Copenhagen is not exactly a major player on the global comedy scene, but one local comedy fan is looking to change that with the first Copenhagen International Comedy Club, which takes place at the Bremen Theatre in central Copenhagen from September 23rd-26th.

 

"I really wanted to break the monopoly on Danish stand ups in Copenhagen," Thomas Marschall, the club's founder, tells The Local. "I think there's a big audience in the city for English-speaking comics with a broader world view and a more sophisticated kind of comedy. The scene could do with an injection of diversity. A little competition will hopefully encourage the local comics to up their game."

 

Comedy aficionado Marschall is a former CEO of an international technology company. When travelling the US and the rest of the world with work, he would spend his evenings in the local comedy clubs. Over the years, he began to draw up a wish-list of comedians he would like to bring to Copenhagen. The club – part of a larger Copenhagen Comedy Festival – is a realisation of that.

 

"We have a line up of some brilliant comics, not just from the States – we have Darren Maule from South Africa, who is great on the clash of races. We have Iceland’s best comic, Ari Eldjarn, who has some great material about the Danes; an amazing Irish comic, Colm O’Regan; a fast-rising New York-based Jewish comedian, Ari Shaffir, and another big name from the East Coast, Robert Kelly.

 

"Bringing overseas comics to Copenhagen can give the kind of perspective Danish comedians rarely offer, they cover material Danes often don’t dare to because they have the authority to do it – they actually are Jewish, or black, or whatever. It kind of gives them more of a right to go where Danish comedians might fear to tread. But, of course, most importantly, they are just very, very funny."

 

The Copenhagen International Comedy Club is at Bremen Theatre from 23-26 September. As a special offer for readers of The Local, we have 150 tickets to give away. To get your free ticket, simply share the Copenhagen International Comedy Club's Facebook page as we have done here and then send an email to [email protected] with the day you'd like to attend. Tickets are also available via Billetlugen.