Not much these days makes me jump for joy.
Abandonment of senses
Definitely not watching DRTV news or listening to BBC4. It’s all doom and gloom, isn’t it? Especially in Britain, where despite the British reputation for humor, even the jokes and memes have dried up.
I can still smile at a few though: Jonathan Pie’s rant on YouTube, a picture of King Charles with the caption “73-year-old man finally gets a job”, and Boris Johnson’s decision to quit the race to be prime minister that prompted the tweet “For the first time in his life, he has pulled out in time.”
Led astray
It’s not easy being a comedian in these days of strict political correctness – anything involving #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter, green activism, racism, sexism, ageism and every other ‘ism’ is constantly under scrutiny.
During rehearsals for our Crazy Christmas Show this year, one actor was worried about describing ‘The Dame’ – it’s a large male actor dressed as a ridiculous woman, with clownish make-up and wearing a giant costume who “looks like a blob “. of dough”. “Would this,” he asked nervously, “offend overweight people in the audience?”
Lost in Lago
This year, I’ve set the show in 1980s Florida, and Donald Trump (or, as I call him, Dump ) has just bought Mar-a-Lago. Determined to make a few satirical hits for the ex-president, I found myself in a quandary.
These days, news changes faster than ever. References to the classified, top-secret documents in the basement of Mar-a-Lago, and Trump’s eagerness to get his views back on Twitter, are already old news. What I wrote in August is no longer valid in November. Stand-up comedy has now become fast forward comedy!
As I write this, Britain has gone through three Tory prime ministers in a matter of months, the British monarchy has changed, and Danish royalty has been ‘reshaped’. That aside, how do you write comedy about the war in Ukraine, crippling inflation, and a world sprinkled with dictators and far-right activists?
Jump for joy
So where do I find my joy? Well – we are back in the lovely Teater Glassalen in Tivoli. My team of talented comedy actors are all happy, healthy and having fun with edgy ’80s pop music, funky fashion and the craziness of a Miami murder mystery show where the audience has to guess ‘Who Killed Don Calzone?’
Corona may be lurking in the shadows again, but hopefully, unlike last year when all theaters had to shut down in mid-December, we can run our show until Christmas and beyond!
Yes – every dark cloud has a silver lining, and perhaps to save money on heating and electricity, and to cure your winter flare-ups, you’ll want to leave your home screens and streaming services and head out to enjoy a few hours in the bright light and the warm glow of a LIVE theater performance.
In that hope, I jump for joy!
Source: The Nordic Page