Reykjavík Grapevine - 29.06.2018, Blaðsíða 56
SALKA VALKA
FISH & MORE
SkólavörDustígur 23 • 101 reykjavík
Steamed Fresh Fish, Traditional Icelandic Fish ‘Stew’, Fish & Vegan Soups,
Smoked Salmon & Vegan Toppings on Sourdough Bread, Beer, Wine, Coffee & more
handknitted.is
t +354 552 1890
Skólavörðustígur 19 • Borgartún 31
BUY
DIRECTLY
FROM
THE PEOPLE
WHO
MAKE
THEM
Maybe I’m The
Problem
Jono Duffy’s got 99 problems and they’re all him
Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photo: Art Bicnick
“ So I was working at Kiki,” Austra-
lian comedian Jono Duffy chirps,
sipping a white wine. He takes a bite
of toast before abruptly waving his
hand around, indicating the story
must be restarted. “Ok, so when I
lived in Australia I was very much
the twink. I had platinum blonde
hair and my whole life was living
on one sandwich because no one
will love you if you’re not skinny,
you know?” He laughs and takes
another sip. “But then I discovered
this thing called socialising, which
involves beer and I gained a little
weight and grew a beard.”
Jono motions down to his body,
proudly showing the efforts of his
increased socialising. “So, then I
was working at Kiki,” he continues,
back to the original story. “Early one
evening this guy comes up to me
and asks if he can buy me a drink,
and I say no and he says oh that’s
a real shame because I only came
here because my friend texted me
that they finally have a cute bear
working at the bar.” Jono pauses
and gets into character. He mimes
casually looking around the bar. “I
was like, where? Then I realised, oh,
it’s me. I guess I am a bear now.”
He breaks down into laugher.
It’s effervescent, but so are all in-
teractions with Jono. No matter the
topic, he exudes vivacity, naturally
turning every conversation into
a heart-to-heart, or better yet, a
tête-á-tête. Onstage, he’s just as
enchanting, with an empathetic
comic flair that makes you want to
hide him in your pocket just so you
can hear him narrate your life. It’s
a true gift.
This year, Jono will be bringing
his comic chops to the Reykjavík
Fringe Festival, where he’ll be pre-
miering his new solo stand-up show
‘I Wouldn’t Date Me Either.’
Kimmy Schmidt,
the bear
The show revolves around Jono’s life
since breaking off his long-term
relationship in 2015, just before
moving to Iceland. “At the time,
the last time I had been single the
iPhone didn’t exist,” he says. “I felt
like Kimmy Schmidt, emerging like
a mole woman from a cellar. I didn’t
even know what Grindr or Tinder
were.”
He laughs and takes another bite
of toast. “I had to learn about dating
and romance and getting fucked up
and getting fucked, all those things
people normally do in their early
20s, but I was 30.” Shrugging in a
faux-dramatic fashion, he leans in
and speaks directly into the micro-
phone. “I will say though, if I have
dated you in the last three years, I
will probably be talking about you.”
He gives a coy smile, but he’s defi-
nitely not joking.
While the show certainly has
its fair share of steamy sex stories,
Jono emphasises that it will tackle
so much more than just romance. In
‘I Wouldn’t Date Me Either,’ issues
like self-esteem, ageing—hence the
bear story—and the gay community
at large will be brought to the fore-
front and intimately examined by
the seasoned comic. No one is safe.
… Shit
“When I started dating again in
Australia, oh I feel so sorry for those
guys,” Jono says, visibly cringing.
“Every date was pretty much me
downloading how terrible my life
had been and then three days later
getting very confused about why
they didn’t message me back.” He
laughs, and then pauses, as if not
knowing how to approach what he
wants to say next.
“I stopped dating in Australia
when I went home with a guy who
removed the condom without telling
me and then afterwards told me he
was in a polyamorous relationship
and didn’t know if he was positive
or not,” Jono says carefully. He’s
referring to the man’s HIV status.
Jono immediately went on PrEP to
prevent the infection. What followed
was a painful month. “Oh, there are
so many side effects you can get on
PrEP and I got all of them,” he says,
laughing exuberantly. “I couldn’t
trust a fart!”
It’s in these moments that Jono’s
comedic brilliance shines though.
He can take the darkest topics—
things most won’t even broach—and
find the kernels of humour in them.
In doing so, he acknowledges stig-
mas while at the same time break-
ing them. Exposure to HIV is not
uncommon among gay men, and the
reactions to PrEP are well-known.
Jono recognises the seriousness of
the topic, while at the same time
pointing out the ridiculous parts of
it. To boil it down: Shitting yourself
is funny.
Pedants not wanted
After leaving Australia, Jono went
on a dating crusade around Europe
before settling in Iceland. Differ-
ent nationalities, he gushes, date
very differently. “Swedish people
are very concerned with how equal
everything is,” he notes. “I went
on a date with a Swedish guy. We
had pizza and wine and when the
bill came, he got out his phone and
calculated how much each slice of
pizza and glass of wine would cost
and then presented me with a figure
and asked if he could just pay that
because that is all he consumed.” He
mimes looking at a bill skeptically.
“It should have been a red flag, but
I didn’t leave.”
In Iceland, his second puberty
came in full force as he navigated
his way through the tight-knit Ice-
landic gay community. “People ask
me what’s like being gay in Iceland
and I say it’s the Hunger Games,” he
declares, before pausing to take off
his jacket. Underneath, his shirt has
a plump hairy man coyly posing on
it. Bear pride.
“Yes, here in Iceland there’s 10
of us and we all represent different
districts. There’s 101, 105, you know,”
he states this truth starkly before
narrowing his eyes. “We meet up
once a month at Kiki and fight.”
Sashaying away
But the crux of Jono’s story is that of
personal growth. “With every crazy
standout date, they’re all on me,” he
says. “I think for every story I tell
about some weird person I’ve dat-
ed, there’s ten about me being that
weird person.” He shrugs, a little
embarrassed but clearly at peace
with his crazy bitch past. “Eventu-
ally though,” he continues, “I came
to the realisation that I needed to
work on loving myself, you know,
in the words of RuPaul.”
He puts his hand up and takes
on that faux-dramatic affect again.
“But really, the show is just the song
Taylor Swift should write,” he says.
“‘Maybe I’m The Problem.’”
Jono Duffy wouldn't date himself
56The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 11 — 2018Culture