Micha Wertheim

Micha Wertheim
Born (1972-06-28) 28 June 1972
Groningen, Netherlands
Occupation Comedian
Website www.michawertheim.nl

Micha Wertheim (Dutch pronunciation: [mixaː ʋɛrtɦɛim]; born 1972) is a Dutch stand-up comedian and satirist.[1]

Dutch career

After finishing his MA in Cultural Sciences Micha Wertheim moved to Amsterdam and started working as a freelance radio producer, writer and comedian. He became a member of the Amsterdam based Dutch comedy collective Comedytrain in 1998. Playing regularly in Amsterdam comedy theatre Toomler he developed rapidly, and soon after won first price in the prestigious ‘’Leids Cabaret Festival’’ (Comedy Festival in the Dutch town of Leiden). This award resulted in his first one man show in 2005 that was received well and, like al his following shows was broadcast on Dutch National television. Off stage Wertheim writes a weekly satire for Vrij Nederland magazine.

International career

Since 2001 Micha started performing in English. First in London (2001) later in New York (2003), but the real start of his international career was his performance as a compare of the Amsterdam Underground Comedy Collective a sell out show at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He was very well received and invited back to Britain where he performed in The Comedy Store and for three weeks opening for Dutch Comedian Hans Teeuwen in the West Ends Soho Theatre. In 2008 Wertheim and Hans Teeuwen returned to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival together to perform their one-man shows in de Pleasance dome. The shows were well received and Wertheim was invited to perform spots at several London comedy clubs an asked to bring his one-man show to London’s Battersea Arts Center. In 2010 Wertheim took part in the New York International Fringe Festival where his show "Amsterdam Abortion Survivor" became the first International act to be awarded an extension as part of the best of Fringe Encore Series.

Style

Wertheim’s one-man shows distinguish themselves from conventional stand-up by being more theatrical and having a narrative. British Comedy website http://www.chortle.co.uk/ called Micha Wertheim "on the edge, highly intelligent, as ironic as any Brit could be and not for the easily offended." [2]

Controversy

Micha Wertheim has always maintained he wants just to entertain people, not to stir controversy. Yet by choosing controversial topics such as euthanasia, abortion and xenophobia, Wertheim has always divided his audiences. On March 11, 2008 Micha made headlines in the Dutch National news after ending a show in Roermond (Limburg) prematurely. In that show Wertheim addressed the contemporary revival of Dutch xenophobia (Geert Wilders) by redirecting xenophobia to the handicapped community. Asserting that handicapped are parasites that refuse to adapt to the western way of life. A group of audience members turned against Wertheim when he addressed a man who he thought was using his cell phone, but was in fact using the display of his wheel chair. Wertheim apologized and proceeded with his show telling the audience that the only way to deal with handicapped is through zero tolerance adding he had just released a video explaining the treat imposed by the handicapped towards western liberalism. It was a reference to the film FITNA that was released among big controversy that exact week. When the handicapped man left the room a part of the audience turned against Wertheim, leaving him no choice than to leave the stage. Immediately after, the theatre reacted by saying that Wertheim would never again be welcome in their venue. On this, some of the Netherlands' most respected comedians, among whom Theo Maassen, Eric van Sauers and Ronald Goedemondt, decided they would not perform in that venue again.

Story Telling

In 2008, inspired by The Moth, Micha Wertheim initiated Echt Gebeurd a monthly story telling event in Amsterdam.

Publications

Micha Wertheim writes a weekly satire for one of Holland’s leading magazines Vrij Nederland, was a regular contributor to the Dutch version of ‘’Have I Got News for You’’ and is a freelance radio producer for Dutch Public Radio. Wertheim has written two children’s books.

TV specials

References

  1. ↑ Visser, Arjan (February 13, 2010). "Micha Wertheim". TROUW (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 August 2012.
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