Ari Eldjárn – First Gig, Worst Gig
It’s a beautiful country, Iceland, full of interesting creative people who almost all know each other – well, in Reykjavík anyway – which all help to promote fruitful cooperation. To be honest, we’re mostly talking about Iceland’s wildly fertile music scene (FG’s latest favorite is Vök, which means “little hole in the ice”), but Icelandic comedy has now exploded as well, in the form of Ari Eldjárn.
Co-founder of the Mid-Ísland collective (more below), Eldjárn is bringing his solo stuff to Soho soon. On Thursday, March 15, he is on an impressive account at Soho Theater Alternative Galaan annual festival that raises funds for the work of that excellent organization with young people and emerging artists: also performing Bridget Christie, Tim Key, Rose Matafeo and Dina Martina – plus there’s free plonk, nibbles and an after-party. Fine.
Also that week, Ari is performing his own hour, which we let him plug in himself.
“The show is called Excuse my Icelandic and it sold out at the Edinburgh Fringe (which was a relief),” he tells us. “It’s the first time I’ve ever had a solo show in the UK and it was really fun putting it together. because English is my second language and almost all the content was translated from Icelandic which I saw as a kind of challenge, hence the title. Some of the subject matter is unique to the Nordic countries but I try to make it as accessible as possible to an international audience so no prior knowledge of my home ground is necessary!”
Top geyser – as they say in Iceland. Now let’s head north.
First gig?
The first gig I gave was on May 7, 2009 at a small bar in Reykjavík called Karamba, which unfortunately no longer exists. My friends Bergur Ebbi and Dóri DNA decided to try stand-up more or less out of the blue, invited me and my friend Jóhanni Alfreð to join and we filled the hall. It was probably something like 80 people but it was so packed it seemed like there were more.
We then founded the stand-up group Mid Iceland, which is still going strong and we now put on around 80 shows every year.
Favorite episode, ever?
The first concert because it went so well and I don’t think I would have continued at all if I had liked it! My first show at the Fringe was also particularly fun as it was almost an out-of-body experience to finally be doing a whole show in English.
Worst gig?
I was once booked to do an indoor concert for college students. When I arrived, it turned out that the concert was outdoors and the audience was six to eight year olds. I had no choice but to use my material, which was heavily based on material such as financial puns and impersonations of Icelandic TV personalities from the 1980s. The parents got all the jokes but just watched in horror as the kids threw candy at me and occasionally shouted “what’s your name?”
Do comedy shows work differently in Iceland – are they mainly in Icelandic or English?
Yes, 90% of my work is in Icelandic, which is a harsh language from Old Norse, spoken by 340,000 people. It’s a fun language to do comedy in because it has a lot of rolling r’s and the nouns have a lot of syllables and I tend to talk really fast, which in itself can create a good comedic effect.
The comedy scene itself is still fairly new in Iceland, and a real comedy industry similar to the one in the UK doesn’t really exist there, so most of the shows available are either self-produced or corporate gigs. The current stand-up wave in Iceland started in 2009 and has been growing ever since.
Who is the most unpleasant person you have ever encountered in the business?
A certain bar owner who is notorious for never paying his bills comes to mind. I would say his name but Iceland is a very small country!
Is there any material that works well in Iceland, but not here?
Yeah, none of my stuff about Icelandic singer/songwriter Bubba Morthens works in English, which is a shame since my fascination with him is possibly the most impressive skill I have, and is actually what started my career in the first place. I have a Morrissey picture that I sometimes use in the UK to compensate but it’s nowhere near as accurate. I encourage everyone in the UK to look up Bubba Morthen’s music on Spotify and use Google Translate for the lyrics. Well worth the time.
Most memorable review, post-concert reaction?
I once did the aforementioned Bubba Morthens photo on National TV where I had the man himself by my side while I called his supervisor from his cell phone to tell him that I (Bubbi Morthens) was sick and had to cancel two sold out shows . . The trick was very successful and the clip went crazy in many parts of Iceland.
The following week I was at a bar with some friends when all of a sudden some huge stranger walked up to me, put his arms around me, lifted me high into the air and then walked out of the bar and held me! I asked him in a panic where we were going as he took me to a nearby alley where he cornered me.
He then showed me his own picture of the famous Icelandic singer and asked me what I thought about it. He sounded nothing like him but I sang his praises until he let me go. Never before have I been so amused and scared at the same time!
Any travel tips, for comics with jets?
Being a former flight attendant, the main tip is that the flight goes much faster if I constantly get up and go into the kitchen where the flight attendants have their quarters to tell them that I am a former flight attendant. This helps me pass the time, although it probably slows their time down a lot. Also, an iPad with a complete TV series really works wonders.
How do you feel about where your career is now?
At home, the question I get the most about my career is, “what are you going to do when it’s over?” I never have a good answer because I don’t really have a plan B. So I’m very happy to be able to do it full time because I don’t think I would do as well if I had another job to support me busy.
And at the moment I’m especially happy to be able to be a UK branch because I grew up in England as a child and have always had a huge fondness for both the English language and English humour.