Kierkegaard Comedy Show @ C Aquila

Søren Kierkegaard, the short-lived continental philosopher whose work led to the movement known as existentialism, was certainly interesting enough a historical figure to merit a one-man show. His life was decorated with quirky (or even insane) stories, such as the fact that his father insisted that he bring home the third-best grade from school because then he would have to learn the psychology of the marker and how good the other boys were, or the fact that he examined the girl he sought to marry from the age of 14 so that he may court her into marriage when she was eligible, and when he succeeded, broke off the engagement. And what is more, as Claus Damgaard kindly informs us, “Kierkegaard is not something to be read in order to look smart at parties – the work of Kierkegaard is there to be lived!”

If, “nothing can be more dangerous than making scholarly learning of what should be practical,” as we are nudged to consider, following the only hilarious passage in the piece where Claus throws self-help book after self-help book onto the ground – commenting sardonically on the Kierkegaardian relevance of each – then why is this piece so dry?

Damgaard seeks to convince us of the relevance of Kierkegaard’s writings for us today, reading quotations from an iPad and commenting on their significance. The man once said: “Things will get so desperate that they will have to make use of desperate people like me.”

Is that time now?

Until his protégés put down their iPads and make what he has to offer accessible, we will never know.