Kulturkonsumtion

i. Kalla det vad fan du vill, Intiman Malmö. Har inte läst boken, det hade dock mitt sällskap, som tyckte den gjordes rättvisa i den mån det gick. Stor eloge till ensemblen, som trots vissa begränsningar i uttryck gör ett heroiskt arbete med alla scen-, kläd- och rollbyten under drygt två och en halv timme. Bitvis väl farsartat, och karaktärerna förblir i pjäsens snapshot-struktur ganska ytliga karikatyrer, vilket om jag förstått saken rätt går emot syftet med boken. Jag tänkte: om några av dessa scener dök upp på tv som del av ett sketchprogram hade jag inte gillat det. Kul att alla föreställningar är utsålda, men vansinne att förlägga dem till Intiman istället för Hipp. Precis samma sak med Körsbärsträdgården i våras, som tvingades sätta in extra föreställningar samtidigt som Hipp gick för tomma hus.

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ii. Jens Lekman och Todd Barry, Inkonst Malmö. Glömde kameran hemma, men skrev ett långt inlägg på engelska någon annanstans. Highlights från det:

Jens Lekman took to the stage and introduced "one of my favourite comedians, from New York City, Mr. Todd Barry". It was interesting to see the crowd's reaction to Todd. The odds were hardly in his favour, going in: 1) 99% of the crowd was there to see Jens, b) it was a Saturday night (10 pm at this point), so everybody was hammered, and iii) comedians never warm up crowds here - it's unheard of. All those things considered, things ultimately went okay, but it could have ended in disaster. Standing right up front was a horrible, awful woman in her early twenties, who was drunk out of her mind, loud, and determined to interact with Todd from the get-go - and not in a good way. Starting with taking a bunch of flash photos of him, then just chatting, commenting and insulting him left and right. It was a nightmare.

Like the pro he is, Todd alternately charmed, dismissed and ridiculed the idiot, but she just wouldn't take a hint. At times Todd was barely able to deliver a joke without her interrupting, and at one point, Todd even asked, half-jokingly, if security could take her away, but nothing happened. The rest of the crowd, once it figured out that the horrible heckler wasn't contributing, booed her and loudly applauded Todd when he slammed her.

Todd was on for about 15-20 minutes, and the heckling aside, he delivered his usual brand of comedy - to cheers, chuckles and applause. He talked about how Jens was nice enough to pick him up at the airport - however, Jens had forgotten to mention that he doesn't own a car, so he just helped Todd onto the airport bus. Then he did his MySpace routine, this time upgraded to include Facebook references. "Sweden is Facebook territory", he claimed, and the crowd cheered. After having abandoned the Facebook joke due to the heckler, the crowd, in support, started chanting "Facebook, Facebook, Facebook", which, according to Todd, was officially the weirdest moment in his professional career as a standup comedian.

I can't say I'm a Jens Lekman fan, but he seems like a decent fellow, and he put on a good show, backed with his all-ladies band (save for a guy keyboard player). The sound was occassionally very busy, incorporating everything from flutes and strings to accordions and samplers, and at times, it felt like a school orchestra - every resource had to be utilized, no instrument left behind! Still, very very charming show, a lot of heart - and now I finally see where those Avalanches influences Jens has talked about come into play. Jens is a real crowdpleaser, with witty banter between songs and even some proper jokes thrown in here and there.

[...]

After the concert, Jens performed an impromptu solo session outside of the main room, just him and his guitar, much to the delight of his fans. Todd, however, was nowhere to be found. Instead, I went backstage and caught up with him there. Much to my surprise, Todd thought the set had went very well - perhaps best of the Swedish shows so far. Except for the heckler, of course. We talked a little about the tour. He was thrilled about being on the road with all the lovely ladies in Jens' band (who wouldn't?), and then he introduced me to Jens, who thought it was refreshing to meet a Swedish comedy fan for once. Nice guy.

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iii. Andreas Kurtsson, Pictura Lund. Andreas är en god vän, och hans ljudexkursioner, som ofta resulterar i multimedial konst av såväl meditativ, nostalgisk som humoristisk natur, har jag följt med stort intresse under flera år. Verket Det föreställer ett berglandskap, eller något helt annat, ställs ut på Pictura veckan ut. Jag missade det när det ställdes ut på Bonniers konsthall tidigare i år, så det var skönt att hinna med det på hemmaplan istället.

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iv. Filmkrönikan, SVT. Aldrig har det normalt sett överdrivna kraftuttrycket "infantiliseringen av populärkulturen" varit mer berättigat.

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v. Facebook. Kapitulation. Goddamnit.


Andra bloggar om: kultur, teater, film, tv, humor, konst, Jens Lekman, Todd Barry, Filmkrönikan, Andreas Kurtsson