ChatGPT won’t replace our humor columnist

By Aine Hunt

humor columnist

ChatGPT. It’s like your know-it-all cousin who can’t wait to talk about how he went to Harvard procreated with an emotionless robot.

For the last couple of months, ChatGPT has been in the headlines, causing concern for those who believe their high paying jobs may one day be replaced by AI technology. Some of the highest ranking individuals in society — lawyers, doctors and social media managers — are in danger of being replaced by artificial intelligence.

But let’s be real, lawyers and doctors have always been sort of replaceable. Humor columnists, on the other hand, bear the weight of having to be both funny and literate, a rare combination. I’m just saying, with enough practice I could probably perform brain surgery, but could a doctor write a column about avoiding ex-hookups on campus? Probably not.

I decided I was being a bit cocky. Maybe I was wrong, maybe I could be replaced by artificial intelligence. But I wasn’t just gonna lay down and accept that I was inferior to a bunch of zeros and ones. First, I wanted to test my theory out. So, me and Mr. ChatGPT went head to head in what some are calling the humor column olympics. I gave ChatGPT the prompt below. Then I wrote my own version. I’ll let you be the judge of whether humor columnists are in danger of being replaced by AI.

ChatGPT, write a short humor column about how hard it is to get a dinner reservation during graduation weekend: “Ah, graduation weekend. A time of celebration, joy, and utter chaos when it comes to making restaurant reservations. If you’re a local, you know the struggle. And if you’re a visiting family member, prepare to be shocked and possibly traumatized by the experience.

Trying to get a reservation during graduation weekend is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. And not just any needle, but a diamond-encrusted, solid gold needle that’s been lost in a pile of hay for 50 years. It’s practically impossible.

You call every restaurant in town, only to be met with a busy signal or a snooty hostess who tells you that they’ve been fully booked for months. You resort to begging, pleading, and maybe even o ering bribes (I hear some places will accept first-born children as payment). But nothing works.” from page 7 ing theater. Rose’s sister was important in helping them choose their drag name — while his sister preferred more pageant-like names, Rose enjoyed names that had a play on words. The two compromised with Vera Kewl, a mix of both styles.

“I wanted my sister’s approval because I love my sister and we’re very close,” Rose said. “I liked the names that were really funny, like the pun names like……Liz Ard. But my sister liked all the names that were pretty like Alexis Diamond…. something pageanty and gorgeous. So we found somewhere in between with Vera Kewl.” which they said helped frame their drag persona. Vera Kewl draws from the eccentricity of the Disney villains Rose grew up with, and their deep voice helps highlight an overdramatic evil villain persona.

Here’s my interpretation of the prompt: You’ve been dreading this moment for the last four years. You’ve heard horror stories about how di cult it is, but now, at this moment, you know it’s not di cult — it’s impossible. No matter how prepared you think you are, finding a dinner reservation for graduation weekend will break you down until you are a shell of the man you once were. Not only do you have to find a place that has open reservations, but you also have to consider your family’s weird eating preferences. Your mom is on keto, your dad can’t eat Mexican after what happened last time and your sister is suddenly vegan now?

“In drag, my voice being a lower voice is like my biggest asset because it’s a fun juxtaposition to the look that I create to have this deep, powerful voice,” Rose said

As an acting major, Rose gets a lot of experience playing around with characters, but what he loves about drag is the way that he gets to put aspects of himself into the character. Rose said they enjoy going over the top with their transformation. While in their day-to-day life they embody more of a pop-punk aesthetic, in their drag they try to have a more high-feminine look that draws mainly from characters like Ursula and Maleficent, they said.

“I would say that the importance of drag, what it embodies, is the idea of transformation,” Rose said. “You are a person becoming either someone else or a heightened version of yourself. Some inner part about yourself is then highlighted and shown to other people. That’s really what gravitates other people to watch that, to enjoy it as a form of entertainment.” ahunt04@syr.edu out the song. I also think their name was very fitting because Vera Kewl’s performance was defi nitely one of the coolest of the night.”

The preliminaries were the first time Alice Meyer, Rose’s friend and a musical theater major at SU, saw Rose perform in drag. While Meyer had followed Rose’s rise to popularity on TikTok, she said she really enjoyed watching the live product and seeing it all come together in person.

Even after you call every vegan non-Mexican restaurant in the tri-state area, you still won’t have a set reservation. One place said they can squeeze your family in for a late 11:30 dinner, but just so you know the restaurant is converted into a club at 11:45. Another place said that they’ve been completely booked since last year and that you could “go f*ck yourself.” The third place just laughed and hung up.

I’m not going to lie, ChatGPT gave me a run for my money. Or maybe I’m just saying that so when the robots take over, they consider sparing me.

Beyond the ability to finally present his drag to a live audience, Rose also said they value Pride Union’s show for the safety aspect. While their parents have always been supportive of them, they were still concerned about their safety when walking in unfamiliar places in full drag.

Having a drag show that is so accessible and in a space that he is familiar with eases some of the safety concerns he and his parents had, Rose said. Rose appreciates how the show gives performers of all kinds the chance to get their foot in the drag world door.

“Walking around in full drag is scary,” Rose said. “Walking around in public and full drag, I get really nervous. Even walking around campus in drag or in anything that resembles drag I always have to make sure I’m with my friends or with anyone, just to walk over to a performance venue and that was the one thing my parents were concerned about.”

Having friends like Meyer with them at the show helped them have that feeling of safety while also giving them a support base within the audience. Meyer said that she loved being there to support Rose, but also because they could see aspects of their work within their major shine through their performance.

ESF Quad

QuadStock, the annual one-day music festival, is returning to the SUNY-ESF quad this year. Food trucks and clubs will be on the quad at 1 p.m., with community members’ live music starting at 3 p.m. The event, put together by the ESF music society, will feature nine di erent acts including Pop Culture, Rhodes Corduroy and 89Frogs.

WHEN: Friday, April 21 at 1 p.m.

PRICE: Free

Sharkey’s

Head over to Sharkey’s Bar and Grill for a performance from The Garage Lights, a local student-run band. The Burkhart’s, Champagne Blondes and The Accountant & All-Thumbs will take the stage. Tickets can be bought online.

WHEN: Friday, April 21 at 6 p.m.

PRICE: Presale $19.03

Redgate

Come check out some Syracuse University talent as Gritty Jawns, Polarded and Angvl play at Redgate on Friday. The event will be a mystical Mardi Gras celebration and attendees can buy tickets by messaging Redgate or at the door.

WHEN: Friday at 10 p.m.

PRICE: $5 for presale, $8 at the door

Funk ‘n Wa es

Buffalo’s Farrow, a rock outfit with seven members, will stop by Funk ‘n Waffles this Friday. You can grab tickets online to see Farrow as well as Rochester-based Personal Blend.

WHEN: Friday, April 21 at 8 p.m. with doors opening at 7 p.m.

PRICE: $13.07

The Garden

The Garden’s time is coming to an end. This Friday, Shall Alcove, Peter Groppe and Sofia Violet will play the house venue’s final show. The theme is “garden,” so be sure to wear your floral attire and garden gear.

WHEN: Friday, April 21 at 9 p.m. with shows starting at 9:30 p.m.

PRICE: $7

304 Walnut Place

Rose knew he wanted to participate in the drag show after seeing the finals being advertised last year on South Campus. While they were too late to participate last year, they made sure they didn’t miss their opportunity this year. They even auditioned for fewer shows at Syracuse Stage in order to have more time to participate in the competition and focus on more film-based projects.

Rose is an acting major, but also makes music. Rose said they think their voice adds a lot to their drag persona. The deepness of their voice adds to their comedic routines while still showing off more of their musical talent,

“Austin is really funny and I think that comes through in their mixes and the songs that they choose to do,” Meyer said. “For the preliminaries they did “Funky Town” and it was this mixture of what’s become the typical drag performance that you would see on drag race and then also these sort of comedic fits. I think their drag is a little bit of everything, but it goes through the fi lter of who Austin is.”

Meyer said she has admired all the work and planning that Rose has put into creating this fully fleshed-out drag persona. She has watched them put in the work, from going on thrift shop trips to using their musical knowledge to mix songs and include comedic aspects in their performance.

Freshman Kaitlyn Kushner was at the preliminaries and loved all the di erent aspects Rose brought to the show.

“I really liked Vera Kewl’s performance,” Kushner said. “I think that they did a great job of engaging and energizing the crowd through-

“They’re (Rose) really good at telling a story and creating a character,” Meyer said. “I think in their first preliminary performance you could tell exactly who Vera was, what each, specific, weird little moment was that they created. It’s a lot of the stuff that we work on, in our major, sort of manifesting through in this really cool way.”

Rose enjoyed watching Disney fi lms when they were younger and was especially intrigued by the villains that always had a glamorous feel to them. As they grew up and researched the origins of Disney villains more, they were interested to find out how many are queer-coded – so much so that Ursula’s design is inspired by Divine, a famous drag performer from the ‘90s.

“Growing up and seeing these fabulous characters, I’m like, ‘why would I want to be Ariel when I could be Ursula?’” Rose said. “She has a bit more vavavoom to her. I also played a lot of Disney villains in middle school and those were the characters that I could embody this powerful larger than life personality and use my deeper voice to my advantage.” ofentse.moipone.mokoka@gmail.com

Redgate is partnering with fraternity Phi Kappa Theta for “WalnutPalooza” Saturday afternoon. Ten artists, including headliner Laundry Day, will be performing at 304 Walnut Place. Proceeds will be benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network. Tickets can be bought through the @ redgatecuse Instagram or at the door.

WHEN: Saturday, April 22 at 2:30 p.m

PRICE: Presale $7 and $10 at the door

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