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Ye, okay, wikipedia has a fairly alright definition.

Definition: Spex is a form of amateur comedy theatre act written, produced and performed by university students in Sweden and parts of Finland. Usually including musical parody performances of hit songs.

Very cool - although the wiki article is not really useful if you are coming to study in Sweden. Additionally, it fails to convey the spirit of what it is. So, in this blogpost I’ll write a bit about my SPEX experiences and show you some pictures. Hope you find it useful :^)

First thing you should know is that SPEX is hella fun.

It is fun to produce, it is fun to perform, and it is fun to spectate. And you can have fun SPEX-ing at different scales of involvement and production value. So let’s talk about two very different sizes of SPEX.

Tiny SPEX.

Sometimes, a SPEX is just 4 people on stage with funky hats fucking around. And it is fantastic.

During the introductory weeks at the Science Faculty of Lund University. My team of freshmen had to create a spex, the better the performance, the more points. Very nice.

This was around 5 years ago, so I don’t remember what we did. But I remember having an absolute blast coming up with bits, writing a funny song and practicing a ridiculous dance. If you are having fun - the audience will too!

So, at the smallest scale, a spex can be a 3min performance comedy with maybe a single parody song and a dance. No effort at all.

But what if you are a bit more ambitious? Well, you scale things up.

Big SPEX

Sometimes, a SPEX is just 100 people fucking around with a common goal. And it is marvelous! It’s almost inaccurate to call these amateur performances. These are professional amateurs, where professional equipment is used by amateurs for maximum entertainment. Creativity flows, and so does the laughter.

There are quite a few student organisation whose sole purpose is to produce large-scale SPEXes around the year. In Lund, there are approximately 10 big spex organisations. They have performance times staggered through the year, as to not clash with other SPEXes.

Some notable SPEX organisations (or organisations with spex groups) around Lund:

• Var Glad
• Helsingkrona Nation
• Boel
• Lundaspexarna
• Jesperspexet
• Toddy
• etc

You can find the full list here, although it might be out of date.

If you ever find yourself in Lund, it should almost be mandatory to experience a SPEX. But, do be warned, some Swedish proficiency in required. SPEXes are almost all performed in Swedish, which makes them not super accessible. But still a good fun even at low levels of swedish proficiency.

But the most fun way to experience SPEX doesn’t require Swedish proficiency - it is being part of it.

Being involved at Var Glad

(This is the part with many fun pictures)

This year I was part of Var Glad spexarna I had a great time there. I got involved after seeing the recruitment post on Facebook. The production took 4 weeks to complete - 3 weeks of preparation and 1 of performances.

While being involved, I was pleasantly surprised that we all received an informational email with a link to an anonymous form to fill in if we experience any bad treatment or harassment. It is very commendable and makes the organisation feel extra welcoming and safe.

Most spex organisation split their production into teams:

• Manus (writers)
• Scene (performers)
• Band (a small orchestra)
• Technicians (Lights, sound, special effects)
• Decorations (Scene props, well, actually the who scene)
• Costumes (Self-explanatory)
• Cooking (SPEX gotta eat)
• Entertainment (SPEX gotta be entertained)
• Makeup (Keeping us all looking good)

As you can see, lots of different things to do, lots of varied talent (unpaid labour) needed. This wide range of tasks makes SPEX welcoming for all sorts of students. And best of all - you don’t need to know what you are doing. It is an amateur production - you learn on the job, it is great.

This year I was involved in the decor team. I love making things, I’m handy, and making props has been an aspiration of mine for a while! Perfect fit.

So, what is it like being involved?

You show up around 18:00, and grab a free, provided snack.

You work for a bit, until 21:00. Hopefully making something cool. This year we made one exceptionally cool thing. This batmobile.

After a whole evening of work, you get served dinner. You eat together with your fellow SPEXers, sing songs and hang out. Cozy.

Every Friday, we also have a sittning (party with 3 course meals, singing and dancing). Best thing about partying at a SPEX - you have expensive, lighting, audio equipment as well as access to some incredibly talented people.

The biggest highlight was our ‘horns team’ ripping a fat riff off of the dance song’s baseline. The atmosphere is fantastic, and you are partying with a cozy gang of nerds. Can’t recommend enough.

During the last week of SPEXing we assemble the stage and have two days of practice runs. During these, we adjust the sound, everything is checked, lighting is finalised, etc.

Being behind the scenes during the performances is quite exciting and fun. People are just vibing and getting into the performance spirit.

Or sometimes we just dance to the song playing on stage.

Lastly, time for disassembly and getting out of the facilities. As soon as the last public performance wraps up, we start dismantling the stage. The plan is to get out of the space by next morning. So, the entire stage gets dismantled, and loaded up on the truck together with the rest of our equipment.

I’ve been involved in a large variety of student organisations at Lund University, and until now, I’ve not had this much cozy fun being involved at any previous one.

If you are studying at Lund University, I highly recommend trying out being involved in a SPEX production. You’ll make lots of friends, and you will. have. fun.