s cozy Tiki Room, the Toronto-based comics hour-long solo performance begins with a quick, conversational bit that is more about disarming the audience with seemingly unanswerable and ponderous questions than actually interacting with them. (Whats your least favourite ethnicity, and why?)
A ridiculous spirit that knowingly takes you to the edge of what is appropriate infuses his comic songs, which are united by a loose existentialist theme and played on guitar, piano and violin. Each are inspired by innocuous moments and then spiral into bizarre or unsettling directions. His themes revolve around general anxiety and anti-social behaviour, but Danelis is best when his humour underlies something that feels specific.
For instance, a song about going out drinking with a group of guy friends who are blithely indifferent to each others feelings and well-being goes to a dark place, but is totally believable. Another, inspired by his Greek grandfather, is styled like a traditional folk tale about goats but grows increasingly phantasmagoric.
