Life Wins
Juha Jylhäsalmi |
The Komediafestivaali On The Road summer tour was supposed to visit 12 cities. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many summer theaters canceled their performances for the entire summer, and now the tour will roll through only six locations. Venue capacities have been halved, so only a quarter of the tickets I originally planned are on sale for the tour. Still, I’m glad that under these circumstances we can do anything at all. The tour kicks off on 31 July in Äänekoski, at Kievarin kesäteatteri. Joining are stand-up heavyweights Ali Jahangiri, Ilari Johansson and Niko Kivelä. To me, this especially proves that life wins, even if the world may never return to what it was.
When in March I watched with a friend KalPa’s final home game of the season on TV, which they had to play in an empty arena, I started to feel the same as before the 1993 matriculation exams. I felt, how on earth will we get through this. That’s how an event producer’s very different spring began. In the following weeks I canceled gigs and cautiously followed up on invoices. I soon concluded that early June would come too quickly and six months of work would go to waste, because I would have to cancel my life’s work, known as Kuopion Komediafestivaali. In the end I canceled and rescheduled a total of 52 booked gigs. In a few weeks, €120,000 disappeared from revenue.
On May Day eve, as I gazed out of my office window lost in thought, I saw a crow flying past my window with a bagel in its beak. A gull flew after it, screeching. The scene felt like a May Day eve from days gone by. Even the ice cream truck’s jingle sounded like cracking open a beer on a summer cottage pier after a sauna. The ordinary started to feel like luxury. Later that evening a Central Finland entrepreneur friend called me, who was spending May Day eve in his garage with a bottle of booze in his hand, worrying as more than 20 years of work crumbled before his eyes. It was a Kaurismäki-esque scene from real life. We talked long into the night and together pumped air back into our lungs.
All spring I felt that if I started thinking about the future through the darkest forecasts, my strength might drain away completely. I tried to think of mental coping strategies. I’m an event producer, so together with stand-up comedian Teemu Vesterinen, born in Saarijärvi, I developed forest gigs, where a ticket cost €100 and the audience was capped at nine. Now in July, Teemu is doing his fifth forest gig, so we turned a fun idea into a small business. For the summer’s comedy festival I had brought in 50 partners. My goal was to raise €25,000 with the event for hope ry, which helps low-income families. We didn’t, but I didn’t give up. In May I called all the partners and presented plan number two. The idea was to create the Elämä Voittaa -festivaali for September in Kuopio. Most partners have promised to stay onboard, so the event will happen and the program will be published in mid-August.
Before that, however, we’ll do the summer tour. I’m quite sure that when, on 31 July, the evening’s host Ali Jahangiri runs out before the audience at Kievarin kesäteatteri, my eyes will moisten. I know the Äänekoski show will stay with me forever. At the show it will be impossible not to think that life wins.
Juha Jylhäsalmi
Comedians on the bill:
Ali Jahangiri
If you’re looking for a playfully nice stand-up
comedian, that’s not Ali. Ali is an intelligent and fierce social
commentator and comedian, whose shows create a sense of danger. Stay home
to watch Jaajo on TV, or join the Ali adventure.
#socialcommentary
#improvisation
#stronglanguage
Ilari Johansson
This perennial favorite’s strength is an absolutely wonderful Ilariness,
which resonates year after year. The gravelly Savonian bloke conjures
with the audience a magic world where pomposity gets blown away. In the front row you’ll get
a new hairstyle!
#improvisation
#audienceinteraction
#observational
Niko Kivelä
A fantastic storyteller familiar from TV and radio,
and a commanding performer who brings to life with his mime and
voice characters, objects and everything else needed. Or we’ll just
talk about life in a way you can feel. Lovable.
#improvisation
#stories
#upbeat