Info comedy by Olof Olsson
Info and booking:
email: info@infocomedy.com
phone: +45 50 300 201
instagram: @info_comedy
Driving the Doubts Away —
an info comedy*
What do you do when doubt is killing you?
Upcoming performances 2024–2025:
Thursday 28 November, 19.30, MØN, 44MØEN, Fanefjordgade 44, Askeby
80 kr at the door, under 26 half price, 44Møen members for free.
Saturday 7 December, 19.30, VIENNA, KOHLENRUTSCHE, Am Tabor 29
Tickets at the door. 12 € — including two gin and tonics.
Friday 13 December, 19.30, LEIPZIG
Details to be announced.
Thursday 16 January, 19.30, COPENHAGEN, DEN FRIE, Oslo Plads 1
Ticket sales to be announced. E-mail to reserve!
Friday 17 January, 19.30, COPENHAGEN, DEN FRIE, Oslo Plads 1
Ticket sales to be announced. E-mail to reserve!
Friday 31 January, 19.30, EBELTOFT, GLAS — Museet for Glaskunst, Strandvejen 8
Ticket sales to be announced. E-mail to reserve!
Friday 25 April, 19.00, AARHUS, PERFORMANCERUM, Galleri Tese, Graven 21
Free entrance!
About Driving the Doubts Away — an info comedy*
To capture reality and at the same time what it conceals.
Marcel Broodthaers — Documenta 1972 catalogue text
How do jokes work? What is the difference between high culture and low culture?
Why do people hate performance art?
Driving the Doubts Away is an info comedy* about a confused teenager (Olof Olsson) who wants to be an artist, somehow gets into art school — and gets even more confused. Throwing light on the main plot are digressions on billionaires, Valhalla, Mars bars, free coffee, Austrian wine, sparkling water, and much more. At the heart of the confusion stands Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, a urinal turned sculpture in 1917, which in 2004 was voted the most influential art work of the 20th century.
Driving the Doubts Away features 200 illustrations and five original songs.
Duration: 60 minutes + a 15-minute break + 60 minutes = 2 hours 15 minutes.
When touring, Olof travels by boat and train, bringing a premium sound and light system for an audience of up to 150 people. No further equipment or tech support is needed.
*) An info comedy consists of 40% information, 30% comedy, 20% autobiography, and 10% melodrama.
Voices on Driving the Doubts Away:
“Olof Olsson is the secret lovechild of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Lady Gaga.”
Sarah Gampel, poet and film-maker
“It’s a pleasure to be able to appreciate something so well done on every level.”
Ronah Sadan, researcher in art history, Aarhus University
“Olof Olsson is the best thing that has happened to Marcel Duchamp in Scandinavia since the turn of the millennium.”
Oliver Stilling, editor and journalist
“Driving the Doubts Away is mind-blowing; in the midst of laughter a door opens to a feeling of vertigo; to something much larger than either stand-up comedy or art theory.”
Marie Wennersten, producer, Swedish Radio, Drama Department
“Olof Olsson is a unique performer, who dares to ask: ’what makes high culture so high?’ With humour and sharp intellectual analysis Olsson skewers the art world, as well as himself.”
Miriam Frandsen, curator, dramaturgist, and project manager, Toaster Copenhagen
“By way of his joyful contrivance, Olsson pushes past the art world desire to be taken ‘seriously,’ and he is thus able to escape both the skull-sized kingdom of the self and the prison pedestal of art.”
Macon Holt, critic and researcher in popular culture, Copenhagen Business School
“Olof Olsson has done it again! His performance lectures are surprising, incredibly funny and thought-provoking. His unique combination of profound knowledge and light-hearted associations is highly satisfying; at times even moving.”
Torben Sangild, art and comedy critic
“Olof Olsson has invented a genre ahead of its time. An artwork in the form of stand-up, with curious facts and zany comedy — spellbinding, and ingeniously questioning what we take for granted as reality. The soul, the funny bone, and the intellect — leave the performance inspired and filled to the brim.”
Sira Stampe, actor and clown
“A child rarely gets the best parts from each of their makers, but if stand-up and the art world are the illegitimate parents of this performance — info comedy is gene pool genius! Olof the performer blends his own personal story with artist biographies and curious facts — spiked with cute self-irony. I mean that non-ironically. I’m a fan, huge. I laughed, and felt smart, and smarter. It just doesn’t get better.”
Letitia Despina, author and founder of Super Bookstore, Copenhagen
Olof Olsson: Bio
Olof Olsson is the product of the 1960s charter tourism industry. His Dutch catholic mother and Swedish protestant agnostic social democrat father met on Mallorca.
In his youth Olof made attempts in photography, journalism, and as a pirate radio DJ. After having studied English, philosophy and translation theory at Lund University, Olof went to art school at Konstfack in Stockholm and the Royal Academy in Copenhagen.
Olof did his first exhibition in 1992: a fictitious story about a photographer suffering from photomania. Since 2007, Olof performs info comedy — a combination of lecture, comedy, autobiography and melodrama — interspersed with conceptual folk music songs.
Olof’s first feature-length info comedy Driving the Blues Away, premiered in 2011; after each performance the manuscript was refined. In 2016—2017, Olof performed Driving the Blues Away weekly in his Copenhagen one-room apartment (with an audience capacity of twelve), constantly upgrading the script. By early 2020, Driving the Blues Away had been performed 122 times in 19 countries.
After three years of writing, and nine previews, Olof’s second feature length info comedy Driving the Doubts Away premiered at Kunsthal Aarhus in May 2023, and was presented by SixtyEight Art Institute for two sold-out shows at Copenhagen’s Lygten Station in September 2023. After another year of script fine-tuning, Driving the Doubts Away — is now very ready go on tour.
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Driving the Blues Away —
an info comedy
Voices on Driving the Blues Away:
“It’s top notch.”
T.S. Høegh, poet, performer and musician
“It’s a must see.”
Michael Thouber, director, New Carlsberg Foundation
“I leave it elevated.”
Line Rosenvinge, journalist, in Børsen
“Olof Olsson is a star.”
Michael Jeppesen, critic, in Information
“My belly hurts from laughter.”
Monika Lipšic, independent curator
“A supernova of stream of consciousness.”
Kim Kilde, art critic, in Kopenhagen
“A highly intelligent comic play with language, symbols and political connotations.”
Martina Scherf, journalist, in Süddeutsche Zeitung
“His discerning linguistic tone turns the humblest things into objects for closer study.”
Maria Kjær Themsen, art critic, in the book Berørt.
“It’s something between jazz improvisation, gentle irony and silent excellence that create the core Olof’s work for me.”
Michal Novotný, director of the collection of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery, Prague
“It’s a wild experience on every level. It’s touching, enriching, and enlightening. I hope everyone gets the chance to experience Driving the Doubts Away.”
Ane Fabricius, award-winning ceramicist
“Assembling things from heterogeneous domains, exploring baroque resonances between consumer goods, philosophers, daily objects, etymologies, mythologies, religions, animals, culture vultures of contemporary and non-contemporary culture, the big shots of the new technologies — it’s the kind of cocktail I truly appreciate.”
Paula in Paris
About Driving the Blues Away — an info comedy
What connects Toblerone to Bill Gates, waterbeds, orange juice, Coca-Cola, the Virgin Mary, and Immanuel Kant?
Olof Olsson takes you on a mind-bending trip of comic infotainment.
Driving the Blues Away is an info comedy racing through the histories of art, chocolate, cola-drinks, personal computers, philosophy, and theology. Along the way there’s a romantic melodrama – where Olof’s almost partner is seduced by an ultra famous software entrepreneur in the tax-free shop of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport. The whole thing is steeped in Olof’s twisted love of language: “Our language and the world are not always hooked up one-to-one. It’s a mess, and that makes us nervous. But it’s a funny mess.”
There’s no better way to drive the blues away, than Driving the Blues Away.
Driving the Blues Away has been performed in Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The script is continuously refined.
The performances take place in theatres, night clubs, art spaces, apartments, and whatever else that’s imaginable and suitable. The Copenhagen performances are often held in Olof’s apartment on Østerbro. You will always get full info of where to go when you book. Since the size of the venues vary a lot, so do the number of available seats. So in some cases the performances are sold out as quickly as you’re able to pronounce the word phenomenological.
Past performances of Driving the Blues Away:
2011
TUESDAY 25 OCTOBER, 20.00 KØBENAVN, at Griffenfeldtgades Akademi
FRIDAY 18 NOVEMBER, 16.00 VILNIUS, at the National Gallery of Art
SUNDAY 4 DECEMBER, 20.00, BERLIN, at Air Berlin Alexanderplatz
2012
FRIDAY 20 JANUARY, 18.00, TALLINN, at KUMU Art Museum
SATURDAY 09 JUNE, 15.00, KASSEL, in Karlsaue
TUESDAY 26 JUNE, 18.00, HOLBÆK Kunsthøjskole
FRIDAY 20 JULY, 17.00, KASSEL, at Hugenottenhaus
WEDNESDAY 15 AUGUST, 20.00, BERLIN, at Picture Berlin
SUNDAY 2 SEPTEMBER, 18.00, KØBENHAVN, at Copenhagen Art Festival, Caféteatret
THURSDAGY 18 OCTOBER, 19.00, PORTLAND, OREGON, Publication Studio
TUESDAY 23 OCTOBER, 20.00, VANCOUVER, Western Front
2013
WEDNESDAY 27 FEBRUARY, 20.00, ZÜRICH, at Corner College
SATURDAY 16 MARCH, 20.00, AMSTERDAM, at Rijksakademie
FRIDAY 22 MARCH, 08.00, GENTOFTE, at Aurehøj Gymnasium
SUNDAY 19 MAY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Hitparaden, Pumpehuset
2014
MONDAY 20 JANUARY, 11.00, KØBENHAVN, at Vera
THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER, 20.00, BUCAREST, at Salonul de Proiecte
WEDNESDAY 05 NOVEMBER, 20.00, BUDAPEST, at Trafo
TUESDAY 09 DECEMBER, 20.00, KRAKÓW, at The Academy of Fine Arts
2015
TUESDAY 24 FEBRUARY, 16.00, FU-BERLIN, at Institut für Deutsche und NL Philologie
SATURDAY 14 NOVEMBER, 19.30, AALBORG, Hitparaden, Platform 4
FRIDAY 27 NOVEMBER, 20.00 TALLINN, Tallinn Art Hall
SUNDAY 06 DECEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, Skibbroen 4
2016
FRIDAY 12 FEBRUARY, 16.00, REYKJAVIK, at the Iceland Academy of the Arts
TUESDAY, 05 APRIL, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
TUESDAY, 12 APRIL, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
TUESDAY, 19 APRIL, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
TUESDAY, 26 APRIL, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 03 MAY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
TUESDAY, 10 MAY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 17 MAY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 24 MAY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 31 MAY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 07 JUNE, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 14 JUNE, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 21 JUNE, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
TUESDAY, 28 JUNE, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 30 AUGUST, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 06 SEPTEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
TUESDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
TUESDAY 27 SEPTEMBER, 20.00, ÅRHUS, at Trine’s – SOLD OUT
THURSDAY 29 SEPTEMBER, 20.00, VEJLE, at Claus’s – SOLD OUT
SATURDAY 01 OCTOBER, 20.00, KÖLN, at Aneta’s – SOLD OUT
THURSDAY 06 OCTOBER, 20.00, WARSZAWA, at Curie City
FRIDAY 07 OCTOBER, 20.00, WARSZAWA, at Curie City
TUESDAY 11 OCTOBER, 21.00, PRAHA, at The Solution – SOLD OUT
WEDNESDAY 12 OCTOBER, 20.00, WIEN, at WTKB Studios
THURSDAY 20 OCTOBER, 20.00, ZÜRICH, at Margit’s – SOLD OUT
SATURDAY, 22 OCTOBER, 20.00, SALZBURG, at Kantine mit
MONDAY 24 OCTOBER, 20.00, OFFENBACH AM MAIN, at Eric’s
TUESDAY 25 OCTOBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN at Olof’s TOUR FINALE
TUESDAY 01 NOVEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
TUESDAY 08 NOVEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at the Royal Academy
SATURDAY 12 NOVEMBER, 19.00, KØBENHAVN, at Thomas’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY 22 NOVEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 29 NOVEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 06 DECEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 13 DECEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 20 DECEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY, 27 DECEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
THUR, 29 DECEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – EXTRA – SOLD OUT
2017
SATURDAY 14 JANUARY, 18.00, SOPOT, the National Gallery of Art
MONDAY 16 JANUARY, 20.00, BERLIN, at Janine’s,
Köpenickerstraße 146/147, Hinterhaus, 4. Stock, Kreuzberg, 10997 Berlin
THURSDAY 19 JANUARY, 19.30, PRAHA, at Aren’s, Dobrovského 20/666, 170 00 Praha
FRIDAY 20 JANUARY, 20.00, LEIPZIG, at Lutz’s,
Naumburger Straße 40, 2. Hinterfhof, 04229 Leipzig
FRIDAY 27 JANUARY, 11.00, BOLOGNA, at Museo Cere
SATURDAY 28 JANUARY, 17.00, BOLOGNA, at Museo Cere
TUESDAY 31 JANUARY, 20.00, WIEN, at Sofie’s,
Jungstraße 158-170/11/R1, Ecke Jungstraße/Schönngasse
THURSDAY 02 FEBRUARY, 18.00, KARLSRUHE, at Hochschule für Gestaltung
TUESDAY 14 FEBRUARY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
TUESDAY 21 FEBRUARY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
THURSDAY 23 FEBRUARY, 20.00, VEJLE, at Kristian’s
SATURDAY 25 FEBRUARY, 20.00, AARHUS, at SPANIEN19C
MONDAY 27 FEBRUARY, 20.00, BERLIN, at Lotte’s
TUESDAY 28 MARCH, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
TUESDAY 20 JUNE, 19.00, MÜNCHEN, at Lothringer 13
TUESDAY 22 AUGUST, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY 29 AUGUST, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
WEDNESDAY 30 AUGUST, 16.00 KOLDING, Trapholt
SATURDAY 02 SEPTEMBER, 20.00 KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY 05 SEPTEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
TUESDAY 12 SEPTEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
TUESDAY 19 SEPTEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
TUESDAY 26 SEPTEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
SAT 30 SEPTEMBER, 14.00, AARHUS, Kunsthal Aarhus – FREE ENTRANCE!
TUESDAY 03 OCTOBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
TUESDAY 10 OCTOBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s
FRIDAY 13 OCTOBER, 21.00, MÜNCHEN, Fotodoks Festival, Lothringer 13
WED 25 OCTOBER, 17.00, KØBENHAVN, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Nyhavn 2
WEDNESDAY 1 NOVEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
MONDAY 13 NOVEMBER, 19.00, PRAHA, Futura Project/Karlin Studios
THURSDAY 23 NOVEMBER, 20.00, BRUSSEL/BRUXELLES, That Might Be Right
SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER, 20.00, PARIS, at Hampus & Joachim’s
SATURDAY 02 DECEMBER, 19.00, LONDON, HACKNEY, at Christian & Regine’s
THURSDAY 07 DECEMBER, 17.30, ARNHEM, Werkplaats Typografie
SUNDAY 10 DECEMBER, 20.00, BERLIN, at Jörn’s – SOLD OUT
THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER, 14.00, COPENHAGEN UNIVERSITY, Roland Bar
TUESDAY 19 DECEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
WED 20 DECEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – EXTRA – SOLD OUT
THURSDAY 21 DECEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – EXTRA
TUESDAY 26 DECEMBER, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
2018
TUESDAY 09 JANUARY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY 16 JANUARY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY 23 JANUARY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
THUR 25 JANUARY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – EXTRA – SOLD OUT
MOND 29 JANUARY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – EXTRA – SOLD OUT
TUESDAY 30 JANUARY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – SOLD OUT
WED 31 JANUARY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – EXTRA – SOLD OUT
MON 05 FEBRUARY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – EXTRA – SOLD OUT
TUE 06 FEBRUARY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – EXTRA – SOLD OUT
THUR 08 FEBRUARY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Olof’s – EXTRA – SOLD OUT
SATURDAY 17 NOVEMBER, 16.00 VILNIUS, at the National Gallery of Art
2019
THURSDAY 24 OCTOBER, 19.00, KØBENHAVN, at Skjold Contemporary – SOLD OUT
FRIDAY 06 DECEMBER, 20.30, KÖLN, at Temporary Gallery
TUESDAY 10 DECEMBER, 20.00, BRUXELLES, at Viktorija & Christian’s
SUNDAY 15 DECEMBER, 18.30, BERLIN, at Gruentaler9, Grüntalerstraße 9, 13357
2020
WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY, 20.00, PRAHA, at The Solution, Vinoradská 122
SATURDAY 18 JANUARY, 20.00, WIEN, at Kohlenrutsche, Am Tabor 29
SATURDAY 25 JANUARY, 20.00, KØBENHAVN, at Kirkegaards Antikvariat
WED 29 JANUARY, 18.30, AARHUS, at Kunsthal Aarhus – FREE ENTRANCE
WED 04 MARCH, 17.00, TALLINN, the Academy of Arts – FREE ENTRANCE
THURSDAY 12 MARCH, 19.30, GÖTEBORG, Hagateatern, Södra Allég. 2 – FREE ENTRANCE