Hans Teeuwen
Encyclopedia
Hans Eduard Marie Teeuwen (born 3 March 1967 in Budel
, the Netherlands
) is a Dutch
comedian
, actor
and an occasional singer
and director
. His work can be described as absurdist
, apolitical
and confrontational
.
festival
Cameretten for his show Heist, together with Roland Smeenk. Just before the ending of the try-outs
of this show, Smeenk died in a car accident in 1992.
Teeuwen decided to go solo as a 'cabaretier
'. (Dutch cabaret is a sort of stand-up comedy
often lasting for an hour or two, which has a storyline or theme, and can include song
s, music
and poetry
as opposed to purely stand-up comedy.) Initially he did five shows, Hard en Zielig (Hard and Sad, 1994–1995), Met een Breierdeck (With a Breierdeck, 1995–1997), Trui (Sweater, 1999–2000), Dat Dan Weer Wel (2001–2002, a free translation of the title into English could be On the Other Hand) and Industry of Love (2003–2004). Then after seven years he made a come-back in 2011 with his show Spiksplinter (free translation: Spick and Span, as in 'spick-and-span-new'). One of the other comedy projects he has worked on is Poelmo, Slaaf van het Zuiden (Poelmo, Slave of the South), a series of shorter comedy shows with his friends and colleagues Pieter Bouwman and Gummbah. Bouwman and Teeuwen also worked together on a radio comedy show that was mainly improvised, called Mannen van de Radio (Men of the Radio).
comedy group Jiskefet, he acted in the 1999 film Jezus is een Palestijn
(Jesus is a Palestinian). Together with Theodor Holman
he co-created the idea for the film Interview
, directed by Theo van Gogh
in 2003 (and remade
in 2007 in the USA
by Steve Buscemi
). He wrote and directed the film Masterclass in 2005. A couple of years later, he starred in the film Gewoon Hans (Just Hans), written and directed by friend and colleague Diederik Ebbinge from comedy group De Vliegende Panters ("The Flying Panthers"); this film premiered on Dutch television on 30 December 2009, and was released on DVD in January 2010.
in an Amsterdam
nightclub
, ultimately resulting in a DVD
entitled Hans Teeuwen Zingt (literal English: Hans Teeuwen Sings), on which he sings songs by artists such as Billie Holiday
and Frank Sinatra
, together with his band
. In 2008, Teeuwen performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival
. He released a CD
consisting of self-written songs, entitled How It Aches, in March 2010.
and close friend Theo van Gogh
. However, in 2007 he decided to try a new challenge: performing in English
. He appeared at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe as part of the Amsterdam Underground Comedy Collective, which spurred him to do a longer show. In 2008 he performed solo at the Soho Theatre
in London
. He also returned to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2008, and performed at Suffolk's 2008 Latitude Festival
. In October 2008, he performed a show in the Leicester Square Theatre, London that was recorded for a future DVD release.
In 2009, he performed at the Leicester Comedy Festival
and the Belfast Festival at Queen's
.
, in real life Teeuwen has repeatedly and openly acted as a fervent supporter of freedom of speech
, especially after the murder
of his friend Theo van Gogh. His eulogy
and speech at the unveiling of a statue in memory of van Gogh were an example of his views. A video clip
of Teeuwen advocating freedom of speech while being interviewed by three female Muslim
TV presenters has been chosen as "Dutch TV Moment of 2007".
Budel
Budel is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Cranendonck, 25 km outside Eindhoven. Kempen Airport is located near Budel.Budel used to be a separate municipality...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
) is a Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and an occasional singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. His work can be described as absurdist
Surreal humour
Surreal humour is a form of humour based on violations of causal reasoning with events and behaviours that are logically incongruent. Constructions of surreal humour involve bizarre juxtapositions, non-sequiturs, irrational situations, and/or expressions of nonsense.The humour arises from a...
, apolitical
Apolitical
The state or quality of being apolitical can be the apathy and/or the antipathy towards all political affiliations. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased position in regard to political matters.-References:...
and confrontational
Off-color humor
The term off-color humor is an Americanism used to describe jokes, prose, poems, black comedy, blue comedy, insult comedy, cringe comedy and skits that deal with topics that are considered to be in poor taste or overly vulgar by the prevailing morality of a culture...
.
Theatre
In the Netherlands, Teeuwen became well-known in 1991 when he won an award at the Dutch cabaretCabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
Cameretten for his show Heist, together with Roland Smeenk. Just before the ending of the try-outs
Preview (theatre)
Previews are a set of public performances of a theatrical presentation that precede its official opening. The purpose of previews is to allow the director and crew to identify problems and opportunities for improvement that weren't found during rehearsals and to make adjustments before critics are...
of this show, Smeenk died in a car accident in 1992.
Teeuwen decided to go solo as a 'cabaretier
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
'. (Dutch cabaret is a sort of stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
often lasting for an hour or two, which has a storyline or theme, and can include song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
as opposed to purely stand-up comedy.) Initially he did five shows, Hard en Zielig (Hard and Sad, 1994–1995), Met een Breierdeck (With a Breierdeck, 1995–1997), Trui (Sweater, 1999–2000), Dat Dan Weer Wel (2001–2002, a free translation of the title into English could be On the Other Hand) and Industry of Love (2003–2004). Then after seven years he made a come-back in 2011 with his show Spiksplinter (free translation: Spick and Span, as in 'spick-and-span-new'). One of the other comedy projects he has worked on is Poelmo, Slaaf van het Zuiden (Poelmo, Slave of the South), a series of shorter comedy shows with his friends and colleagues Pieter Bouwman and Gummbah. Bouwman and Teeuwen also worked together on a radio comedy show that was mainly improvised, called Mannen van de Radio (Men of the Radio).
TV & film
Apart from a few comic parts with popular Dutch absurdisticSurreal humour
Surreal humour is a form of humour based on violations of causal reasoning with events and behaviours that are logically incongruent. Constructions of surreal humour involve bizarre juxtapositions, non-sequiturs, irrational situations, and/or expressions of nonsense.The humour arises from a...
comedy group Jiskefet, he acted in the 1999 film Jezus is een Palestijn
Jesus is a Palestinian
Jesus is a Palestinian is a 1999 Dutch comedy written and directed by Lodewijk Crijns . The parody on religious fanaticism and millennialism, which involves the topics of self mutilation, incest, and euthanasia, is the director's first full-length movie...
(Jesus is a Palestinian). Together with Theodor Holman
Theodor Holman
Theodor Holman is a Dutch journalist, presenter, and writer of Indo descent.He studied Dutch language and History at the University of Amsterdam...
he co-created the idea for the film Interview
Interview (2003 film)
Interview is a 2003 Dutch drama film, directed by Theo van Gogh, starring Katja Schuurman and Pierre Bokma. The film is about a war correspondent having an interview with a soap opera actress....
, directed by Theo van Gogh
Theo van Gogh (film director)
Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch film director, film producer, columnist, author and actor.Van Gogh worked with the Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to produce the film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam and aroused controversy among Muslims...
in 2003 (and remade
Interview (2007 film)
Interview is a remake of Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh's 2003 movie of the same title. The American version, which premiered in 2007, stars Steve Buscemi as Pierre Peders , a fading political journalist interviewing a soap opera star, Katya, played by Sienna Miller...
in 2007 in the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
). He wrote and directed the film Masterclass in 2005. A couple of years later, he starred in the film Gewoon Hans (Just Hans), written and directed by friend and colleague Diederik Ebbinge from comedy group De Vliegende Panters ("The Flying Panthers"); this film premiered on Dutch television on 30 December 2009, and was released on DVD in January 2010.
Singing career
In 2006–present, Teeuwen performed as a croonerCrooner
Crooner is an American epithet given to male singers of pop standards, mostly from the Great American Songbook, either backed by a full orchestra, a big band or by a piano. Originally it was an ironic term denoting an emphatically sentimental, often emotional singing style made possible by the use...
in an Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
, ultimately resulting in a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
entitled Hans Teeuwen Zingt (literal English: Hans Teeuwen Sings), on which he sings songs by artists such as Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
and Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, together with his band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
. In 2008, Teeuwen performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival
North Sea Jazz Festival
The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam...
. He released a CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
consisting of self-written songs, entitled How It Aches, in March 2010.
International career
In 2005, Teeuwen announced he would no longer perform, incidentally coinciding with the death of directorFilm director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and close friend Theo van Gogh
Theo van Gogh (film director)
Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch film director, film producer, columnist, author and actor.Van Gogh worked with the Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to produce the film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam and aroused controversy among Muslims...
. However, in 2007 he decided to try a new challenge: performing in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. He appeared at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe as part of the Amsterdam Underground Comedy Collective, which spurred him to do a longer show. In 2008 he performed solo at the Soho Theatre
Soho Theatre
Soho Theatre is a theatre in the eponymous Soho district of the City of Westminster. It presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret....
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He also returned to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2008, and performed at Suffolk's 2008 Latitude Festival
Latitude Festival
The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006....
. In October 2008, he performed a show in the Leicester Square Theatre, London that was recorded for a future DVD release.
In 2009, he performed at the Leicester Comedy Festival
Leicester Comedy Festival
The Leicester Comedy Festival is an annual comedy festival held in a number of venues across Leicester, England early in the year. The festival started in 1994 with 40 events in 23 venues over 7 days throughout Leicestershire, attracting 5,000 people...
and the Belfast Festival at Queen's
Belfast Festival at Queen's
The Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen's is an annual arts festival held in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The 49th Festival will take place from 14 to 31 October 2011.-History:...
.
Political views
Although his work is typically devoid of politicsPolitics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, in real life Teeuwen has repeatedly and openly acted as a fervent supporter of freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
, especially after the murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
of his friend Theo van Gogh. His eulogy
Eulogy
A eulogy is a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services. However, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions...
and speech at the unveiling of a statue in memory of van Gogh were an example of his views. A video clip
Video clip
Video clips are short clips of video, usually part of a longer recording. The term is also more loosely used to mean any short video less than the length of a traditional television program.- On the Internet :...
of Teeuwen advocating freedom of speech while being interviewed by three female Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
TV presenters has been chosen as "Dutch TV Moment of 2007".
External links
- HansTeeuwen.tv (in Dutch)
- Hans Teeuwen at The World Stands Up
- Hans Teeuwen at Chortle
- Video of interview for the web-series Carpool