Review: 100 tapaa nauraa

Dancing to the Straw

Jyrki Karttunen is crazy. But lovely. His new show 100 Ways to Laugh is something everyone must see.


It starts with a jerk at the end of the toe, continues as a shake in the thigh, buttocks, torso and all the way to the fingertips. Eventually, every muscle trembles in the whole face and the earlobes flutter. There is no stopping it. Laughter erupts. Kai Lähdesmäki laughs and it rubs off on the whole audience.

How does laughter result in movement and dance? This is the main theme of Jyrki Karttunen’s new work 100 Ways to Laugh for the Helsinki City Theatre Dance Company. 23 years ago, Karttunen herself made her debut as a dancer in the same building in the work Ballet Pathétique by the then artistic director Jorma Uotinen. After the turn of the year, Karttunen will take over the management himself.

I have to admit that I had my doubts about the theme. Trying to be funny is not easy. The first ten minutes of farting in unison brings to mind a Kappahl commercial from the 90s. But then the show grows with a series of fantastic individual performances.

Jenni-Elina Lehto’s sloppy character is reminiscent of Goofy. She gives a slightly imbecile impression, where she stands and stares out into the air in search of a laugh that does not quite want to appear. The inhibitions in the body and soul become an obstacle to allowing the laughter to grow. For Eero Vesterinen , it’s easier. Laughter gushes out of his funnel-shaped mouth and he snorts so that his glasses fog up. The lanky Mikko Paloniemi giggles infernally like a turkey on nitrous oxide, and Aksinja Lommi’s whining laughter takes over her whole body so that you almost think she will soon burst into a thousand small pieces.

Valtteri Raekallio and Terhi Vaimala impress with their strong movement qualities.

The episode with a group of amateur actors dancing hip-hop still breaks the mood. Why they have been included becomes unclear. If Karttunen wants to engage in art education, it can be done elsewhere.

Then they begin to pop up, first as background figures who, like sugary bumblebees, buzz around and gradually become more and more dominant. They can be described as a mix of yellow Teletubbies and aliens or even dancing smileys with arms and legs.

The strength of the group is accentuated by these yellow mass scenes where circus meets classic silent film comedy. In the beginning, they whirl around on stage more aimlessly, but then their dance ends in an eruption of true joy. The movement language is organic, graceful, accentuating and wild.

In the final scene, Jenni-Elina Lehto floats through the air on the arms of the Teletubbies like an Alice in Wonderland and further down along an undulating sea formed by the yellow creatures rolling along the floor.

The show shows that the division into high culture/popular culture can seem laughable. This is universal and human. Karttunen manages to create a crazy thoroughly sympathetic world that you would like to collect in a box that can be picked up when life feels sour. A good laugh not only prolongs but also gilds life.