Hans Teeuwen

• Name — Hans Teeuwen • Birth Name — Hans Eduard Marie Teeuwen • Born — 3 March 1967 • Birthplace — Budel, Netherlands • Children — Nika Teeuwen • Medium — * Theatre • Television • Film • Radio • Years Active — 1991–present • Genre — * Improvisational • Character • Absurdist • Shock/Black comedy • Stand-up

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 his friend 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.) Initially he did five shows, Hard en Zielig (Hard and Sad, 1994–1995), Met een Breierdeck (With a Knitter's Deck, 1995–1997), Trui (Sweater, 1999–2000), Dat Dan Weer Wel (2001–2002, So There's That) and Industry of Love (2003–2004). Then after seven years he made a comeback in 2011 with his show Spiksplinter (Brand Spanking), followed some years later by Echte Rancune (Real Rancour) in 2016. 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 (The Men on the Radio).

From 2006 onwards, Teeuwen performed as a crooner in an Amsterdam nightclub, ultimately resulting in a DVD titled 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, titled How It Aches, in March 2010. A CD in Dutch language titled Popstukken appeared in 2015.

• Illustration — Hans Teeuwen at TEDxAmsterdam in November 2010 In 2005, Teeuwen announced he would no longer perform, incidentally coinciding with the politically motivated assassination 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, 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.

Although his work is typically devoid of politics, in real life Teeuwen has repeatedly 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 was an example of his views. A video clip of Teeuwen advocating freedom of speech while being interviewed by three female Muslim TV presenters was chosen as "Dutch TV Moment of 2007". In an episode of the satirical web series Creeps from the Middle East, Hans Teeuwen is pranked by the Iranian-German comedian Sina Khani. In the same context, Tarik Sadouma of the art collective The Unsafe House made a joke about Teeuwen, which prompted a negative response from the cabaretier. In De Andere Krant, Sadouma later stated that he "understands Hans' sensitivities" and that the act was intended as "a call for real contact." The joke was therefore removed from the episode before its YouTube release, with Sadouma emphasizing that mutual humor between Muslims and non-Muslims can lead to greater understanding and fellowship.

Hans Teeuwen is married to photographer Eva Boeter. In September 2013 their child Nika was born.