Anesti Danelis | Photo by Dahlia Katz
Presented by Anesti Danelis
No, this show isn’t entirely AI generated. Of course not. Because fuck AI. Yes, yes, its a useful tool in certain contexts and all that jazz, but not genuine art making. There is AI generated material here though. Of course. How else to illustrate just how awful it is at connecting with us on the level where the secret human sauce flows. Or the spanakopita puffs up. Did you know this show could almost have been called Spanakopita Slut? It’s true. Artificially Intelligent 2.0 is my first Anesti Danelis show!
I dig him, which works out well since the show is about him. His Bisexual-ness. His Greek-ness. His Child of Immigrants-ness. His Funny-ness. All of these multitudes Danelis contains are framed here by the conceit of him trying to write a show with the help of ChatGPT because he’s burnt out. He’s spends a fair amount of time talking to the disembodied voice of pretend AI collaborator and things get weird and spicy as it fumbles its way through his anecdotes, with snarky comments, and delivers some outrageous… content.
Director Alia Rasul and lighting designer Justine Cargo manufacture the theatrical expression of a live, synthetic presence. It’s convincing enough for the vibes Danelis is going for. The stories he tells are revealing and entertaining and a lot of material is dedicated to being to the child of immigrants experience.
Some highlights include:
The AI instructing him on how to be relatable, sexy and engaging.
Pimping his grandfather out on Grindr.
A sketchy date where he fears he might get scalped.
The real-time creation of an AI generate song about an audience member.
His quick-witted audience engagement.
Some great callbacks throughout.
With his guitar and ample charisma, the musicality of the show really helps to pull this all together as a full-bodied experience. (That’s sounds hornier than I intended.)
While I resent and worry about AI, especially in the artistic sphere, we do need to reckon with it. While not especially challenging or enlightening, Danelis is sort of doing that here. Is it satire? I don’t think it has a sharp enough edge. Is it an act of resistance? No. But it’s resistance adjacent, I guess… resistance appreciative.
If you are also unnerved by AI’s explosive intrusion into our lives, I think you’ll feel seen here. I doubt, at least, that this is will seem too gross.
