Britn’s Got Taḷnt winr Viggo Venn: ‘I md £10 a gig. Bt lc at m nǎ. Ny pants!’
Transcription of a Guardian article of 1 August 2023
Ɖ Norwījn clǎn, huz hî-viz stripśo wún BGT n tc ovr TicToc, z brññ hiz silinis t a yrt in Edinbra. ‘Smʈñ bigr ɖn m z haṗnñ,’ h sz. ‘It’s ǎt v mî cntrol’
Tyzde, 1 Ōġst 2023
Ẃt z taḷnt? N ẃt z Britiś? Y me nt xpct ɖz cnsiḍreśnz t arîz ẃn woćñ ɖ Oṗtyṇti Nocs de nos jours, ẃr ɖ inṭrests v Sîmn Cawl n hiz jujz disinclîn twdz ɖ fiḷsoficl. Bt ɖs yir’z Britn’s Got Taḷnt wz difṛnt. Ẃn ɖ śoc-herd, hî-viz clǎn Viggo Venn gámbld hiz we t frst prize, ẃć includz a caś’word v £250,000, buz wr hŕd fṛm ɖ crǎd n haclz rezd on sośl mīdia. H’z Norwījn! N h’z nt dspleyñ a scil, h’z jst fūlñ arnd!
“I ʈnc it’s hlerịs,” sz Venn nǎ. “I’m nt Britiś, I d’nt hv a taḷnt, n I wún Britn’z Got Taḷnt.”
Rīdr, Viggo z biyñ dḿr. H hz taḷnt in abundns, īvn f it’s a taḷnt fr fūlñ arnd. Fr Venn z no aṃćr, no red-nozd diḷtant pluct fṛm obskṛti. “Sm ppl ʈnc I startd in Jańri,” h sz, ovr cofi in Lundn on hiz frst de of sins winñ ɖ BGT crǎn. Bt coṃdiwoćrz hv dlîtd in ɖ 34-yir-old’z wrc fr yirz, wɖ sîdcic (n felo grajụt v ilīt clǎnscūl Ecole Philippe Gaulier) Zach Zucker, in hiz ǒn śoz, n az part v a būmñ YC clǎn-cḿṇti ɖt includz hiz partnr Jūlia Masli. H’z bn a fixćr on ɖ fstivlsrcit fr olmst a deced, n h “gigd evri de fr nîn munʈs aftr Covid endd, bcz I’d míst it so mć”.
Ɖt’s ẃ h wz mać-fit, wɖ a hî-viz rūtīn (wn vst hidn undr anɖr vst, hidn undr anɖr vst) pfctd in pubz neśnwîd, ẃn Britn’z Got Taḷnt cem cōlñ. Spīcñ t ɖ pres aftr vicṭri, Venn clemd t hv entrd ɖ śo fr a joc. “Ɖt wz misćiṿs,” h admits, “bt olso a litl bit tru. Mî hol act z a joc, no?” H wnt intu ɖ ōdiśn wɖ a red vst obskrd undr hiz hî-viz vsts, t dsple ẃn h got red-búzd of ɖ śo. “I ʈt jst ɖt clip, v m biyñ votd of n hvñ a red vst, wd b gret fr mî c’rir.”
Z ɖt a clǎnʈñ? Ɖr’z an istabliśt paʈ fr standups, fṛm solowrc t redio t TV panlśoz n bynd. Bt clǎnz? Ɖer ramśacl, inextricbli lîv, ofn sîḷnt (sm se crīpi) śtic z les īẓli acoṃdetd bî ɖ mênstrīm. “Clǎn z ɖ lǒist form v enttenmnt,” sz Venn. “It gz oṗṛsñr, actr, standup, n ɖen y hv mjiśn, stripr n ɖen clǎn at ɖ botm.”
Venn’z luv v ɖs loli artform stemz fṛm ẃn h wz an unhapi īc̣nomicștydnt in Norwe, incǎnṭrñ ɖ gret Americn act Dr Brǎn on hiz frst trip t ɖ Edinbra frinj. “I wz lîc, ‘Ẃo!’ I wz lafñ so mć.” In ɖ tīʈ v p’rentl dis’pruvl, h qit īc̣nomics n wnt t clǎnscūl. Ten yirz on, Dr Brǎn (olso noun az Fíl Bŕgrz) z a frend, n Viggo’z mum wz sitñ bīmñ in ɖ ōdịns at ɖ Britn’z Got Taḷnt fînl.
Hvñ wùd Sîmn Cawl acrs hiz ʈri apiṛnsz, ʈredñ ɖoz sepṛt acts intu an unlîcli naṛtiv arc, Venn nǎ hz ɖ enttenmntwrld at hiz fīt. Wl ɖs ftbōlfan (gidi abt a rīsnt mītñ wɖ Arsnl star n cmpetrịt Martin Odegaard) hūf it awe, or ple cīpi-up? “I’v sd ‘no’ t a lot v ʈñz,” h sz. H’z trnd dǎn evri cmrśl aproć apart fṛm a partnrśp wɖ Wrcwer Xpres, hu nǎ sel Viggo-brandd vsts fr ćaṛti. H’z abt t ple a coṃdi-fstivl in norɖn Norwe fr onli £200, “bcz mî granmuɖr z fṛm ɖr. So I’m stl mcñ stypid dsiźnz.” H’z hvñ convseśnz wɖ TV ppl, abt plugñ ɖ 30-yir gap left bî Mr Bīn. N h’z dwñ tū śoz in Edinbra, wn at midnît, n wn – nt comn, ɖs, amñ rīsnt BGT winrz – in a yrt.
Ɖen ɖr’z hiz YC tur, tîtld Britiś Cmīdịn – bct of ɖ bac v TV glori, n ɖ wn ʈñ Venn z uncompḷcetidli ʈrild abt. “It’s bn mî drīm fr so loñ. N sm v ɖ plesz w’r pleyñ r sooo cūl. Philippe tōct at clǎnscūl abt ɖ nīd t ‘rmembr ɖ ppl v Paris, p on ɖ balc̣ni’. I nvr ʈt I’d b ebl t ple t ōdịnsz on mor ɖn wn flor.” H bīmz at m, a clǎn huz drīmz hv cm tru. “Bfr Britn’z Got Taḷnt, ol I wontd wz t ple in frunt v az mni ppl az I cd. N I stl d.”
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Britiś Cmīdịn z at Muncibaṛl, Edinbra, 16-27 Ōġst. Viggo Venn: Clǎn (Clǎn in Progres) z at ɖ Blunḍgardnz: Majicl SpiegelYrt, Edinbra, 3-7 Ōġst. Hiz tur starts on 23 Octobr at ɖ Steblz, Miltn Cīnz.
