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En Route to The Liffey

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

I’m writng this whizzing up to Stockholm on the X2000. I’m on my way to do a bit of writing on the sitcom and hopefully to get a half promised pitching slot tomorrow morning at a production company. But the main event is to test the waters at Stockholm’s new all English club in Gamla Stan: ‘Laughs At The Liffey’.

This morning at Linköping station, .. I thought to myself, ‘Let’s live dangerously’, and I splashed out the extra 15 kronor to travel on the express, which, according to the timetable, gets in at least half an hour earlier than the regional train. Just as the tickets whirred out of the machine, I looked at the departures board to find out which platform, only to see that the X2000 had been delayed by 40 minutes.

Still.. it’s a beautiful day and the scenery is spectacular in the golden sunlight.

I’ve done a couple of gigs in the last couple of days. On Tuesday it was a corporate gig at Mjärdevi Science Park in Linköping. A big computer company had had a training day and wanted me to raise a smile at the end of the day. I was booked for 6pm, which usually means I get to perform an hour or so later. I got there and the event was taking place in a big canteen . There were thirty or so tired looking computer people making quiet conversation with each other. The guy who booked me shook my hand and asked if I was ready to perform. I took my hat and coat off, grabbed a glass of water and I was off.

Things went well – I had a nice rapport with most of the audience, although there was the inevitable one or two who watched me stoney faced, unable to understand why this jolly English guy had been thrust unexpectedly upon them after a hard day’s training, when all they wanted to do was to go home. Still, you can’t please everyone and the rest of the audience were with me. I had a bit of fortune with my Ingmar Bergman routine as I had someone sitting in the front row that looked a lot like ‘Death’ from The Seventh Seal. It’s sometimes nice to use the audience for visual reference.

Last night’s gig was totally different. It was at the Skandia Teater in Norrköping and I was first up of four comedians. This was a proper comedy evening; the standard was high and the audience were up for it. Being first on can be a bit nerve-wracking, but they quickly warmed to me and I got a round of applause after my first set piece. I had moved a couple of things around in my set and I felt happy with the new streamlined order. I think the audience were too by the warmth of applause I got.

The other acts were excellent. First a young guy called Tobias Jacobsson, who has great stage presence and a squeaky clean image, that I can see appealed to the mostly middle-aged crowd. He was followed by Eric Löwenthal who has been in the game for number of years. Without being over the top, he has a great physical presence and every gesture was clear and illustrated the comedy. Then the headliner was good old Thomas Oredsson, the old man of Swedish comedy. Such a nice guy offstage who clearly has a wealth of experience and watching him on stage is an education.

So, onwards to The Liffey, where to be honest, I’m feeling the pressure. Most of the other comics are Swedes, doing what I normally do i.e. joking in a second language. I’m sure they will cut it in English… but the question is, can I?

Watch this space….

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Tags: Comedy, Corporate, Gigs, sitcom, Stand Up, Stockholm
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The Pitch

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

A windy picture outside SVT

Meeting people in the media world it is filled with subtexts, bluffs and semi truths. Yesterday at SVT in Gothenburg was no different. They had the home advantage of the imposingly massive modern glass and steel structure that sits on the water’s edge opposite the city, I countered by dropping in comparisons with the BBC. It was all about the logos: He drank his coffee from an NBC mug. I had a pen lifted from Studiefrämjandet, where I give evening classes. It was clear SVT had the upper hand.

Luckily, this male media posturing was not necessary as it soon became clear that the guy we were meeting, the commissioning editor for drama at SVT Gothenburg, was a very nice chap. He gave us a whole hour and we chatted about the sitcom idea, talked about character and plot development and episode and series arcs. We laughed… which is a good sign when talking comedy and he uttered variations of the phrase “Verkligen, jag tycker att det är en rolig idé” several times.

Needless to say, SVT Gothenburg don’t currently have a slot for a 12 part half hour sitcom… but although that is the case today, commissioning briefs tend to change, so it’s always worth being in their mind when they talk about what to make with our licence fees. The main thing is that he is behind the idea and encouraged us to take it to the big players in Stockholm – Jarowski, Tre Vänner and Baluba – and getting through the doors of these giants is always much easier with a ‘Godkänd’ from a commissioning editor (even one who is not actually going to commission it).

So, onwards and upwards….

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Tags: Comedy, Gothenburg, sitcom
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Angry Ballerinas

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

The hypocrisy continues.

Not only do I allow myself to be wined and dined by the Social Democrats on a monthly basis, but I am also now indirectly working for the Swedish Church. Sweden’s moral guardians in Östergötland have decided that October is the month to put on a balletic representation of the Stations of the Cross at St Lars Kyrka in Linköping. For those readers not up on their dramatic representations of The Passion – this is part of the Bible traditionally performed on Good Friday by Catholics and not, as is the case in Linköping, by Lutherans, in October on a random Saturday…. but still, why be tied down by tradition?

I’m helping out with the dramatic elements of the production but I am always impressed by ballet dancers as they are able to use their bodies in ways that would cause most of us pain; and they do so with the greatest of ease.

At the last rehearsal I was working with ‘The Mob’, the crowd who would jeer and spit at Jesus. I was trying to whip up these very passive girls who moved with such grace into an angry furore. This was no easy task and while I’m not bold enough to say that I created a band of angry Margot Fonteyns, I think they will unsettle the audience once they combine the dancing and the acting.

Meanwhile, back in post biblical secular reality, I am trying to get a crowd to come and see my shows in Norrköping, Linköping and Stockholm, where I promise no ballet and no religion. Sending out press releases, contacting papers and punters and updating the Facebook Group.

Tomorrow morning, I am off to Gothenburg to pitch a sitcom idea to SVT. A long drive for a short pitch. I hope it’s worth it.

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Tags: Comedy, LinkÃ¶ping, plugs, sitcom
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Full Fart in Stockholm

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

Nothing beats Stockholm in the sunshine; the water glistens and the buildings seem to absorb the light creating a golden glow.

Sucking up the diesel and trying to blend in with the beautiful people who were out in force, was yours truly. And with places to go, people to see – I was full fart, to use a Swedishism. As I was busy, I treated myself to the X2000 and stepped onto the platform of Centralen just after ten thirty in the morning. Then tramped my way over to Södermalm to get some flyers for my show up at some of the funkier joints of Gamla Stan and Söder. Less funky (unless you find Heinz spaghetti hoops hip) was The English Shop who were kind enough to clear a big space for my flyer…. apologies to any English speaking yogis, babysitters or netballers whose small ads got shifted.

Then it was off to Östermalm for more postering – again, weirdly, people were unusually kind and friendly… must have been the weather – and a visit to the Playhouse Teater, where I am performing on the 11th October. Had a chat to the technical guy and dropped off a few posters. I spoke to a very theatrical husky voiced actress outside the theatre who had popped out for a fag. Oh the drama, the drama…

Next stop was to look at a pub where my friend Louis is going to start a comedy night soon. Can’t say much more at this point, but I think it will work well.

Then on to meet Bisse for a late lunch and some intensive work on Scene One of the sitcom that we are pitching to SVT next week. Squeezed in a few extra gags and tidied up one of the characters a bit. Very funny indeed… at least we think so – it remains to be seen what SVT think.

Then, well saturated with tea and biscuits, I headed back to the Playhouse to see ‘The Al Pitcher Picture Show’ – There was a huge crowd for the show which was absolutely brilliant. Henrik Elmér who is headlining at my club next week was the support act. He was great of course. A woman in front of me had complete hysterics at some of his references and oddly, another woman a few seats away kept giving her these really disapproving looks as though laughing was not the done thing at a comedy night.

The main show was fantastic and Al lived up to all expectations. Hilarious. Go and see the show if you get the chance. I’d love to see the show again as it is based on photos taken on the day of the show, so it is completely different every time.

After the show, I jumped backstage for a quick chat to Al and to slag off a few UK cities (especially Wolverhampton) then hotfooted it to the station to get the midnight rattler back to Linköping where I duly fell asleep and nearly ended up in Malmö by mistake.

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Tags: Comedy, Gigs, plugs, Review, sitcom, Stand Up, Stockholm
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A bunch of Blattes at Boulevard

Saturday, August 29th, 2009

The Stockholm Comedy Festival has well and truly kicked off with a host of names froom Sweden and abroad playing at Södra Teatern and Boulevard Teatern. I was very much bottom of the bill (but at least I made it onto the bill) on the opening night at the Boulevard, which showed the diversity of Sweden’s stand up scene. There was Jewish, Kurdish, Black and Persian comedy through the evening (I’ll let you guess which bill I was on) each attracting different audiences and different atmospheres. My only question is: where were the Saami? Discrimination, I call it.

The night was hosted by Janne Westerlund, who even though I’ve compered him in Linköping before, managed to introduce me as ’Ben from Enköping’… I didn’t have too much stage time so it was hard to get into a rhythm and I was feeling really tired after wandering round a very humid Stockholm during the day. That said, I think the gig went better than it felt as the audience laughed in all the right places. This was also my first time at the Boulevard and it feels like a step in the right direction to play such a big venue in the heart of the capital.

It was good to catch up with a few of the other comedians – Aron Flam and his depressive demeanour, Kadir Meral from Gothenburg, who I met when I first started and who oozes positivity and Janne Westerlund who is known by some as Mr. Stand Up. It was also cool to see a couple of acts that I haven’t seen live before such as Soran Ismael, who had a brilliant routine about flying in the Middle East, and Kodjo Akolor who is such a versatile performer.

The highlight of the evening was the Black comedy night, not only because my friend Isak Jansson (who is whiter than white) guested as Sweden’s third blackest comedian and did some very funny material about Usain Bolt, but also as it was a chance to see Ahmed Berhan who I have spoken to on the phone a couple of times but never met. Ahmed is a tall, thin, dreadlocked East African and was like a fluid ball of energy onstage. His routine poured out of him as though he had so many funny things to say and that there simply wasn’t enough time to tell the audience everything that he needed. My favourite stuff was him hypothesising on what would happen if he married into the Swedish royal family. Fantastic imagery. He performs in English too and is becoming a regular on the scene in London. Check him out.

All in all a good day. I skipped the afterparty as I was too tired and went for a quiet beer with my friend Bisse. We had had our meeting earlier with a production company to do an initial pitch for the sitcom idea. We both agree that we’ve got lots of work still to do, but that the Stockholm meeting was good preparation for the pitching session next month in Gothenburg.

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Tags: Comedy, Gigs, sitcom, Stand Up, Stockholm
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