Never has Alessandro Cattelan betrayed himself. And much less does he intend to do it in the theater. Which is why “his cumpa”, as he recently defined his audience, will not be disappointed after purchasing the ticket. But there are laughs for others too, we assure you. “Welcome to AI” is the second show by the Alessandria host and performer, in which the pretext is as simple as it is effective: explaining to artificial intelligence how a human being is in the world. And it is precisely Cattelan who does it, with his reflections on the future that any forty-year-old who grew up on bread and advertising, among social activists and videos targeted on TikTok, is considering, and with his anti-rhetorical, direct and modern style, a little more generational than the others, and at times tastefully meta-television. A pure Cattelan, in short, who is collecting sold out theaters, among his loyal audience, after the end of the contract with Rai this summer, the arrival on Disney+ and a hypothesis of a future at Mediaset (at least according to the critics).

Cattelan laughs at himself and his generation (and does not spare Fabio Fazio)

But let’s get back to the show itself. If there is one merit that should be recognized more than any other to the Piedmontese artist’s working group, it is that of bringing ideas, rejecting what has already been seen. With the same approach, and with a pinch of healthy cynicism towards “middleness”, Cattelan laughs at himself and at certain ailments of his generation – and at anyone who wants to ask questions: from permeability to the fashions of the present, such as the gentle parenting or the sudden mania for tennis, passing through certain mental fogs, such as the most hypocritical online activism, in fact. The posture is – at certain points – borrowed from American stand-up, in particular when the host, perhaps the most “American” among his Italian colleagues, allows himself a bit of “politically incorrectness”: he does so by touching on taboo topics such as money, without however mitigating everything with the usual “privileged rhetoric”; and he does so by “touching” – good-naturedly, but still cutting – certain TV untouchables such as Fabio Fazio (and thus revealing his face as an “outsider” of generalist TV).

Finally, the rest is done by an impeccable stage presence: the rhythm is enthralling, the result of the radio; the dialectical speed recalls the links of rap (and few, among other things, remember that Cattelan “made his debut” as a rapper: as part of the duo “0131”). In fact there is one: interaction with the public, reduced to the bare bones. Knowing the ability to improvise, indulging in stand up more could be an option.

Alessandro Cattelan, poisonous words against Fabio Fazio: “He the best of all?”. And he reveals a meeting that took place in Spain

Cattelan, outside the theatre

The next dates will be in Bari and Catania, on 21 and 22 October, so there are still a few days left to see the show. It is not yet clear whether there will be a second one tranche of the tour, as was the case for “Salutava semper”, his first show now available on Netflix. But in the meantime, even outside the theatre, i.e. on television and online, Alessandro Cattelan continues to build around himself one of the most peculiar and therefore interesting brands on the scene (and, as we will see, also one of the most questioned by television critics).

On the television front, after the failed renewal at Rai, at the end of a four-year contract, the presenter landed today at Disney+, among the judges of Italia’s got talent, with a view – according to some rumors – to arriving at Mediaset next year. Among the reasons why it would not have “worked” in Rai, the criticism points out a lack of desire to “broaden” the language: its way of conducting would be more informal, more “American” in fact, and irreverent compared to the average public service, which is instead a reassuring, repetitive and even a little rhetorical liturgy. “You’re more of a late-night show than a first-time show; you’re a tall host and not a pop one, you should lower yourself a little”, his friend Antonella Clerici recently told him, in one of his last interviews, at the end of which he came to the conclusion that everyone must stay in the space that most belongs to them.

Alessandro Cattelan, the eternal young promise in an elderly country

Yet, just as he is being pulled by the coattails with the invitation to “expand” his audience, Cattelan is an accomplice to the audience that most resembles him. If on the one hand he keeps one foot in the more institutional management, on the other he goes “surfing” – with a curiosity that seems genuine – everything that has smelled and smells innovative for his generation, and which is a mirror image of it: the latest example is “Supernova”, the project with which he landed in the world of video podcasts, and more precisely in that kind of slightly informal and slightly existentialist interviews which are nothing else that the new national-popular for millennials. A stage consistent with the past: a pillar of the finally, on Rai Due, he created the only late show actually performed in Italy, “Stasera c’è Cattelan”, with an important influence on the same audience. And it is perhaps precisely from this approach that the misunderstanding arises between those who want it to be an eternal “promising young man” and those who, instead, have already seen it as a complete reference for some time.

The dig at the theater towards manager Marta Donà

Returning to the show, on stage Cattelan also jokes about Marta Donà, i.e. his own manager, as well as Marco Mengoni’s agent, Angelina, Olly, i.e. the one “who makes everyone win Sanremo, but doesn’t host it”, he says. But also of Sanremo, Cattelan said: “I have done and do things that I love. The dream is there, but I have done nothing to make it come true: I remain myself, with my circle of friends, my way of working, my style. If thanks to all this, or despite all this, I manage to lead it, fine. Otherwise I will still be happy.”