In a nightlife landscape where safe, openly queer stages are still rare, Kabarett arrives in Reykjavík with a clear intention: to be a home.
A home for drag, burlesque, standup and live music. A home for weirdos, misfits and outsiders. A home where all performers and queer people are treated with respect, not as decoration.
What makes Kabarett unusual is not only its stage, but also what is poured into the glasses. It is the first and only meadery in Iceland combined with a cabaret club. Behind it stand Siggi, Sigurjón Garðarsson, a former visual effects artist turned brewer and venue owner, and Dan Zerin, a performer and long time bartender who calls Kabarett a fight for the local and the independent.
From visual effects to mead and a cabaret stage
Owning a small brewery in Iceland is notoriously difficult. Large distributors control most bar taps in the country, leaving little space for local producers. For Siggi, who had spent 25 years working in film and TV on Emmy winning and Oscar nominated productions, that problem became a turning point.
“Big distributors own the tap systems and only allow their products. There is no room for smaller producers,” he explains. “I wanted to offer what we make here in Reykjavík. Our mead from Öldur and our beer label Hella Bjór. That led me to the conclusion that we needed to open something of our own.”
At the same time, another passion was growing.
“I have always loved stage arts: drag shows, burlesque, standup. So I thought, why not bring these two passions together?”
What might sound like an unlikely combination on paper mead and cabaret quickly became a coherent vision in reality. A place where local craft drinks,legendary tacos from Hveragerði Tacovagninnt and local performance share the same heartbeat.
Falling in love with drag and burlesque
When I first met Siggi, I expected “more of a rock and roll heavy metal guy”. Hearing that he was a fan of drag and burlesque surprised me.
“That started when I began dating a burlesque performer,” Siggi recalls. “I got pulled into that scene and fell in love with it. What is not to love?”
For Dan, the connection was immediate and political.
“One of the things that drew me to this place early on was the spirit behind it,” he says. “It felt like a fight for small, independent creators rather than feeding capitalism. We want the people actually making the product to receive the profit and have a chance to grow.”
We do not want to be the new Gaukurinn or Kiki, Kabarett is unique and different.
Kabarett’s selection is 99 percent Icelandic: beer, mead and liquors from local distilleries. In the kitchen they develop their own cinnamon and chili whiskey. “It is a way of celebrating Iceland one bottle at a time,” Dan adds. “And a way of doing something for the community.”
Not Gaukurinn 2.0, not Kiki 2.0
Kabarett is Siggi’s first venue, after gaining experience at Brewdog when it opened in Reykjavík. He is quick to point out that he relies heavily on Dan’s input. From the start, the concept was meant to be more than just a bar.
“When we first talked about it, it sounded like a home for burlesque performers,” Dan remembers. “But it quickly grew into something larger, a stage for everyone. Especially now, with Bird closing, we felt there needed to be a space for queer performers, burlesque, drag and other artists. A space where they are treated with respect. Many venues use nudity to sell drinks instead of respecting art. Here we want a real stage where people present their work: music, poetry, standup, burlesque, drag. A place for everybody.”
I have a trans son, he is 17. Experiencing the backlash and hatred that queer people face, made me feel strongly that creating a safe space matters
“We do not want to be the new Gaukurinn or Kiki, Kabarett is unique and different,” Dan says. “We want to create the first true cabaret bar in Iceland. A space for weirdos, misfits and outsiders, but also for the classy and elegant. A place where everyone can meet and celebrate art.”
Personal reasons for creating a safe space
Behind the concept of a “space for everyone” stands a very personal story.
“It is very iportaint to me,” Siggi says. “I have a trans son, he is 17. Experiencing the backlash and hatred that queer people face, made me feel strongly that creating a safe space matters.”
On the day of the interview, they had just come back from the doctor.
“He was approved to start hormone therapy. It was a happy day. He is still my child, I love him the same, and I do not understand how parents can turn away. That is why this space matters.”
Dan’s path to Kabarett is also rooted in lived experience. He grew up in the United States surrounded by homophobia, spending years hiding who he was.
“When I moved to Iceland, I finally felt I could be myself,” he says. “I came out as pansexual and the reaction was basically: okay, cool, want a beer? That is the energy I want here. Leave the bullshit at the door. Inside, you can breathe. As long as someone is not violent or disrespectful, everyone is welcome.”
I came out as pansexual and the reaction was basically: okay, cool, want a beer? That is the energy I want here.
Accessibility as a core value
Kabarett is not only a queer friendly venue, but also one of the few nightlife spaces in Reykjavík that is fully accessible to disabled people.
“In other venues I worked at, people in wheelchairs had to be carried upstairs, which is not even legal,” Dan recalls. “Here we have a ramp, an elevator and an emergency ramp. People who were excluded can simply come in. That means everything.”
For the team, accessibility is not an add-on but part of the same philosophy that shapes their approach to queer safety and artistic respect.
What audiences can expect at Kabarett?
On stage, Kabarett offers drag, burlesque, standup, concerts, open mic nights and experimental formats that play with traditional show structures.
“We want people to feel like they are seeing something unique, not something they have seen before,” Dan says.
The programming strategy also takes into account the economic realities of the audience.
“We are planning to only have one of each type of show per week so people can afford to attend and not choose between five of the same kind of events,” he explains. “Everyone gets their night.”
For Siggi, that diversity is the essence of the project.
“That is what cabaret is about. Diversity. Not just one thing, but all of it.”
In a city where openly queer spaces and accessible stages are still limited, Kabarett positions itself as something more than just a new bar. It is a cabaret club, a meadery, a political statement and, above all, a home for those who need a place to step into the light.
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Sigurjón Garðarsson is the founder of Kabarett, the first cabaret venue and meadery in Iceland. Before opening the space, he spent 25 years working in film and television as a visual effects specialist, contributing to Emmy winning and Oscar nominated productions including Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and War for the Planet of the Apes, Hunger Games and Sherlock Holmes
After years of working abroad and being separated from his three children, he returned to Iceland and discovered a passion for brewing. Together with a friend from the Home Brewers Club, Helgi Þórir Sveinsson, he began producing mead, eventually launching the Kabarett project.
A passionate supporter of queer rights and the father of a transgender son, Siggi created Kabarett as a safe and respectful home for queer performance, community and artistic expression.
Dan Zerin is a multidisciplinary performer, stand-up comedian and creative based in Reykjavík. With formal training in opera and guitar, he later transitioned into comedy and performance, developing a distinctive stage language that blends musicality, humor and sharp storytelling.
He is the creator and host of My Voices Have Tourettes, a comedy project and podcast that brings neurodiversity into the spotlight through intelligent, self-aware humor. Dan performs regularly and has worked for over a decade in Reykjavík nightlife, from bartender to venue manager, helping shape the local performance scene.
Dan also performs in drag as Twitchy Love, who does stand-up comedy and is the lead guitarist of the drag pop punk band The Gender Benders.
As one of the managers of Kabarett, he plays a key role in developing the artistic identity of the venue and curating programming that supports drag artists, burlesque performers, musicians and comedians. His mission is to build a stage where performance is taken seriously as craft and community, and where diverse artistic voices can thrive.