March 31st, 2011 by Ben
Well. Stockholm is done. Avklarad. Disappointing turnout in terms of numbers which suggest that the concept of the show hasn’t grabbed the minds of people in Stockholm. It’s a shame because it is a very very funny show with lots of energy. But still. Onwards and upwards. The audience that were there had a really fantastic time and Danny was given an encore. So it can’t have been all that bad!
Met some nice people from Your Living City after the show, who have a website for stuff going on in English in Stockholm and also went for a beer with some other audience members. This probably hasn’t helped the cold that is sort of lingering in my tired and aching body. So I’ll see how I get on in the next few days. Still it was nice not to have to drive immediately after the gig.
It’s Linköping tonight. A gig on home turf, so there should be a decent crowd. If you are in the Linköping area, come on down to Bastiljen (opposite the library).
Right, now for a quick snooze before driving back down to Linköping
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Tags: Bastiljen, Comedy, DJ Danny, Gigs, Linköping, Stand Up, Stockholm
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March 30th, 2011 by Ben
Tonight’s the night. Stockholm. The bright lights and big city are a short (by this tour’s standards) car ride away. We have to be at the theatre for 2pm to sound check, then the plan is to take it easy for a few hours before the show.
At the moment, ticket sales have been slower than expected, so if you have nothing to do tonight, please come down to Boulevard Teatern in Södermalm and bring a couple of friends! You can get tickets via ticnet or buy them on the door at the theatre.
The days off haven’t really been days off at all. I’ve been working for the sound production company Widevox and Danny has been interviewing people for the BBC Radio 4 documentary he’s making. Among others, he’s interviewed Magnus Betnér and the dogfather himself Dogge Doggelito.
Right. time to get my bag together for tonight’s stay in the big city! See you tonight Stockholmers!
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Tags: Betnér, Comedy, DJ Danny, Gigs, Stand Up, Stockholm, Sweden
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March 28th, 2011 by Ben
I realise I am a day late with this blog post. I blame the hostel in Gothenburg, the size of Sweden and the need for sleep.
Firstly, the hostel – In this day and age, a youth hostel that didn’t have wireless. Can you believe it?! Also the hostel was full of members of CUF which is the Center party’s youth wing. This isn’t an excuse for not blogging, but it did mean that there wasn’t any quiet place to sit and type without being disturbed by some politically active youths away from home. The Center party is traditionally the party of farmers, so they were probably amazed by the electric lights and you know what they say – There ain’t no party like a Center party.
Secondly, as I have already realised (with no small amount of horror) Sweden is a bloody enormous country. So the majority of my touring day is spent sitting behind the wheel of the car. Something I did for roughly 6 hours on Saturday and 4 hours on Sunday.
Thirdly, the need for sleep. Imagine the cumulative effects of staying in the same hostel as partying young farmers with driving for hours and hours… So that’s what I’ve been catching up on.
Anyway – Gothenburg! Sinnet was the venue for our third stop on the DJ Danny tour. It’s a beautiful venue, small, intimate, well run… all we needed was an audience. It’s not that nobody came, but it wasn’t exactly what you might describe as ‘busy’. I got the audience to fill up the front few rows and sit next to each other – Something that is usually very difficult to do. But the few people who were there were really up for it and once we ignored the fact that financially it was a disaster, we actually all had a really good time. I improvised loads as did the second support act Kurt Lightner. Danny did his set and got a great response.He even got a Finn to hold hands with a Swede (neither of whom were drunk)
We left the venue happy and tired… and ready to take a few days off before our Stockholm gig on Wednesday. If you are in Stockholm on the 30th, don’t miss out on the chance to see this genuinely feel good show. I said I wouldn’t do the hard sell on this blog… but here’s a link to buy tickets! http://www.ticnet.se/event/DjDannybiljetter/BOU0330D
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Tags: Comedy, DJ Danny, Gigs, Gothenburg, Lagom, plugs, Stand Up, Stockholm, Sweden
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March 26th, 2011 by Ben
***To win tickets for the Stockholm show click here***
Tonight’s show is in Gothenburg at Sinnet
Sitting in the Falun youth hostel at 6.30am looking out of the window at the beautiful view. The skies are blues and the air has a special clarity that is inspiring. The last thing I want to do is to head down to Gothenburg… but that’s the way it goes..
Last night’s gig at Arenan in Falun was weird and wonderful. It was about three quarters full and mostly teenagers who were really up for it (apart from one or two Emo kids who were too cool for skool). The night started off in an absolutely hilarious way. My friend Isak who runs the night (and in my opinion is the funniest comedian in Sweden) also works as a director on the TV programme Pensionärjävlar (Fucking pensioners) which is a hidden camera programme where pensioners set up members of the public. It is very funny.
Last night they set up a scenario where an elderly couple came to the club and started heckling the first comedian. Thomas Eriksson, who is a very good actor and comedian was in on it, but the audience had no idea. I was rolling around laughing as Britt, a grey haired, smartly dressed septagenarian stood up and shouted “Say something funny! Or show us your balls!”
We performed – my act went really well and I brought the pensioners into my set a little bit I was only disappointed they didn’t heckle me (I was all ready to show my balls). Danny did about 45 minutes and got the audience dancing away – apart from the two Emo kids, one of whom had green cat eye contact lenses in and had an aloof look throughout.
I liked Falun – even though we will have spent less than 24 hours here. People have always talked about the beauty of Dalarna and although I can’t quite put my finger on what the difference is, it does seem to have a quality that other place in Sweden don’t seem to have. That said, the temperature here is still well into the minuses and the snow is still thick on the ground. At least Gothenburg has already entered the spring.
And so it is that Danny and I must hit the road for tonight’s gig in GBG at Sinnet. See you there perhaps?
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Tags: Comedy, DJ Danny, Falun, Gigs, Gothenburg, Stand Up, Sweden
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March 25th, 2011 by Ben
Me and Danny have just arrived at the hostel in Falun and it’s a great looking hostel so far. My memory of youth hostelling in the Lake District was that they always smelled of damp socks and banana sandwiches. Here in Falun the hostel is all tastefully decorated without a German backpacker in sight.
Anyway… The Local has been kind enough to announce that we are giving away a couple of tickets to the show at the Boulevard Teater in Stockholm this Wednesday. For a chance to win, just answer the following question:
DJ Danny wants to be a superstar DJ. Which island is famous for its DJ scene?
a. Gotland
b. Ibiza
c. Fantasy Island
Email your answer to ben@lkpghaha.se. The winner will be randomly selected and contacted on Tuesday. Otherwise you can buy your tickets for the Stockholm gig via Ticnet
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Tags: Comedy, DJ Danny, Gigs, Lagom, Stand Up, Stockholm, Sweden
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March 25th, 2011 by Ben
Just about to hit the road for Falun. Seems a bit nuts to leave this nice spring weather for the frozen tundra of Dalarna. I’ve also just looked at the map again and realised quite how long Sweden is and quite how far it is from one venue to another on this tour. I find myself asking the question again and again, which idiot was it that organised this crazy schedule of dates and venues? And then I realise that I am that idiot.
Next time I organise a national tour, I’m going to make sure that the nation in question is somewhere small and manageable, like Lichtenstein, for example.
So, the car is getting warmed up for today’s 5 hour trip to Falun. I realise that our carbon footprint for this tour is probably the equivalent to a small town in Eastern Europe. I am also made to feel even more guitly about this as I realise that our gig tomorrow in Gothenburg clashes almost exactly with Earth Hour. Along with our large carbon footprint, I guess we are not a show that will appeal to the environmentally conscious. Perhaps we can make a concession and perform without sound or lights… It’s an idea…
Time to stab in and steer and point the car northwards in Falun. See you there tonight at Arenan or if you are sensible and live in Gothenburg, see you at Sinnet on Saturday night.
Time to hit the road!
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Tags: Comedy, DJ Danny, Gigs, Gothenburg, Lagom, Linköping, Stand Up, Sweden
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March 24th, 2011 by Ben
So, it’s the morning after the night before and I’m sitting in bed in the hostel in Malmö. I feel well rested after our first proper gig and Danny is in the bed opposite sleeping like a baby. Not sure if he is tired because of last night’s show or whether it’s because I kept him up all night with my snoring.
Anyway, the first show of our tour was a success. The club, Oslipat, is run by a couple of guys called Marcus and Fritte and it takes place at a venue called Tangopalatset. We found out about 2 days before the gig that there was an ongoing Internet campaign to boycott the venue by a group of militant Malmö revolutionaries who were taking a stand for an ex-employee at the venue. Unwittingly, we found ourselves in the middle of a political struggle – Not what we needed. Despite this, about 50 people turned up, mostly Swedes, but a few English people as well as a few Danes and Finns (By Danes and Finns, I mean the nationalities, not members of an Irish boyband).
Marcus had been very worried about sound checking nice and early…. which was lucky as all the equipment matched with their PA system… almost. With the clock ticking we cobbled together an elaborate web of cables that ran from one amplifier to another bypassing a set of speakers and somehow getting the mic to work via a headphone input… which still didn’t work…. then we found the right lead and everything worked like a dream. It’s always the way..
The show was fun. The crowd got really into it and there was plenty of audience participation and despite being Swedish they weren’t too reserved. What’s nice about the Danny’s show is that it uses the audience in such a nice way. Everyone is part of it without being picked on or singled out. And it was so nice to hear a strong applause at the end of the night.
So, the tour is under way. I haven’t quite lost that slightly sick feeling of worry about whether or not we’ll get an audience in Gothenburg and Stockholm, but it feels good to be back on the road. We’re heading north today, for a gig in Falun on Friday – It seems a shame to leave the spring in Skåne behind, but we’ll be back next week.
Danny has just woken up. He sat up, looked at me and said ‘You snored all night’, then rolled over and went back to sleep.
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Tags: Comedy, DJ Danny, Gigs, Malmö, Stand Up, Sweden
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March 23rd, 2011 by Ben
So, I’ve successfully met up with Danny in Malmö and we are now both sitting opposite each other on our respective computers avoiding eye contact. He has already complained (through a closed door) that I made too much noise when I went to the toilet and I’ve noticed that he has managed to get the best bed in the hostel room, which he has claimed by spreading out his dirty underpants. We’re only minutes into the tour and things don’t bode well. … …
The journey down was quite pleasant. I listened to some SRP2 which had a whole load of stuff from choral singing to trad jazz. I only switched off when they started the weekly Persian broadcast – Nothing against Persian, I should add…. just it’s not very condusive to driving down the E4.
Once I arrived in Skåne I stopped for a coffee in a roadside cafe/country club… I know I speak Swedish with a weird accent having learnt in Östergötland, but skånsk really does take the biscuit – I wasn’t sure if the lady was speaking to me or having some kind of choking fit.
We’re off to sound check in about 20 minutes, which means I have to jump back in the car… just what I need after 5 hours behind the wheel. Really looking forward to the gig tonight which takes place at Tangopalatset (more info here) . There are still tickets available, so come along and say hi (just try not to do it with a Skåne accent).
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Tags: Blogging, Comedy, Gigs, Malmö, plugs, Stand Up, Sweden, tour
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March 22nd, 2011 by Ben
So, it’s just less than one full day before I jump in the car and head south to Malmö for the first day of the DJ Danny Sweden tour 2011. I’ve got the usual nerves that come before hitting the road for a gig that involves being away for a few days – Minor details keep popping into my head such as ‘I must take a thermos!’ or ‘Don’t forget your toothbrush!’ which seem to fuzzy the larger issues such as ‘Will anyone come and watch us? Will they enjoy the show? Will they laugh in the right places?’
The Local were nice enough to do an interview which you can read here.
I’m pretty confident that people will enjoy the show and that we’ll get laughs as Danny is so charismatic onstage and has been doing this show for years in London in Edinburgh as well as having gigged in places like Greece, Finland and Estonia leaving audiences rolling in the aisles (or in the case of Greece, rolling in the isles)
I’m going to try and blog the tour and hopefully we can fill the venues with readers of The Local! The first stop is Malmö tomorrow (Wednesday 23/3) night at a club called Oslipat which takes place at Tangopalatset – You can get tickets here: http://www.kulturcentralen.nu/show_direct.php?showid=6309
I won’t be doing the hard sell on every blog – it’ll be more just to give you a taste of life on the road with two comedians who are seeing if it is possible to put together an independent tour of Sweden without really having a clue. But if you do make it to a show, come and say hi after!
All the details are on the poster below – but we are in Gothenburg on Saturday at Sinnet (www.lokalsinnet.se). The biggest venue of all is on 30th March at Boulevard Teater in Stockholm (which I hear is the centre of the universe). If you are an 08er please book up your tickets by clicking here
We’ll also be tweeting – me on 110percentlagom and Danny on danny_robins (Danny will probably tweet more as I’m the mug doing the driving)
See you on the road!
I
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March 12th, 2011 by Ben
Just back from a few days in Gothenburg. There’s one thing about the city which is so predictable. The weather. Having left the east of Sweden with blue skies and a thaw on the way, it was disheartening to drive towards black clouds that were spewing rain sleet and snow with no regard for the fact that it is already March and that we are all sick of the winter weather.
I was in town to check out the venue where I am on tour later this month with DJ Danny. We’re playing in a place called Sinnet and having now been down there, met the people who run it and seen the stage, I think the gig will be great. I’ll be blogging about the whole tour with Danny here and The Local should be running an article with a ticket giveaway in the next week or so. But in short, the tour starts on the 23rd March in Malmö and ends on April 1st in Lund. We also take in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Falun and Linköping. There’s a Facebook page for Danny on the go here
While I was in Gothenburg, I also had a fab gig at The Dubliner suporting the potty mouthed Canadian Jason Rouse. We had a great crowd of Swedes and non-Swedes and the atmosphere, as always at The Dubliner was tip top.
One more thing I should mention is that I stayed with an American friend Kurt Lightner who is a very talented printmaker. As a gesture of thanks for the use of his sofa – and also because I think his work is great – Here’s a link to his Etsy site. Enjoy (and why not buy!) his work.
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Tags: Comedy, DJ Danny, Gigs, Gothenburg, Malmö, plugs, Stand Up, Sweden
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