list.co.uk/comedy PREVIEWS | COMEDY
STAND-UP DOUBLE-BILL SOMETHING ICELANDIC Dram!, Glasgow, Fri 13 Mar
Fresh from her first solo Edinburgh Fringe show, Let it Snow, Snjólaug Lúdvíksdóttir returns to Scotland for a joint gig with Bylgja Babýlons. The pair bring us Something Icelandic in which you can expect plenty of jokes about their heritage and, since both comedians have spent time based in the UK, us Brits might even be on the receiving end of their decidedly black humour.
For their split bill (there’s no chance of sharing the limelight, according to Lúdvíksdóttir, as they’re both way too narcissistic), each comedian will take 20-25 minutes to talk about their ‘miserable love lives, indigestion and hypochondria’ as well as the ins-and-outs of Icelandic culture. ‘The fantasy of the “feminist land of vikings and elves” will be ripped to pieces to reveal something much less dignified,’ insists Lúdvíksdóttir.
A month-long run in Edinburgh last August highlighted Lúdvíksdóttir’s talents as a confident performer who doesn’t shy away from controversial material. The experience of performing every day to a comedy-savvy audience at the Fringe helped to hone her art, and she says that across a single month she ‘improved more than during five years in comedy’. It’ll be interesting to see how the Icelander applies those learnings to her new set. With just half a bill to play with, it’s sure to be a quickfire round of shots fired with no holds barred. (Lauren McKay)
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M A T T C R O C K E T T
MY COMEDY HERO SARAH KEYWORTH The Old Hairdressers, Glasgow, Fri 13 Mar; Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh, Mon 16 Mar
I’m ten years old and in an area of rural France that I think is called Le Arse End of Le Nowhere. With my parents and my brother Tom, we’re camping in the garden of the oldest and best kind of friends: those with whom you do nothing but drink and reminisce. Unfortunately, I’m ten, so I can neither drink nor reminisce, and also we’ve just been visited by a swarm of hornets so Tom and I have barricaded ourselves inside the house, terrified. My parents’ friends say we can watch any of their DVDs, of which they have two: A Knight’s Tale
and something called Absolutely Fabulous. The unreadable text on the latter’s box is crammed together in clashing colours, two gaudy looking women leering at the camera with cigarettes and wine glasses clutched in their hands. We opt for A Knight’s Tale. In fact, we opt for it twice. The adults are still drinking and so we turn our attention to Absolutely Fabulous. I can’t remember which episode we watched, but I vividly recall the exhilaration of watching something so joyously wicked and raucous. I remember laughing, shouting and running to tell my mum (braving hornets) every time Eddy fell out of a car/bed, or Patsy screamed ‘piss off’ at the dreadfully boring Saffy. I was scandalised and in awe. Now, whenever someone mentions AbFab or Jennifer Saunders, I'm transported back to that night when I realised just how gobby and stupid and thrilling comedy could be. (As told to Brian Donaldson)
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