Ahren Belisle, the mute comedian who performs with the assistance of his cellphone, is a hit on America’s Got Talent at the moment and he is bringing his unique approach to stand-up comedy to Little Montreal this Friday.
Belisle, who is originally from North Bay but now lives in Toronto, hits the stage at the Elgin Street club on June 30 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now.
The cerebral palsy he lives with has rendered him unable to speak, but Belisle uses a computer-generated voice from his phone to deliver his self-deprecating style of humour. Belisle pokes fun at his disability and his French-Canadian background.
He didn’t set out to do comedy, though. He is an engineer during daylight hours (he also runs a mental-health focussed Instagram account called @Ahren_Mindset), but at a charity comedy show a year ago he made the comedians laugh and discovered a hidden talent.
"I just did it for fun," said Belisle in an interview with BayToday. "I went to a charity show and the comics said I was funny and told me to come try it and I did. Turns out, it's fun and I'm good at it."
His mid-June appearance on America’s Got Talent earned him a standing ovation from the crowd and rave reviews from the judges. It was Belisle’s TikTok videos that caught the attention of the show’s casting department.
"Casting was sent one of my TikToks and they reached out and built an audition tape on my behalf," he said. "Fast forward, and they ended up watching me on 'KILLTONY' and pitched me as a 'last-minute casting favourite.'"
Kill Tony is a popular comedy podcast hosted in Austin, Texas, by insult comic Tony Hinchcliffe, where Belisle, to use the parlance of stand-up, killed and was inducted into the Kill Tony Hall of Fame.
Belisle’s crazy year also included opening for Tom Green and earning kudos from the likes of Joe Rogan, Tim Dillon, Roseanne Bar and Whitney Cummings. He also filmed a taping with the Halifax Comedy Festival for CBC which will air in 2024.
He earned four yesses from the America’s Got Talent judges and moved to the next round.
This week though, he’s in Northern Ontario. Tickets are on sale now for his show at Little Montreal Comedy, 182 Elgin St. Tickets are available on Eventbrite here or on AhrenBelisleComedy.com.
You can check out his performance on Kill Tony below. Note, it’s not family friendly.
~with files from Chris Dawson, BayToday
