There are two kinds of people at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival - those who run screaming from the phrase ‘Kierkegaard Comedy Show’, and those who run shouting towards it. As a former Kierkegaard scholar, I very decidedly belong to the latter category. That bias declared, however, I cannot imagine Claus Damgaard's thoroughly bizarre, slightly self-deprecating blend of stand-up and nineteenth-century existentialist Danish philosophy making much sense to anyone without a relatively good knowledge of Kierkegaard's writings. Adopting the role of a Kierkegaardian aesthete, a man seeking to ‘create himself’ within the confines of social interaction, Damgaard plays up his flirtatious dandyism for black humor (a recurring joke about his nice suit is particularly effective), insisting that Kierkegaard can help him take control of his life, get over his manipulative ex-wife and help him into the knickers of a ‘princess’ he sees across the room at a tango.
At its best, the Kierkegaad Comedy Show is gleefully strange, veering wildly through odd bits of anti-humour, Kierkegaard's quotes (read from a ‘generation four’ iPad), intentionally awkward audience interaction and winding tangents about Damgaard's fictitious ex-wife. At worst, though, the piece is a bit too in love with its own cleverness - the pace slows substantially in the middle, and the Kierkegaard references and inside jokes get too obscure even for a Kierkegaard fan. Damgaard is a charismatic performer, expert at playing the role of a Kierkegaardian dandy, but at times his quick delivery gets in the way of clarity: words and sometimes whole phrases are gabbled or lost.
For those who can't tell a Kierkegaard from a Kant, this comedy show will hardly be amusing. But for fans of Søren, Damgaard's piece may prove an entertaining, if obscure, way to spend an hour in the afternoon.
