Review: Magnus Betnér Live, The Assembly Rooms (Venue 20)

By Jay Richardson
Published on 29/08/2012 15:12

Swedish comedian Magnus Betnér is glad the Olympics are over because he likes his news to be news and prefers the darker side of life, though he can’t mark the Games’ passing without highlighting Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl’s influence on opening ceremonies.

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Fond of a contentious statement, asserting his informed intelligence and shock comic credentials in a single breath, even he struggled to derive humour from the murders alleged against Anders Breivik – that is, until the Norwegian’s father revealed the extent of his paternal responsibility. The “Batman killings” in Colorado, the Julian Assange rape trial, suicidal animals and Islamophobia – Betnér’s preoccupations are bleak, controversial and sensitive.

There’s a daring to the boundary-crossing that occasionally feels gratuitous. But while a few of his musings don’t really catch fire tonight, you wish more comics had his stomach and topical inclinations. For all his nonchalance, the avowed atheist is self-aware on the religious upbringing that still inhabits him when confronted with the possibility of meeting his maker. And he superbly picks apart the absurdity of a British law that can punish a man for watching video of himself engaged in consensual sex. Betnér rarely goes for the easy line and is a refreshing antidote to smug consensuses.

Until tomorrow. Today 8:45pm.