Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.07.2019, Blaðsíða 16

At Soulflow Comedy, a new show
happening every Monday night at
Gaukurinn, everyone is included. The
weekly event, which will showcase
exclusively women and queer perform-
ers, is causing a shockwave in the Reyka-
jvík comedy scene. “Comedy can feel
really intimidating,” says Kimi Tayler,
one of the organisers. “What we all
want is a space where people can feel
like they’ll be supported.”
The core of our souls

“Soulflow came from our hearts, deep
from the core of our souls,” says Krúz
Estée, another one of the organis-
ers, lounging on a couch at the venue.
Katrín Björk, the third organiser, nods.
“We’re always trying to encourage more
women and queer people to be a part
of the comedy scene here,” she chimes
in. “And when Gaukurinn, which is a
really friendly and progressive place,
approached us, it seemed like a good
platform.”
It may seem surprising that nothing
like this has ever been done before in
Reykjavík, but Kimi emphasises that,
in many ways, the comedy scene here
is not as diverse as you’d expect it to
be. “I came here five years ago after
doing comedy in London and, when I
was starting out I was shocked at how
limited it was,” she says. “I met come-
dian Jono Duffy, and he was present-
ing himself as the only gay comedian
in Iceland. I couldn’t believe that was
the case, but it really was. That’s partly
because Iceland’s comedy scene is so
young of course—it’s moving at a pace,
but there’s still a way to go.”
New talent, safe spaces

Apart from providing a welcoming
space for women and queer comedi-
ans, Soulflow also aims to help amateur
comedians get onstage. “It can be a
bit intimidating to get into comedy
here,” explains Katrín. “There are a
lot of comedy shows where everyone’s
been doing it for a very long time and
there’s not much visibility for people
trying it out for
the first time, so
as an audience
m e m b e r y o u
start to think it’s
impossible. It’s
going to be one
of our main aims
to help a lot of
people to try it
out.”
T h e i r f i r s t
s h o w, w h i c h
takes place on
July 15th, will
certainly provide plenty of opportuni-
ties for new comedians. In the first half,
there will be improv games where the
stage will open up to anyone in the audi-
ence who desires to show their stuff.
Seasoned comedians will be on hand to
answer any questions or concerns from
the newbies. “When you’re starting out,
you want a safe space,” says Kimi. “If
we can create something like that, it
would be really special, and it’s what
we would have wanted when we were
starting out.”
A diverse form

In the long term, the group is inter-
ested in moving beyond the traditional
stand-up comedy you’ll usually find in
Reykjavík. “Comedy is such a diverse
form,” explains Kimi. “But it can some-
times get stuck as just being stand-up
comedy. We’ve got an opportunity here
to really diversify and bring in many
more kinds of
comedy, such as
musical comedy,
or character or
sketch comedy.”
This diversity
is reflected in the
very make-up of
the group. “I’m
a weird one! I
haven’t ever done
stand-up,” laughs
Krúz. “However,
I do something
called freestyle rap
and do rap battles and a lot of quick-
witted bullshit. This is a passion project
for me in a way, because I love this place
and love the concept so much.”
Every kind of response

The comedy scene in Reykjavík is still
small and with Soulflow now taking
the prime Monday night slot at Gauku-
rinn, there’s still a question of whether
or not they could get some less than
positive responses. Katrín laughs
when asked about this. “I hope we get
every kind of response!” she says. “We
want to open up a lot more doors and
windows,” says Krúz reflectively. “It’s
Reykjavík in 2019, and there are still no
women or queer shows, and consider-
ing there is comedy available every
evening here, it’s about time there was
some visibility for us.”
Creating Their
Own Space
Soulflow brings women and queer comedy nights
to Gaukurinn
Kimi, Katrín and Katrín, dismantling the patriarchy
Words:
Felix Robertson
Photos:
Patrik Ontkovic
News 16 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 11— 2019
"It’s Reykjavík in
2019 and there are
still no women or
queer shows. It’s
about time there
was some visibility
for us."
Comedy
Night
See Soulflow at
Gaukurinn every
Monday night