Hans Teeuwen
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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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.
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Dutch career
Theater
In The Netherlands, Teeuwen became well-known in 1991 when he won an award at the Dutch cabaret 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 songs, music and poetry as opposed to purely stand-up comedy). He did five shows, Hard en Zielig (1994-1995), Met een Breierdeck (1995-1997), Trui (1999-2000), Dat dan weer wel (2001) and finally Industry of Love (2003-2004). Other comedy projects he has worked on are Poelmo, slaaf van het Zuiden, 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.
TV & film
Apart from a few comic parts with popular Dutch absurdistic 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.
Singing career
In 2006-2007, Teeuwen performed as a crooner 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.
International career
In 2004, Teeuwen announced he would no longer perform, incidentally coinciding with the death of director 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. In October 2008, he performed a show in the Leicester Square Theatre, London that was recorded for a future DVD release. In February 2009, he performed at the Leicester Comedy Festival.
Political views
Although his work is typically devoid of politics, in real life Teeuwen has repeatedly and openly acted as a fervent supporter of free speech, especially after the murder of his friend Theo van Gogh. His eulogy and speech at the revealing of the statue for van Gogh were a shining (and cynical) example of his views. A video clip of Teeuwen eloquently advocating freedom of speech while being interviewed by three female Muslim TV presenters has been chosen as 'Dutch TV moment of 2007'.
