Carl-Einar Häckner: Handluggage

Swedish comedian Carl-Einar Häckner is a weird, mumbling, goofy guy whose comedy mainly relies on how crap he is at magic and how many times he insists on the crowd clapping louder for every lame, ridiculous trick he throws at us. One of his repeated gags is to come in and out of a fake airport security portal, cross his hands over his chest, shimmer his fingers and whisper the word ‘magic.’ By about the fifth time he does this, you will laugh just from how knowingly stupid it is.

Coming from Sweden, Ikea jokes are a must, with Häckner using some of their famously unreliable furniture as props throughout the show. To demonstrate how to be a magician, he plays an educational cassette, but mistakes the instruction to ‘use a bandana’ for ‘use a banana’ and, you know, comedy ensues. He mixes in some good tricks with the shit ones and plays a few funny songs—one of them even leads to a crowd sing-a-long in broken English.

Häckner wins you over at around the part of the show where he fits a harmonica into his mouth and by the end, you’ll be standing up with the rest for an ovation set to the tune of the Swedish national hockey anthem. Turn your brain off and enjoy the show.