Danish comedian Valdemar Pustelnik creates a picture of general discontent in his first English stand-up show, delivering laughs as big as the man himself. The show is hugely satisfying in its everyday subject matter, for example starting off with his resignation to turning thirty and the sad realisation that he is now too old to die young.
Effortlessly, this charming and rather gruff man turns what could be a very creepy story into a ludicrous anecdote, such as segwaying from listening in on his neighbours into a rather ridiculous analogy involving rivers and zebras. The hot girl next door is one of a number of characters used by Pustelnik to hold up a mirror to the mediocrity of his life, to which we can - most of the time - relate.
Growing up in the Danish countryside is another topic touched upon, as well as being the son of a competitively embarrassing mother who, Pustelnik tells us, did everything in her power to deny him his masculinity. This leads us inevitably to kids and the overambitious and naive expectations he has for his own future children. His plans sounded so much more terrifying than his own childhood; where we would expect the reverse, we see a continuation of the previous theme, creating a wonderful ironic dissonance between the two skits. It is not the most ambitious of comic material but Pustelnik explores these subjects with simple and leisurely observation, edged with a unique quirkiness that warms the entire audience.
On top of all this, there are indeed some sheep thrown in there. The oddities of the show are brilliantly put across and Pustelnik's sheep are one of his many highlights. I have a lot of love for this show and you certainly cannot regret spending a happy hour with this brilliant character.
