Helge Schneider

Infobox Person
name = Helge Schneider

---

image_size =
caption =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1955|08|30|df=y
birth_place = Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
death_date =
death_place =
education =
occupation = comedian, jazz musician, actor, author, film and theatre director
title =
spouse =
parents =
children =
nationality = German
website = [http://www.helge-schneider.de Official homepage] (German)

Helge Schneider (born August 30, 1955 in Mülheim an der Ruhr) is a German comedian, jazz musician, author, film and theatre director, and actor.

After dropping out of high school, he started an apprenticeship as a construction draftsman. He soon changed plans and was admitted to the Duisburg conservatoire to study piano, after passing an entrance exam for particularly gifted applicants (it later turned out that his diploma was invalid since he dropped out of high school too early). He then toured as a little-known jazz musician and as entertainer, basically as stand-up comedian in local clubs. Schneider plays various instruments such as the Hammond organ, acoustic and electric guitar, ukulele, drums, piano, accordion, trumpet and others.

He became a popular comedian in the 1990s and still is among the best known German comedians. He toured and still tours (alone and with his bands "Hardcore", "The Firefuckers" and others) through major concert halls with a mixture of music and comedy. He frequently appears on German TV, and is probably best known for his song "Katzeklolied" (Kitty Litter Box Song): "Katzenklo, Katzenklo, ja das macht die Katze froh" ("Kitty litter tray, kitty litter tray, that's what makes the kitty gay."), a number one hit in 1994. He wrote, directed and starred in four movies. In 2007 he appeared as Adolf Hitler in a satirical film: "".

Schneider has written nine books, including an autobiography ("There is my whole life in this book, up to right now. The second part comes in thirty, forty years") and a musical, "Mendy - das Wusical", which appeared at Bochum Theatre in 2004.

His comic techniques include parody, use of the local Ruhr area dialect, surprising use of infantile language and other unexpected changes in style, slapstick/physical humour, Dada-esque absurdities, sudden and unexpected use of crude/sexual humour, references to national and international highbrow and lowbrow culture, and phonetic and declamatory playfulness and exaggeration. Most of his material is heavily language dependent and therefore does not translate well into other languages.

Discography

* 1987: The Last Jazz
* 1990: New York, I’m Coming
* 1991: Seine größten Erfolge ("His greatest hits")
* 1991: Hörspiele Vol.1 (1979 - 1984) ("Radio dramas")
* 1992: Hörspiele Vol.2 (1985 - 1987)
* 1992: Guten Tach ("Good day")
* 1993: Es gibt Reis Baby ("We have rice, baby")
* 1993: Die Geschenkkassette (5 CDs; "The present box")
* 1995: Es rappelt im Karton ("Rumble in the cardbox")
* 1997: Da Humm
* 1998: Helge 100% live - The Berlin Tapes
* 1999: Eiersalat in Rock ("Egg salad in rock", released as "Helge and the Firefuckers")
* 1999: Jazz (& Hardcore)
* 2000: Hefte raus - Klassenarbeit! ("Workbooks out - exam!")
* 2003: 22 sehr, sehr gute Lieder ("The Best Of"; "22 very, very good songs")
* 2003: Out Of Kaktus!
* 2004: 29 sehr, sehr gute Erzählungen ("The Best Of"; "29 very, very good stories")
* 2004: Füttern Verboten (Live album; "Please don't feed")
* 2007: I Brake Together (a complex German-English wordplay: The German expression for "I am collapsing" ("Ich breche zusammen") can be literally translated as "I break (not: brake) together")
* 2007: Akopalüze Nau (parody for "Apocalypse Now")

References

* [http://www.laut.de/wortlaut/artists/s/schneider_helge/index.htm Helge Schneider at laut.de] de icon

External links

* [http://www.helge-schneider.de Official homepage]