Den ægte vare: Live i Cirkusbygningen

10 is almost perfect. In comedy it's - according to my opinion - not just a grade you donate to a show that made you laugh. It has to be special. Something you remember and use in your daily life afterwards. Something that transforms your ordinary sentences into gags and repeats of the comedians' punch lines. That was how Den Ægte Vare changed my - and my friends' - way of behaviour for more than a year. After watching this show more than just a couple of times, we gradually made up a whole language of Den Ægte Vare-sentences. In nearly every situation something from the show would pop up in our heads and make us dance like Mick Øgendahl, shout out insanely like Geo or imitate Carsten Eskelund's special lazy way of speaking softly to a duck. Naturally this couldn't go on forever, but still years after the premiere we often reach a point in our conversations where we ask ourselves: "Where do we know these words from??, ooh yeah hahaah, Den Ægte Vare off course! Good times..."

Well; to go more specific with the show: The thing that makes this comedy show better than all the rest (on the Danish market at least), is that it claims to be a show-off, with classic and the-way-it-should-be-done performances, in the different genres of stand-up comedy... And keeps its promise! For the first time (on a large scale) we are introduced to Rune Klan's world of combining well mastered magic tricks with classic stand-up and a close interaction with the audience PLUS Geo's mad and almost horrifying way of exploding on the scene in an insane outburst of energetic roars, jumps and facial distortions, still surprisingly keeping a somehow intelligent thread in his act. This can get pretty tiresome over time, but the limited time for each actor effectively avoids this feeling throughout the show. Then we get Carsten Eskelund in the role of announcer making his own split-up show between the other actors with his own subtle kind of humour. His perfect and cunning timing, on his however rather simple jokes, fortunately ensures this project the successful composition that forms the foundation on which it relies. Mick Øgendahl, my personal favourite stand-upper, is simply delivering his best show ever, hyperactively moving round the scene in a constant dishing out of unforgettable gags. Some of these even improvised with inspiration from his own small verbal mistakes on the way. And off course as an extra bonus, the national hero Anders "Anden" Matthesen in yet a great show to finish off the evening leaving everyone sobbing in tears. Only one to pull down on, but not spoil, the vote of 10 is Jacob Tingleff. He's funny and maybe also delivering his best show caught on tape, but nothing special like the rest of the show. Apart from this little detail, Den Ægte Vare all in all remains as the most pure and worked through stand-up show ever to take on the Danish scene. A piece of stage history constituting some kind of theatrical bible for most other Danish stand-uppers to originate in.

A presentation of 5 danish stand-up comedians done the classical way, no singing or any other pointless fillers.

The acts are good, yet short enough so you do not tire from listening to the same comedian.

In my opinion this is a fine presentation of stand-up comedy done in a classical way.

4 of the acts and the host provide fine samples of comedy, yet one of the acts I just don't get, but that's humor for you ...

In any event I hope you enjoy this one too.

I give this an 8/10.

I watched this a while back... and the only thing that really stuck out was the performance of my favorite comedian, Anders "Anden" Matthesen. He's usually good, occasionally great... and in this performance, he's astounding. This is, simply put, some of his best work to date. It's really too bad that it's surrounded by all the others. I mean, Tingleff has the occasional funny joke(and the (very) rare hilarious one), but he more often than not comes across as a cheap knock-off of Anden, with his aggressive(yet somehow eerily quiet and soft-spoken) style. Eskelund has some humor, and his hosting is worth watching... he has a fair-to-good ratio of laughs to the time he spends on stage. His jabs at Danish sayings are amusing, though nowhere near as entertaining as those of Anden. Øgendahl, I don't know... I once considered him funny, but I've come to realize that his performance is always limited to manic ranting and an overuse of "comic" facial expressions. No matter what he plays or where he appears. Klan is introduced as a "stand-up performer *and* magician!" I don't "get" magic tricks. I believe I was somewhat fascinated by the practice of it as a (very) young child, but I have since come to hate it. It's showy, it's daft and *every* single audience member over the age of 7 with an IQ higher than their age knows that it's fake. Sure, the same could be said about certain Hollywood movies, but I don't believe I go around tooting the horn of them, either. More to the point, I simply don't think it belongs on a scene of stand-up. It doesn't help that the man doesn't seem to be able to go more than a few seconds without screaming "sausage". Geo, well, he's just plain weird. Some would call him a psychopath. I am one of them. I didn't laugh once during neither his nor Klan's performance. But turning back to my starting point... Anden is just magnificent in this. His aggression in high gear, he drills through ridiculous occurrences, facts and people with the intensity of a heavy machine-gun. He talks about girls(as usual, his favorite topic), Swedes, and covers many, many things he hates or hates certain aspects of. The only negative I can say of his part of the show is that you can only experience it for the first time once. To Anden, I give a 9... or possibly even a 10. Had this been the first time I saw it, it would probably have been a perfect rating. The fact that the others are, well, less than amazing, brings it down... but only one rating. I recommend this to fans of stand-up comedy, definitely fans of Anden and also fans of the other comedians. I'm sure many of you will find the others funnier than I did. 8/10