Streaming platforms increasingly tailor content to our own, unique tastes. Imagine if a standup could do the same? That’s the promise held out by Richard Eagleton, founder and CEO of Standup Solutions and developer of KENN, the world’s first AI comedian, in this spoof corporate presentation by Conner O’Malley. This US act has cultivated a covetable reputation for his online work, and there’s much to enjoy in this parody of Silicon Valley values and tech utopianism. But it’s not subtle, and its characterisation of O’Malley’s digital guru alter ego is not a surprising one.
The joke to begin with, and the first seed sewn that Eagleton may be something less than a slick success, is that the revolutionary AI development we’re promised is endlessly withheld. First we get to hear about Eagleton’s childhood in Des Plaines, Illinois. Then all about his beloved car, extensive tech spec very much included. Then about his workout routine and diet, a livelier section sending up the bizarre, macho behaviour of performative, competitive wellbeing.
The problem is that O’Malley’s loud and overhyped character can make for grating company, and the joke about how boring he is isn’t always funny enough to forestall actual boredom. Just as later, the joke that KENN (whom we encounter on-screen only) is a crap standup doesn’t offset the crapness of his comedy. But we mustn’t blame KENN: he works, his inventor claims, by data-mining his audience, and delivering the jokes their internet history suggests they’ll find funny. These are compelling ideas, but they too often devolve here into jokes about porn and poo. When Eagleton’s backstory reveals itself, meanwhile, as one of cuckoldry and business failure, it’s not exactly unexpected.
In the show’s favour, O’Malley gets this across – in his vulnerable if not his brasher moments – with some artful character work, and latterly, some neat faux home videos too. No mere online comic, he’s also good with the crowd, his improvised material more sensitive and less strident than the actual set. A show tailored to my tastes, by AI or otherwise, would see this lighter touch more widely applied.
At Soho theatre, London, until 15 July
