Theo Maassen

Biography

Theodorus Wilhelmus (Theo) Maassen (born 8 December 1966 in Oegstgeest, Zuid-Holland) is a Dutch comedian and actor who grew up in Zijtaart in the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant. In addition to his shows, he has also made a number of appearances in films. Maassen won two of the biggest comedy contests in the Netherlands in 1990, the Groninger Studenten Cabaret Festival(GSCF), and Cameretten. The GSCF jury was not pleased with the quality of the contestants that year, and gave Maassen the first prize, remarking he was the best of the year, but still not very good. In the following years, however, Maassen fame grew steadily, especially amongst students. Maassens style was based on stand-up comedy: Alone on stage, telling jokes and stories to amuse the public, without any musical support (a thing common for most Dutch comedians up to that point). Unlike contemporary comedians, however, Maassens topics were about issues concerning the world, politics, religion, and self-doubt. Often heavy topics, but Maassen was always able to squeeze out a laugh when least expected. This distinguished him from most other comedians around: He was actually trying to say something, and not merely trying to make people laugh[citation needed]. "Imagine that what you believe is not true", he starts his 4th show. "Imagine you're wrong. It's possible."[1] Since 2000, Maassens shows are shown on Dutch national television, making him more and more a household name. He is considered (together with Hans Teeuwen) the only true heir to the older Dutch comedy generation (Youp van 't Hek, Freek de Jonge to name but two).[citation needed] In 2006, Maassen received the 'Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Theater Prijs 2006' (Prince Bernhard Culture Fund Theatre Prize 2006) for his 'daring combination of theatre and comedy'. The same year he also received the Prijs van de Kritiek (Prize of the critics), a yearly prize by Dutch theatre critics. Trivia: Maassen once stole the UEFA cup from the stadium of soccer team PSV Eindhoven. For several years it was unknown who had been responsible for the disappearance of the trophy. The true story was confessed by Maassen himself, live on a TV talkshow about football. That night the show had several guests that were in the possession of rare soccer artifacts. When the host asked Maassen about his artifact, he took the UEFA cup out of his bag and put it on the table, in front of the baffled host and guests. Later, he also showed on Studio Voetbal that he had stolen PSV's second price of the UEFA Supercup. Once again, the other guests were surprised but ended up in laughter after Maassen also took this trophy out of a bag.[2] He also has released a song titled Lauwe Pis (Lukewarm Piss) which peaked at #1 on the Dutch Top 40 On May 31, 2008 Maassen destroyed the camera worth €15.000 belonging to photographer Ilvy Njiokiktjien after asking her to join him on stage, because she made photographs, although Maassen had told the organization he did not want that, and assumed that she was informed about this. However, the organization had failed to do that. Maassen and the organization have promised to pay for the damage.