Barry And His Guitar: Can Iceland Please Have More Comedy Shows?

Who doesn’t love to laugh? On bleak January nights we need to lift our spirits by having more comedies and stand-ups in town.  In early January, I suffered  one of those nights, but a comedy show saved me from my Vitamin-C deprived life.

The premiere of Barry and his guitar, was a show sold on a Friday night. Its catchy sub headline promised a stand up comedy, a musical and a love story with a crime twist! The premiere turned out to live up to its promises, so full was the venue at Mengi that another performance had to be scheduled on to meet the demand.

A show that portrayed distinctively different characters ranging from an old knitting lady, an alcoholic, a failed musician, an up-and-coming artist, a hopeless café owner and a successful gangster to name a few who had as little in common as a café in Hackney. It was written and played by one and the same actor, Bragi Árnason who performed as each persona had developed the stereotypical characters and turned them into mind blowingly funny losers and heroes. At the short (60 minutes) and fast paced show, the characters had only a few minutes to rock; it resulted in a remarkably effortless and physically engaging performance. At least the audience cried their eyes out laughing.

So subtle was the stage, with only a few props but a guitar taking one of the leading role. Yes, a guitar, the comedy was its own musical too! Composed by actor Bragi.

Then the one character of the play, that turned out to be the unexpected hero of the show brings forth an unanticipated ending summed up all good there’s to get from an hour-long show.

Even some of the very same audience from the premiere came back to squeeze out a few more laughs before heading into the cold night. It is obvious that there’s a need for more of giggles to save us from winter blues.

Well done! Thank you Bragi, for your vital contribution to the stand-up comedy movement in Reykjavík.