110% LAGOM

Last night’s gig at Berggren’s was the best yet. A strong line up with none other than Sweden’s own Godfather of comedy Thomas Oredsson as headliner. The gig had been moved indoors after a full day of rain and typically by the time the first act was on, the clouds had melted away for a perfect summer’s evening. Even though the blues skies were teasing us through the window, the atmosphere inside was great with a full house of happy punters.

I have heard so much about Thomas since I started performing in Sweden, but until last night I had never met him. There are a whole group of comics who describe him variously as their mentor, teacher, joke doctor or guru. As a rule I tend not to believe the hype and reserve judgement until I actually meet. Thankfully, Thomas lived up to his reputation.

He was not only genuinely warm and approachable offstage, full of experience and anecdotes, but onstage he was phenomenal. In his act, he was getting laughs every 20 seconds or so, and not just laughs, but full bodied belly laughs that rolled through the audience in waves. Part of his act was about accents and dialects and although my Swedish is not good enough to pick up the references and slang, it was a great opportunity to study the audience and listen to the rhythm and timing of his delivery.

I was also happy with my set which I had tried to streamline a bit, so I cut a lot of the interactive stuff that I like to do when there are less comedians on the bill and I have a freer hand with time. I did however try out a new joke, which I wrote on the bus to Motala. On the bus I thought I had struck upon the funniest routine ever which involved comparing Ingmar Bergman with Marcel Marceau. When I started the gag, I asked the audience if they knew who Marcel Marceau was…every face stared back at me blankly and the joke was met (quite aptly, considering) with silence.

Motala24.se were there to take some pictures which can be seen here

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Just like Eminem, ‘I’m back’. Well maybe not quite like Eminem, but I am back in Sweden and I haven’t forgotten about Dre.

I went to watch a gig last night at Berggren’s Källaren where I am playing next week and the week after. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts they have had quite bad luck with the weather. Thankfully, last night was windy but the rain held off, but Emil who runs the club and the venue owners were clearly nervous about whether or not they would have an audience. The people of Motala came up trumps and the beer garden was completely full.

Having been in the southwest of England for the last three weeks, I had forgotten how cold a Swedish evening can get and was shivering with cold by the time the second act was on stage. As I was neither driving or performing I was forced to resort to drinking beer to stay warm. It worked, but I think I’ll take a jumper with me next time despite the fact that last night putting on a jacket was tantamount to an act of heresy for a big guy called Johannes who was sitting proudly in short sleeves throughout the evening

The line up for the show was great – I had seen a couple of the acts before, like Fritte Fritzson from Malmö. In his act he does an impression of an English football hooligan (which unfortunately sounds Australian) and also an Italian Taxi driver speaking English (which is hilariously impressive!).

The headliner was a guy called Fredrik T. Olsson, who writes ‘Svensson Svensson’, one of Sweden’s most popular sitcoms. He went down really well with the crowd and had some very funny material.

I was most impressed by a newcomer called Marja Nyberg who had a refreshing off the wall style with a kind of idiot’s eye view of the world. One of my favourite scenarios she created: ‘I’m no good at multitasking, for example, I tried to fill in my tax return in the shower…’ . Brilliant.

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Motala has a reputation as being Sweden’s own Chicago – The rumours are that it is a gangster town, full of lowlifes doing shady drug deals, laundering money and even human trafficking. I like Motala for its underworld reputation and going there always gives me a bit of a thrill.

Of course, the gangster thing is a bit of a myth and it’s actually a very pleasant town on the edge of the vast lake Vättern. Nonetheless,  as I drive through, I try and spot the ‘hoods and imagine a speakeasy behind every second door.

My friend Emil runs a comedy night at a place by the river called Berggrens Källare and it couldn’t be less gangsta. In fact it’s probably the most civilised place I perform with great food and a genteel 19th century feel. The audience are all pre-booked for dinner which is relatively formal. The downside is that the audience start off a little too reserved/comfortable, but the plus side is that they are there for a big night out and the comedy is a part of it. The other advantage is that often you can find out a little about the audience before the show and write material in the half hour before going on. It usually works well and there have been Krav Maga enthusiasts, a pensioners’ sauna group, weekend warriors from Hemvärnet (Home Guard) and crayfish fishermen. .

Yesterday was supposed to be an outdoors gig for tired cyclists following the Vätternrund, but due to inclement weather, we played inside. I was headlining and all day I had been trying to come up with some nice bike jokes…. I liked the idea of cycling away from Motala, riding for 12 hours, getting hot, sweaty and exhausted and at the end of the Vätternrund, the reward is only to end up back in Motala… Wouldn’t it be easier to just stay put? Or put a more attractive town at the end of the course?

I was a bit nervous before going on, partly because of the last gig in Kisa, but also because I haven’t done my full schtick for over a month as I have been mainly MCing or doing shorter spots. The gig went really well in the end, and I even got some ’skolavslutning‘ material in, which I think I might make a part of my regular act.

We had to rush off at the end of the gig, which was a shame, but Kjell had to catch a bus from Linköping… I’m reading Alex James’ excellent autobiography at the moment and am eternally jealous of his chauffeur driven lifestyle.

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