RoboThespian Is a Robot Looking for Work as a Stand-Up Comic

RoboThespian not only tells jokes, but can apparently read the audience's reaction and use the data to improve its timing.

  • Share
  • Read Later

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL5ZtBO4NzM]

There are two rules of stand-up comedy: You don’t steal other comedians’ jokes, and jokes about dating a MacBook are off-limits. I can’t tell if RoboThespian breaks the first rule, but it sure as heckfire breaks the second one. Shameful.

The product of Queen Mary’s Cognitive Science Research Group researchers, RoboThespian not only tells jokes, but can apparently read the audience’s reaction and use the data to improve its timing.

As you can see in the above video, the robot’s delivery is a bit… well, robotic. Most of the jokes don’t really land, but the robot rightfully contends that the audience should probably be filled with other robots instead of humans. However it did miss an easy opportunity for a self-deprecation jab about how it looks like an out-of-work stormtrooper who’s done some hard living and lost its helmet by going double or nothing on the Generals to cover the spread against the Globetrotters.

But the robot has no feelings, so who cares about hecklers? And it’ll probably work for marginally cheaper than most aspiring stand-up comics with only marginally better material. There’s no need to comp it drinks, either. It’s a solid first effort at a joke-telling robot and a win-win for comedy club owners looking for cheap talent.

Meet RoboThespian, An Actual Robotic Stand-Up Comedian [Giant Freakin Robot via Reddit]