I went on an international tour last week. A mini tour of only two dates in two countries, but an international tour, nonetheless.
A quick hop with the budget airline that everyone loves to hate and I was in Tallinn, Estonia. I was met by my friend Louis who runs Comedy Estonia and Comedy Finland. He’d just got back from Australia, so even though it was midday, he felt like it was in the middle of the night. Mind you, we were in Estonia, so even though it was 2011, it felt like 1986.
We jumped in a cab and whizzed to Tallinn’s old town where we were staying and where the gig was taking place. I had read up a little about Estonia, but in truth, I had no idea that the old town would be quite so fantastic. The medieval architecture is breathtaking, with towers, fortifications, alleyways and city walls that you could spend hours wandering around imagining yourself as an oppressed Estonian serf or merciful Swedish duke.
The night’s gig was in a place called Drink Baar (which I highly recommend if you ever find yourself in Tallinn). I had some difficulty finding it as I left the address at the hostel. At the main square and thought that the easiest thing would be to ask someone outside another bar – Tallinn can’t be that big, I thought. Everyone I asked, I got the same response:
“I’m looking for Drink Baar”
“In here. This is drink bar”
I even asked a couple of policemen (who looked like thugs in uniforms) who looked at me like I was an idiot “This is Old Town. There are many drink bars”. Eventually, I found the place and it was filling up nicely. By showtime it was full to the rafters and the atmosphere was electric. Louis and the gang have built up a comedy scene there in a really short time and have established a dedicated and passionate audience. Oddly enough, they are pretty much the only people to do stand up in Estonia and they are now trying to set up a scene in Estonian.
I had a really fun time headlining. I did about 30 minutes with plenty of improvised material and finished off with a routine based on an Estonian guide book I had bought, which went down a storm. After the gig, we went to a very tacky nightclub called Shooters. The night was saved by meeting two drunk Latvian artists who wanted to know about London. I did a service to the world of art and told them to visit the Tate Modern and hang out in Shoreditch. I’d like to think I have given Latvia’s answer to Gilbert and George a nod in the right direction.
The next day (slightly hungover) we took the slow boat across the Gulf of Finland. This is an experience in itself. I got my first taste of the legendary drunk Finns. I was amazed that shouty, reeling drunks who could barely stand were not only allowed on the ferry, but were welcomed into the onboard shop to buy more alcohol. I’m not sure if I am turning into a conservative old man or whether I have actually been indoctrinated by Sweden’s draconian alcohol laws.
It would be ridiculous for me to offer a genuine opinion on Finland we arrived at five in the evening and left at ten the next morning. However, for what it’s worth, Helsinki seemed like Sweden with the volume turned down a notch or three. The gig was great, a really nice room which was sold out. The audience were about 50% Finns, 50% non Finn and I did about 30 minutes which included loads and loads of improvised material. And I finally got round to asking someone to video it. Click here for a small taster.
At the meal after, I met a few interesting folk, including a .com millionaire who had retired in his thirties, a Finnish TV presenter who was recently sacked for making a joke (which went viral on You Tube) and Finnish comedian Tomi Walamies who I am going to bring over to Linköping at the end of January for the secret launch of the new venue, Bastiljen. More about that soon.
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