They were drunk. Really drunk.

The set at Europa went well although we had to rush from there to The Village Lantern so Yannis missed his set. In retrospect i think he would have rather stayed behind. The audience at our second gig was very, very drunk. And loud... And drunk, did i mention that?

It's rare that you see an audience behaving like that. They really didn't give any of the comics before me a chance to do anything. If it would have been in Sweden I probably would have just walked off the stage, but hey, I'm here for the challenge. Somehow i actually got the two loudest drunks to shut up. Edited what little material I did out of there and kept some 7 minutes of me trying to stop hecklers. I really have no patience with audiences being like that, but somehow i kinda enjoyed it yesterday. Hope you do to.

One more spot tonight.

Also doing a spot at Europa nightclub in Williamsburg. Show starts 8 pm. After that I go over to Village Lantern on Bleecker for a spot there. That show starts at 9 pm.

My barber Gary.

I've always wanted to have my own barber. Not only to cut my hair, but to shave. Now I do. Or at least I've had him the past 2 weeks. One of the many, many things I'm gonna miss about New York is Gary's close shave with the straight razor. (Photo by Helena)

We had a real fun show at Bar 4 yesterday. I ended up not doing the stuff I had planned but doing some stuff i wrote yesterday and a lot of improvisations. Worked really well. Sadly i forgot my camera...

Tonight I'm on at The Village Lantern again. Show starts at 9 pm and The Lantern is located on Bleecker St between Sullivan and Thompson. Drop in!

The last couple of gigs.

Tonight I'm back at Bar Four in Park slope, Brooklyn. Think I'm gonna try some new stuff. It's always a fun show. Stop by if you're in Brooklyn.

Tomorrow, back at the Village Lantern for another show there and after that i might do another spot somewhere. Wednesday I'm going out of town for a gig at Michaels Tavern in Pleasantville. Really looking forward to that!

Then on thursday we top it all of with a farewellgig at Building on Bond. That is one that you do not want to miss.

Hoboken tonight.

Leaving for a cigar at Bar and books in a minute. After that (and most likely a couple of drinks) we are heading for Shades Restaurant in Hoboken. It's a really nice place. I'm doing a short set and Yannis is headlining with a long one, so if you're in town...

Shades restaurant inside the monroe arts center.
720 monroe st hoboken, nj.
Show starts at 9pm.
Doors open at 8.
10 dollar cover charge.

Also got a couple of more spots before leaving New York in a week. Will keep you posted.

We partied like gentlemen.

Yesterday was one of the best nights so far. First we did a show at The Village Lantern and after that we went to Bar and Books and really enjoyed a couple too many cigarrs and drinks. Think i got home at 4.30 in the morning or so... Like a gentleman.

My set went well yesterday so I figured i might as well post all of it, just in case anybody is interested in my progress (or lack off). Most of the stuff I did has been posted before but i think there is some new stuff in there as well.

I might have a spot tonight, but I'm not sure yet. If not I will probably pop by Zinc Bar on w 3d street to have a look at Jordon Ferbers show. If I'm workning somewhere I will try to post it here before i leave.

New dates, New York and London.

Just updated my calendar (at the bottom of this page) with a lot of dates in London. Going there for 5 days in june and a week in october. More will probably be added soon.

Also added a few more gigs here in New York. Tonight I'm at The Village Lantern, saturday at Shades in Hoboken and sunday at Bar 4. And of course, the big farewell-show at Building on Bond april 2nd. Do not miss that one. Do not!

Yesterday i found a new favourite place, just a couple of blocks from here. Bar and books. A place where you can have a nice cigarr and a nice drink in a really, really nice setting. Apart from that fucking music on their webpage, everything is just perfect.

I killed yesterday.

Sadly I didn't get it on tape. The show was way to long. I was way to cold. And when Donnell Rawlings called me Magnum from Australia for the second time in a row, I just lost it. And losing it is apparently good for me. Really sad I didn't film it. The club did though, so I'm gonna see if I can get a copy from them.

For now, I found another subtitled clip about religion. It may seem like religion is all I ever talk about, but I guess thats fine. Other stuff will come soon. This clip is from my last DVD, released 2007. A new one is to be released this spring.

Laugh Lounge tonight.

I tried a lot of new stuff yesterday. Some I will do again and some I will definetly not. Was a fun show. Brooke Van Poppelen did a really nice set.

Tonight I'm gonna be back at Laugh Lounge on lower east side. It's a really nice room and It's worth going for host Donnell Rawlings alone. So do.

Starts 8.30. Tickets and info:

http://www.laughloungenyc.com/

Brooklyn tonight.

Don't miss this intimate free show hosted by Yannis Pappas, you never know who is going to drop by and tell jokes, also DITCH FILMS shorts, the last show was so fun and crazy and the people who were there know what i am talking about! don't miss it 8:30 PM

Yannis Pappas
Joey Gay
Brooke Van Poppelen
Magnus Betner (Sweden)
Joselyn Hughes
soul joel richardson
and others

come check it!

Bar 4 on 444 7th ave and 15th street (corner)

Working tonight.

Zinc Bar went well yesterday. Tried some new stuff about Obama and the economy that I'm gonna try to get on tape tonight. After my gig there I went over to Kabin on 2nd ave. and saw some of the best comedy I've seen during these 3 months. Sadly I am extremely bad with names... The only one I remember now i Sean Patton, who I will do a show with on april 2nd.

Yannis ended the show with a set packed with political stuff that I really enjoyed. You really don't get a lot of political stuff on the comedyscene here. If you do it's bound to be about race.

I have a gig tonight at 8 pm. Place is called Think Coffee and is located at 1 Bleecker Street (& Bowery) Be there!

Comedy 2 Go.

Yesterday we shot a Comedy 2 Go with Ditch Films. I think it's going to be awesome. The location was a killer!

I did maybe 20 minutes of my material on religion and they will edit that down to about 5-10 minutes i guess. They have done Comedy 2 Go with Jason Rouse, Mårten Andersson, Bill Burr, Donnell Rawlings and lots of others. Really looking forward to being a part of that. Check the entire series out.

I will probably post some more pictures from the shoot later. Both Helena and Jesse was snapping away so there should be loads of good pics. For now though, you will have to make do with my crappy cellphonepicture.

Tonight I'm at Zink Bar. I've said it before, but it is really one of the coolest rooms I've ever worked in. If you are in town, don't miss it.

Zinc Bar, recently re-located to 82 west 3rd st (between Sullivan and Thompson) is proud to announce that Comedy is finally back! Every Thursday Jordon Ferber hosts a different line up of some of the best comedy NYC has to offer.

Featuring:
Matt Maragno
Mike Gaffney
Magnus Betner
Jessica Kirson!

hosted by Jordon Ferber!

$8 cover, two drink minimum.

Clip from the Dungeon.

I had a good time at the Comedy Dungeon yesterday. Decent crowd who was really there for comedy and some swedes even showed up. Did like 12 minutes, mainly concentrating on improvising new stuff. Sound isn't great, but here is some of it:



Now I'm off to buy a bible. Doing a Comedy 2 Go with Ditch Films tomorrow and I need one for that. Really looking forward to it! Tonight, celebrating S:t Patricks Day at Building on Bond.

Comedy Dungeon tonight.

The first gig i did here in january was at a very cozy little place called The Comedy Dungeon. Tonight I'm going back there for another spot. It's a free show on upper westside so check it out if you in town.

The Comedy Dungeon Jazz on the Park Hostel
36 W 106th St (St between Central Park West and Manhattan Ave)

Show starts at 8.30 pm.

After that i might do another spot somewhere, but I have no details on that...

Filmed my gig at Shades, but most of what I did is already posted in other clips, so I won't post anything from there. Check out www.youtube.com/betner2 if you want to see all the old clips.

Comedy Cellar VS Wicked Monk

Thursday night we spent at The Comedy Cellar. One of the most recognised clubs in New York. I guess you could say that when you are a regular at the Cellar, you have in some sense made it. It should be a great show. Every night. It wasn't. Apart from James Smith, who was the first comic to hit the stage, none of them had done their homework. Apart from James, and the first 10 minutes of Judah Friedlander's set it was a really bad show although the room was almost packed.

Every single comedian took the stage and started talking to the audience. The same members of the audience. Same questions, same response. If you must talk to the audience, please, please, please look at the performers before you so we don't have to hear the same shit over and over again.

Wasn't much better when they started doing material either. The Octomom, planes landing on the Hudson River and the election was 3 very dated and booring subjects shared by almost all of the comedians. One of them even went in to his old Bush-jokes. Write new stuff! And if you don't write new stuff, at least don't do the same old stuff as all the others on the same night. I want my 12 bucks back.

Yesterday was another thing entirely. The Wicked Monk in Brooklyn is more like a scene from Fightclub than a comedyclub. The room is very narrow and long with some really, really drunk Irish people at the very end. They constantly heckled the comedians and basicly gave everybody a hard time. On top of that, the PA wasn't the best I've worked with. But still, it was so much more fun than the Comedy Cellar. To do 10 minutes in that room and get the audience to listen is a real challange. Some of us pulled it off and some didn't. To be honest, I don't know many that could. Yannis headlined and kept the audience in the palm of his hand for 40 minutes. Now, THAT is a pro.

So, if you ever get the choice between Comedy Cellar and the Wicked Monk, the choice should be fairly easy. At least if Yannis is headlining.

My set went well, so I'm really looking forward to tonight when I will do 20 minutes at Shades restaurant in Hoboken, NJ. Do not miss that if you are in New York today.

New dates in Stockholm, London and New York.

I just updated my calendar with gigs where I will do my stuff in english. Some in Stockholm and some in London, where I will spend a couple of days to do comedy in june. You will find a calendar at the bottom of this page where i post all my gigs in english.

Tonight I'm probably going to Comedy Cellar to watch some comedy at 11pm. Before that I might do an open mic, just to try and get the flow back before the gig in Hoboken on saturday.

The day will be spent trying to teach my voicerecognition software dirty words. Bought it yesterday and I think it will be a fantastic way to work, once I get it to dictate correctly. Just imagine being able to walk around the appartment just talking to the computer and get it all jotted down.

Shades on saturday.

I'm back in New York again! Really looking forward to my last 3 weeks here. They almost didn't let me through customs. Apparently I've been here too much lately.

Anyway, I'm gonna have a few slow days to get some rest after an intense week in Sweden, but on saturday I'm on stage again. If you are in New York, don't miss it. I'm doing a 20-minute set on the restaurant Shades in Hoboken, NJ.

It is gonna be a great show and here is where it's at:

Shades restaurant inside the monroe arts center.
720 monroe st hoboken, nj
Show starts at 9pm.
Doors open at 8.
10 dollar cover charge.

Also got news that I'm going to be in a great show on april 2nd. More about that one later.