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Ahren has made it to the AGT season 18 qualifiers.
Ahren is mute.
Ahren is a stand-up comedian.
Ahren Belisle became an instant frontrunner on AGT after his incredible audition. The comedian’s season 18 audition video has over 2 million views on YouTube. Ahren totally impressed the judges with his stand-up routine and inspiring story. For the second round of season 18 qualifiers on August 29, Ahren will be hitting the stage with a new routine.
So, who is Ahren Belisle? The 28-year-old is already one to watch in the comedy world. HollywoodLife has rounded up everything you need to know about Ahren.
Ahren is mute.
Ahren is a nonverbal disabled stand-up comedian. During his audition, Ahren revealed that he has cerebral palsy. Using a text-to-speech app, Ahren typed all of his responses into his phone, which then verbalized his words. He uses this process as part of his stand-up routines.
“It was hard to grow up with [cerebal palsy]. Being mute made it harder because my personality is bigger than my voice. But working on my mental health and learning to find gratitude and joy in life changed everything for me,” Ahren told Cracked.
Ahren is an engineer.
Simon Cowell asked Ahren if he had a day job on top of being a comedian. Ahren told Simon that he is an engineer in his 9 to 5. Howie Mandel declared that he doesn’t think Ahren will be doing “engineering for much longer.” Howie added, “I think you’re going to be a full-time performer.”
Ahren is a mental health advocate.
In addition to his comedy-centric Instagram page, Ahren has a separate Instagram account that’s all about mental health. “I teach you about healthier ways of being, mindset, and self-love to help you heal and flourish,” his bio for the Instagram page reads. Ahren posts about “ways to improve and recognize flaws in thought patterns, better ways of being with yourself and others, how to improve [your] sense of self-love,” and more.
Ahren Belisle during the June 13 episode. (NBC)
Ahren was inspired to become a comedian during a trip to Portugal.
Ahren has only been doing comedy for a year, but he’s already making waves in the comedy world. “I thought about doing it for a while, but it wasn’t until I got to Portugal and went to a show where the comics all thought I was funny in conversation and encouraged me that I did,” he said in his interview with Cracked.
Ahren is from Canada.
Ahren hails from northern Ontario. He jokes about being Canadian during his AGT audition. He revealed in a CBC interview that he’s been spending a lot of time in Ottawa lately.
