A former North Bay resident who made a name for himself in June during an audition for America's Got Talent is back on TV tonight hoping to move closer to the talent show final.
Ahren Belisle, a 28-year-old who now lives in Toronto, lives with cerebral palsy and uses a computer-generated voice from his phone to help with his comedy routine. An engineer by day, the former Chippewa and West Ferris alum says he took a stab at comedy just over a year ago and has not stopped since.
"I'm going to be live on America's Got Talent on August 29, please come vote, I am going against literal rock stars with nothing but a phone and a thumb,"
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During that first audition back in June, Belisle made the judges Howie Mandel, Simon Cowall, Sofia Vergara and Heidi Klum chuckle, poking fun at himself as well as his heritage.
Belisle tried to compare himself to the late Dr. Stephen Hawking.
"Stephen Hawking had Amyotrphic Lateral Sclerosis and I'm Canadian. I am French on my left side," he joked.
Belisle left fellow Canadian and well-known comedian Howie Mandel impressed.
“I cannot believe you’ve only been doing this for one year,” said Mandel after the audition.
“You seem to have a grasp of timing and humour. You open up the conversation and normalize humanity and originality and you’re funny.”
Belisle has taken advantage of his newly found comedy fame by going on comedy tours which included a couple of stops in North Bay where he performed in front of sold-out crowds at Lou Dawgs in downtown North Bay back in July.
