Very little in the way of subject matter is off-limits to Swedish comedian Jesper Odelberg. In fact, even life with cerebral palsy—something Odelberg knows about firsthand—is fodder for laughs. Jesper Odelberg hit the comedy circuit about 15 years ago after being inspired by a friend’s success in the field. Today, he’s a regular on Norwegian comedy show Rikets Rost.
Cerebral Palsy Skits
On the show, Jesper Odelberg takes part in a variety of hidden-camera skits in which he’s placed in roles someone with cerebral palsy isn’t normally seen in. For example, Jesper Odelberg has played a tattoo artist as well as a doctor who administers acupuncture. He’s also been cast as a mock dentist, a role he comments on by saying, “If I was a patient coming to the dentist and I saw a cerebral palsy dentist there, I’d go nuts myself.”
Boys on Wheels
Taking his sense of humor out on a limb is nothing new to Jesper Odelberg, so it wasn’t a huge surprise when in 1996, along with two friends, he found a new way to entertain the masses—he formed the band Boys on Wheels. Like Odelberg, the other two members of the band also use wheelchairs. The group has adapted the lyrics of popular rock songs so that they’re more in line with the sense of humor behind Jesper Odelberg’s stand-up routine.
Disability Stereotypes
From the start, the group set out to parody both boy bands and stereotypes about disability. When they first started, Boys on Wheels even went so far as to hire a dance choreographer, but in the end they worked their routines out on their own. When asked by Norway’s Vice magazine which song is his favorite, “My Balls are OK” is the song Jesper Odelberg pointed to. “It’s the only song that I can stand up for, because it’s true,” he says.
Boys on Wheels video montages scattered about YouTube boast more than a million views. In one of them, the Boys have turned Bon Jovi’s hit “Living on a Prayer” into “Living in a Wheelchair.” The ‘80s hit “Take on Me” by Norwegian band A-Ha is instead called “I’m Not Gay” in the Boys’ world.
The evergreen ballad "Heaven" also takes on new life with the Boys’ lyrical makeover:
“Baby, you're all that I want, but you're living on the fifth floor. I'm finding it hard to get there, in my wheelchair.”
Jesper Odelberg says even his own girlfriend was offended by the song "Making Love in the Handicap Toilet." But conduct a simple Google search and you’ll find many more fans who do enjoy the fact that the group is somehow carving out a cyber space where it’s okay—and encouraged—to laugh along with someone in a wheelchair.
While the Boys’ performances are clearly designed for a good time, they’re not exclusively about fun. Jesper Odelberg says one of his big motivations for performing is trying to challenge stereotypes about people with cerebral palsy.
“The worst thing that could happen is that people would think of it as a freak show instead of comedy,” Jesper Odelberg told Vice magazine.
