Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 5:37 pm Post subject: Norwegian comic takes world standup record
Norwegian comedian has the last laugh
12th September, 2010
theforeigner.no
Norwegian comedian Hans Morten Hansen has all reasons to smile. He recently beat the 38 hour, 6 minute record for the longest solo stand-up comedy show set by Australian comedian Lindsay Webb. The record, first established in 2009 by Irish comic Tommy Kiernan with his 36 hours and 15 minutes now stands at a staggering 38 hours, 14 minutes and 30 seconds.
Hansen acknowledges Tiernan’s record-breaking performance in 2009 as a source of inspiration, though he admits he would have given up if it were not for the support he received. His attempt was closely followed and streamed online. “There were people jumping into their cars and driving for 4-5 hours to see it happen, skipping work and school to cheer me on. You just cannot let them down and quit. You have to push on”, he tells The Foreigner.
Hans Morten Hansen was born in Bergen, grew up in Stavanger, but is now based in Oslo. The non-stop solo exhausting comedy show was closely monitored by a qualified doctor, in this case by fellow comedian Jonas Kinge Bergland, “Naturally it felt great, but the physical and mental strain was tremendous. Just staying awake for such a long period is hard for a man of my age (46). I had several ‘out of body’ moments during the attempt, problems with keeping my balance, tunnel vision, loss of hearing and also the voice took quite a beating,” Hansen said.
Apart from medical supervision, the record attempt is strictly regulated with quite a few rules. “We were informed about this on the day before the attempt started. You need two independent observers to document all breaks and you are not allowed to repeat yourself within a 4 hour window”.
Hansen also tries to adapt material for an English-speaking audience. The oil capital of Norway, Stavanger, has a relatively large English and American population. Most English material is used for oil companies based in the Stavanger region. “It’s not very hard to translate and perform material that is understandable, and hopefully, entertaining for a universal audience” said Hansen. However, some material can be quite sensitive and may not be fully appreciated. “Jokes about specific British or American issues, politics for example, may not be understood”.
That does not mean that Hansen would not value the challenge of testing his material on a British or American audience. After his recent world record achievement, this is a challenge not be laughed at! Hansen is looking forward to supporting iconic Irish comedian, Ed Byrne, in the Great Norwegian Comedy Festival 2010 which takes place in Stavanger in next month.
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Why this clown is wearing a us army uniform is unclear...
Anything you can do, I can do longer Stand-up's new record attempt
chortle.co.uk
Another comic is to attempt the longest solo stand-up show – less than a month after the record was last broken. American comedian Bob Marley will attempt to perform for longer than the 38 hrs 14 mins minutes set by Norway’s Hans Morten Hansen at the Oslo Comedy Festival last month. The charity attempt starts at a comedy club in Portland, Maine, at 7am next Wednesday, finishing in the early hours of Friday.
He said: ‘I’ve got a lot of problems, and I’m going to be working them out… I’m going for the Guinness Book Of World Records for longest performance. I’m freakin’ out but I’ll give it a shot…. I’ve got to go the distance.’ He added that everyone he told about the attempt asks him if he gets a bathroom break, and indeed rules allow five minutes every hour.
Hansen, 46, beat Australian comic Lindsay Webb’s previous record, set in April 2009, by just eight minutes. The previous record-holder was Tommy Tiernan, with 36 hrs, 15 mins.
A new record has been set for the longest stand-up performance, after American comic Bob Marley completed a 40-hour gig. He got a huge ovation from his audience in Portland on passing a previous record of 38 hrs and 6 mins, set last year by Australia’s Lindsay Webb. However, Norway’s Hans Morten Hansen did 38 hrs 14 mins at the Oslo Comedy Festival last month. But still Marley eclipses that.
‘This concludes the first half of my show,’ he said after Guinness officials confirmed he had the record. Eventually he continued for two more hours, finishing at 11pm last night. Marley says he went 18 hours without repeating any material, and he took one 25-minute break for a nap. Record rules allowed him to accumulate five minutes of break time every hour. He also had had to have at least ten (awake) people in the audience at all times. When the show opened at 7am on Wednesday morning there were just 11 punters at the Comedy Connection club – but the audience numbers soon mounted.
He also raised an estimated $10,000 for a local children's hospital through his endeavour. Tommy Tiernan held the record before Webb, with 36 hrs, 15 mins.
Have you heard one about the comedian performing non-stop stand-up for 25 hours?
Alice Jones
31 January 2013
independent.co.uk
It makes sitting in a bath of baked beans look, well, a bit silly. Mark Watson is preparing to perform stand-up for 25 hours non-stop to raise money for the 25th anniversary of Comic Relief. The comedian will begin his marathon gig at 11pm on Thursday 28 February and finish at midnight on Friday 1 March. He has previously performed 24-hour shows at the Edinburgh and Melbourne festivals but vowed never to do it again in 2009. Then Comic Relief called.
“You can’t really turn them down”, he tells me. “And I didn’t want to do something half-hearted when you have John Bishop running and cycling 300 miles and raising enormous amounts. They wanted something a bit more underground and peculiar, an alternative Comic Relief show, if you like. So I want to keep it reasonably shambolic and unplanned. It’s a not a well-drilled 25-hour comedy gala. Basically, I’m trying to plan it, but not too well.”
Star guests are expected to drop in to the show at London’s Pleasance Theatre - Tim Minchin, David O’Doherty and Simon Amstell have showed up to past marathons – but the bulk of it will be improvised by Watson, who will only leave the stage for toilet breaks. “I want to make it pretty uncomfortable for myself. You have to break it up into small chunks, like any endurance event. The trick is to drink, but not too much. The biggest challenge is the voice. After 16 hours, even talking at a conversational volume is a real strain.”
The event will not only be an endurance test for Watson. Audience members will be encouraged to stay the course, paying £25 for a ticket which they will forfeit to those queuing on the door if they leave the theatre for longer than a specified period of time. The show will also be filmed for television and will stream online at the Comic Relief website.
In the spirit of Comic Relief camaraderie, Watson is looking for viewers and audience members to get involved with their own 25-hour sponsored challenges. So far he has signed up one fan to go on 25 dates in 25 hours, another to make a house out of cake, live on stage, and another who will walk from Birmingham to the gig in North London during the course of the show.
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