Elfie Tromp - Aai Poesje Aai Poesje ^première

Humor as a weapon and investigation

In Aai Poesje Aai Poesje, Elfie Tromp reflects on the question of what humor actually does. She combines a cabaret show with a personal investigation into the workings of the joke. Tromp examines how humor grants someone power, or conversely, takes it away. Charles Darwin called humor a form of aggression: a way to exert dominance over the 'victims' of a joke. Based on this idea, Tromp tests various propositions about humor on stage and shows you how to become the one who laughs last.

Personal memories as a starting point

Tromp draws from her own background. She grew up with male relatives who, while intoxicated, imitated their favorite comedians. Sexist and racist jokes took center stage, and everyone laughed along. During her adolescence, she began to ask herself more and more often: what are you really laughing at? Tromp is a theater maker, writer, and performer. She graduated as a playwright from the HKU, wrote three novels and a poetry collection, and served as the city poet of Rotterdam. Her work can be described as feminist punk cabaret: engaged, musical, and disruptive.