Isak Jansson faces the usual dilemma of which comedian to sleep with after the gig (Foto:Motala24.se)
The last of the summer gigs in Motala was punctuated by the heaviest rain and hailstorm you could imagine, so an inside gig it was. We had a decent crowd who seemed to be pretty up for it, or at least as up for it as a Thursday night crowd gets in Motala. The comedians on the bill were some of the brightest freshest talent in Sweden, who went down well with all the audience apart from a table of 16 retired female accountants. They did not get the jokes about hip hop, from Isak Jansson or the internet references from Behrad Rouzbeh and greeted any sexual reference with a disapproving silence.
The comedians were not bad, the rest of the crowd were laughing away enjoying the routines… it was just a bit hard to ignore such a large segment of the audience.Sometimes it’s hard to bridge the generation gap. That said, Martin Lagos, who I saw perform for the first time, blew everyone away, even the oldies. But then again he is a cheeky charming Chilean.
Thursday also saw the three minute debut for a guy called Martin Johansson who first got in touch with me about a year ago. He has put off his debut for so long not through nerves but because his day job is as an Able Seaman and so planning a date on dry land at a comedy club has been largely dependent on whether his ship will get back from some far flung corner of the globe on time. He’s obviously got some stories to tell, but it was interesting to see the difference between telling a traveller’s anecdote and hitting punchlines. That said, he did brilliantly for a first timer and I’m sure he’ll find his feet. Worth looking at his blog to get a taste of the nerves, excitement and intrepidation he was feeling about standing onstage for the first time.
Pictures from the night can be seen at Motala24
Other stuff that’s been going on this week that I’m rather pleased about…. Managed to wangle myself a ten minute spot at the Stockholm Comedy Festival, which I’m very excited about. Also got a phone call from out of the blue from a company in Eskilstuna asking me to appear in a promotional film. They had found me via You Tube by searching for ‘Snus’ and found this video. I’ve got to find out more about the project, but I’m still amazed that the internet works in such mysterious ways.
The sitcom pitching saga rolls positively on and I got a result much more positive than I could ever have hoped for: Rather than getting a 15 minute slot next week as part of a pitching competition, I’ve got an proper appointment next month with SVT in Gothenburg plus a meeting in Stockholm next week with a top production company…. I feel like the first step of the next stage in my Swedish career has been taken.
