Biography
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Born
18 January 1958 (age 67)
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Born In
Mönchengladbach, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Volker Pispers (* January 18, 1958, in Rheydt, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German cabaret artist. He last appeared in public in 2016. After graduating from Gymnasium Odenkirchen, Pispers studied English, Catholic theology, and education in Bonn from 1976, and later in Münster. From 1979 to 1980, Pispers lived and worked as a foreign language assistant in England, where he discovered his preference for black humor. Pispers lives in Düsseldorf-Oberkassel and is married. In 2017, he was sent to the 16th Federal Assembly by the Pirate Party of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Cabaret
In the early 1980s, Volker Pispers became a member of various student theater groups in Münster. In 1982, he became a member of the ensemble at the children's theater of the Kammerspiele Hamm and first appeared as a cabaret artist at the Kleinkunstfestival of the Münstersche Zeitung in the Halle Münsterland. In 1983, he presented his first solo program, "Kabarette sich, wer kann." At the same time, he completed his studies with the First State Examination for teaching in secondary level II. From 1985, he worked as an actor at the Wolfgang Borchert Theater in Münster and released his second solo program, "Hamburger – Speeseburger – Bundesburger."
In 1986, Pispers gave up his profession as an English teacher at the Dolmetscher-Institut Münster, as well as that of an actor, focusing entirely on cabaret from that point onwards. He presented his third solo program, "Original & Fälschung." In 1988, his text "Demoland" was awarded the Gladbeck Satire Prize, and his fourth solo program, "Meine Sorgen möchte ich haben," gained great recognition. In 1989, the cabaret artist received the sponsorship award of the NRW Culture Prize, proposed by Kay and Lore Lorentz. In 1990, Pispers became an author, ensemble member, and artistic director of the Düsseldorfer Kom(m)ödchen, where his ensemble program "Wir sind so frei" was performed. He gave up his activities on the stage in 1991.
In 1992, Pispers presented his fifth solo program, "In bester Gesellschaft," followed by a first anniversary program in 1993, "Ein Wort ergab das andere," which was a best-of summary of his previous performances. In 1994, he followed with the sixth solo program, "Frisch gestrichen," and in 1999, his seventh, "Damit müssen Sie rechnen." In 2002, the second anniversary program, "… bis neulich," premiered and was performed by him in updated versions. In this program, the cabaret artist criticized capitalism, the role of the USA in connection with international terrorism, as well as current political and social developments in Germany and worldwide. Pispers toured with this program in Germany in 2015. On December 8, 2015, Pispers announced a "break" on stage. The last recording of his program, "… bis neulich," was released in March 2016 as a live CD (double CD) with a preface. At his temporarily last appearance at the Düsseldorfer Savoy-Theater, he said goodbye with the words: "My wife Barbara has endured for many years that I was always away; now I'm curious if she'll endure it when I'm at home all the time."
In February 2021, he stated on his website that he would not return to the stage. In this context, he rejected various rumors about his stage departure, stating that he "simply enjoys not being in the public eye anymore." Furthermore, he distanced himself from "all corona deniers, self-proclaimed lateral thinkers, AfD fans, and right-wing extremists" due to the events surrounding the then-rampant pandemic, emphasizing that he considered "the elected rulers incompetent." However, he noted that this also applied to "an increasingly larger part of the electorate."
Radio and Television
From 1998, Pispers hosted the Satirefest of the SFB, later continued by the successor broadcaster rbb. In addition, he was regularly invited to many cabaret shows on public-service television, especially in the Mitternachtsspitzen of WDR and Neues aus der Anstalt of ZDF. He also appeared multiple times on ARD's Scheibenwischer.
From 2000 to 2013, he created the Tuesday U-Point for the radio station WDR 2, a weekly commentary in the program Westzeit. In 2014, the collection "RadioAktiv: Hörfunkglossen aus 13 Jahren" was published, compiling manuscripts from the radio series.
From 2007 to 2012, 3sat produced the live show "Volker Pispers & Gäste," initially from a studio in the ZDF broadcasting center. In 2009, Pispers first presented his guests at the 3satfestival on the Mainzer Lerchenberg, and in 2012 at the Zeltfestival in Mainz. In 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015, Pispers hosted the award ceremony of the German Kleinkunstpreis from the Forum-Theater unterhaus in Mainz, an event that traditionally takes place on the first Sunday after Rose Monday.
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