The University’s Funniest Student 2020

Photo/Kjartan Magnússon

Translation: Ásdís Sól Ágústsdóttir

Comedian and philosophy student Vigdís Hafliðadóttir won the annual Funniest Student contest, which was held in the Student Cellar in early March. A reporter from the Student Paper met up with Vigdís to talk about the competition.

Background includes poetry and improv

Vigdís is from Laugardalur and went to Hamrahlíð College, where she was active in the school’s theater scene. After graduation, she attended a “vísnaskóli” in Sweden. A “vísa” is a type of song with substantial lyrics that each person can interpret in their own manner. Vigdís also co-hosted the podcast Veistu hvað? (“You Know What?”), produced by RÚV Núll, and she is in a practice group for the Icelandic improv collective Improv Ísland. “Even though I’ve gained a lot of experience, I’m still always like, no, I won’t be taking this any further. Who would even want to watch me?” says Vigdís with a smile and a laugh.

Hesitating is the same as losing

When asked what led her to enter the Funniest Student competition, Vigdís says she had been considering it for a long time. “I always thought to myself, I’ll just participate next year, and then I never did.” This year, she decided to go for it, only to realize the application deadline was the day before. “Then it occurred to me: hesitating is the same as losing.” So she decided to contact the event organisers. They responded positively to her request and allowed her to participate. 

Put pantyliners under her armpits

“My set for the Funniest Student contest was based on stories from my own life, just lightened up and reworked a bit,” says Vigdís, adding that she slipped small jokes in between the stories. “My set was very similar to the one I did in the semifinals, except it started out a bit more fun because I was wearing a dress and realised on my way there that the color of the dress would make my sweat stains very visible.” Vigdís did what she had to do and stuck some pantyliners under her armpits. Shortly before stepping on stage, she felt the pantyliners begin to loosen up underneath her dress. She went to the bathroom, but could only find one of them. She told the audience all of this so that if they saw a pantyliner fall out from under her dress in the middle of her set, they would know it was from the armpit area. “It was nice to begin with this because it was spontaneous. Before I even got into my written material, I felt that the audience was very much on my side.” Vigdís says she prefers working with material from her own thoughts and experiences: “There’s no one else who has experienced exactly what I have.”

More confident than ever before

Vigdís hopes that winning the competition will open some doors for her. After all, she’s long had a desire to put herself more out there. “However, this is a sucky time to be discovered, as they’ve cancelled all the events I had booked,” she notes. But she adds that she may be able to make a name for herself in the future. In fact, she has more confidence than ever before. “But if the dream doesn’t come true, then I can always just blame COVID-19 rather than myself,” says Vigdís, laughing.