Birgitta Sigursteinsdottir and Ester Sveinbjarnardottir grew up in Iceland listening to folk stories and mythology from their native land. These stories were silly, lacking a clear point, and often times not meant for children. During their 45 minute sketch show, Ice Ice Iceland, they use limited props, slightly under-rehearsed acting, and a limited opening narrative to highlight how ridiculous these seem to those not indoctrinated.

The sketch show begins with Sigursteinsdottir and Sveinbjarnardottir acting out the 13 different Icelandic Santa Clauses. At first, you aren’t sure what is going on as the show starts abruptly and without much of an introduction. This leads to the first few minutes of the show not quite setting the tone, as the two then move on to more modern stories, such as the time former United States President Bill Clinton ate at a hot dog stand. However, after these first scenes, the true joy of the performance begins. The pair move on to the more outlandish and nonsensical Icelandic myths. The pair do well to take the time to highlight when the story suddenly ends, with a weird moral arising from the strange tale. This helps to frame the show, which could have been done earlier in the performance. However, this does not derail the show as the acting talent of the pair complement each other well and keep you interest. Whilst Sigursteindottir does well with accents and characters, Sveinbjarnardottir performs physical comedy and more loud and boisterous roles.

The pair only started doing the sketch show recently at the Reykjavik fringe in July 2019. Therefore the show feels a bit rushed at times, and the two can stumble over some of their lines whilst also trying to stay in character. However, the general charm and freshness of the sketch show made this quite an enjoyable experience. The sloppiness of the show also works well with the overall gobbledygook of the material from which these stories derive. This makes for a beautifully imperfect performance that should be refined as the pair continue to perform Ice Ice Iceland.