Times have changed since Jon Niklas Rønning (43) and partner Anders Bye (41) won comedy awards and toured to full houses under the undisguised name Bye & Rønning. In the last 10 years, the two master parodists have more or less gone their separate ways. Bye has kept a low profile, while Rønning has taken Facebook’s humor market by storm. Parodies and skits have been replaced by satirical shows that have really gained traction with the very special target group “We who share humorous clips on Facebook”. Always too late Viral value notwithstanding, I have always struggled with the timing of Rønning’s musical antics with news photos. To try one of his own tricks: Rønning’s satirical antics have one thing in common with the VY trains – they always arrive a little late. When the Jon Niklas alarm goes off, the news dust has usually already settled a few months, even years, in advance. It’s forgivable when it comes to organic, digital spread, but when you take it to the stage to tour over a year-long period, it’s a risky game of chance. IMPRESSIVE INTERACTION: Andreas Haga, Lise Voldsdal, Jon Niklas Rønning, Pernille Øiestad and Ole M. Aagenæs together have excellent comic timing. Photo: Finn Rune Christiansen For simple satire With “Back to the Present” Rønning has used the same recipe for success as with “Jeg Reiser Alene” from 2019. The first numbers show the security of performing with a familiar format. A couple of randomly selected audience members are given the roles of props in a musical cavalcade over the past four decades. The cavalcade was born from a good idea: We stop discovering new music after the age of 22. This means that a 45-year-old who is constantly trying to renew himself with beer brewing and golf gets stuck in the wheels of his musical habitus. It doesn’t matter how modern you try to be if it’s still running in Ace of Base, sort of. Then there is this with the gross, satirical simplifications and timing problems, then. At the same time as the 45-year-old, a 20-year-old also undergoes the test. This target group is certainly not something that Rønning understands very well – young people are best described as a wailing bunch of people with AirPods in their ears. Well, it is a tabloid and, in theory, a comical description, but if it is to have satirical value, it must go deeper than that. WATCH ON news TV: Solo show with Jon Niklas Rønning. The show is a personal, funny and self-deprecating performance filled with topical humor and insightful considerations. Musical highlights “Back to the Present” is a musical revue/cabaret where the accompanying musicians take on the heaviest duties. Pernille Øiestad, Ole M. Aagenæs, Lise Voldsdal and Andreas Haga are impressively played together, professional and blessed with excellent comic timing. STRONG VOCALIST: Pernille Øiestad is actually so good that she is roughly worth the ticket price alone. Photo: Finn Rune Christiansen If you’ve had enough of long-used-up jokes about the four-year-old theme “shaman Durek”, you can sit back and enjoy the musical ensemble’s unique work. Rønning himself has then also put together some shows which cannot be said to be anything other than pure Ole Paus tribute. “The person I am now” is a self-reflective little matter almost free of comic points, but which probably has a strong nostalgic value for most people born around 1979. The lyrics are well-constructed and generous with inner soul life, and show a comedian who is not afraid to give seriousness the place it deserves. Classic in the making The satirical timing problem continues with the already-played-to-death parody song “The Finest Tesla”, a song that took its victory lap in 2022. It’s about a car that had its best sales year in 2019, i.e. once again four years behind schedule. After a couple of rounds of Røkke having moved to Switzerland and the rent being crap, something as rare as a well-written and precise critique of the “woke hysteria”, as male, white comedians like to call it, actually comes. The sketch “Extraordinary parents’ meeting” shows a school class in radical change as a result of a new sensitivity reader. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a bigger audience response than when the final credits land here, even if you get a certain aftertaste when the demographic composition in the hall is what it is. In any case, the text is brilliantly written, delivered and punctuated. It is a colossal highlight in an otherwise uninnovative satire universe. Here we are dealing with another Facebook classic in the making. A FANTASTIC BAND: Pernille Øiestad and Jon Niklas Rønning on stage during the performance “Back to the present”. Photo: Finn Rune Christiansen No surprises Very few go to Jon Niklas Rønning’s performance with butterflies in their stomachs – there are no frightening inventions or new tricks. Safe and good, harmless and warm. The satire that gasps for the contemporary is perhaps a good tool to reach the vast majority of people – because who hasn’t heard of Voi, shaman Durek and Sophie Elise by now? Then everything is in place to be able to recognize oneself in one or another pointed formulation, even as predictable and out-of-date it is. As a comedian, Rønning is a light and free vanilla ice cream, but it is the musical content that gives the show its life’s worth. In addition to a fantastic band, there is no denying that Rønning, in collaboration with seasoned Trond Hanssen, has a unique ability to attach words to sheet music and make it resonate with an audience with one goal in mind: A glass of red wine and a chuckle every now and then, thank you. news reviews Photo: Stand Up Norge Title: “Back to the present” Time and place: Premiere in Apotekergaarden in Grimstad on 29 June and played at the same place until 22 July. På Latter in Oslo from 10 January 2024. Director: Vemund Vik Text: Jon Niklas Rønning, Trond Hanssen and Vemund Vik. Produced by: Stand Up Norway and Aronsen Booking & Management by Arne Aronsen. Sound design: Kjetil Husøy. Lighting: Olaf Aadne Photo: Finn Rune Christiansen / Stand Up Norway Well done! I am Espen. I am a freelancer who writes about music and humor for news. You’ll find all the latest at news.no/reviews. More recommended humor reviews:
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“Back to the present” by Jon Niklas Rønning – Reviews and recommendations
