Davíð Þór mourns lifelong friend and comedy partner Steinn Magnússon

Davíð Þór Jónsson, a priest at Laugarneskirkja church, is mourning his childhood friend and longtime comedy partner Steinn Ármann Magnússon, who died two days ago, mbl.is reports.

“I feel as if I am missing an arm, and it feels unreal to be standing here talking about Steinn’s death,” Davíð Þór said. “It has not quite entered my sense of reality.”

Their friendship began in their teenage years and later developed into more than a decade of close professional collaboration in radio, television, stand-up comedy and writing.

The pair were pioneers of Icelandic comedy. The Radíusbræður first appeared on radio in the early 1990s and quickly became known for their unconventional and often unrestrained humour. They later brought their comedy to the stage and television and were among those who helped establish stand-up comedy in Iceland.

“You feel half-numb. He had been my best friend since we were about 14,” Davíð Þór said.

Although they had been in less contact in recent years, he said their long period of working together meant they could complete each other’s sentences. “When we met, it did not matter whether it had been months or days since we had last seen each other.”

Davíð Þór described Steinn as an exceptionally talented, inventive and creative actor who could move effortlessly between very different roles.

Steinn acted in films and television productions including Astrópía, Hross í oss, Stella í framboði and Ófærð. A generation of children also knew him as Keli the cat from Stundin okkar.

“He could act in children’s programmes and make children love him, and also perform the roughest comedy imaginable. He could turn around completely as if it were nothing, and that made him extraordinarily versatile,” Davíð Þór said.

He described his friend as down-to-earth and unconcerned with promoting himself as an artist or presenting acting as an achievement.

“He was a little from the Marlon Brando school: learn your lines and be careful not to trip over the furniture. In other words, do not make too much of the fact that you make a living by pretending.”

When Radíusbræður became successful, different opportunities opened up for the two friends. Steinn began receiving acting roles, while Davíð Þór was offered work translating and writing scripts.

“Steinn was a much better actor than I was, so everyone thought he was the actor and I was the writer. But Steinn had no less to do with the scripts than I did,” Davíð Þór said.

He cited the 1997 RÚV Christmas series Klængur sniðugi, which they wrote together, as an example of Steinn’s creativity. The series became popular with children.

“Whole episodes were Steinn improvising, while I tried to keep up and write down what poured out of him. He was, as they say in good Icelandic, a larger-than-life character.”