Wie verstaat er kips?

by Youp van 't Hek

In Wie verstaat er Kips? schetst van 't Hek het Nederland van nu: van klantenservice tot raarzeggers, Hofnarreslee, grootouderscontroleursoverleg, scharreleiceltoerisme, Roomse rukkers en zijn droom over Kamerleden die na hun dood terugkeren als legbatterijkip. 'De kippen zaten broeds te wachten op hun dood. Ze smachtten. Smeekten zelfs. Maar wie verstaat er Kips?' Volgens Youp alleen de kippen. Anders zouden de mensen deze dieren niet zo wreed behandelen.

171 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

Youp van 't Hek is a Dutch comedian and a columnist for NRC Handelsblad. He was born and raised in the Gooi, a upper class region to the southeast of Amsterdam. His youth there served as an inspiration for his ironic attitude toward the rich, the successful and all those who are pretending to be either. After being kicked out of several high schools, he finally completed the one where he also led the school theater, and moved to Amsterdam. There he was one of the founding members of Cabaret NAR (Cabaret Jester). Throughout all the changes in Cabaret NAR, Youp was the only constant factor in it and because of him focusing more and more on their shows, he gradually became Cabaret NAR. In the beginning he (or Cabaret NAR) was not very successful, often not even successful enough to pay for their own shows. During all this he worked in some of those boring, mind-numbing, riskless, black-and-white, have-to-wear-a-suit, 9-to-5 kind of office jobs, which later inspired many of his jokes and imitations.

In the early 1980s Cabaret NAR success declined and Youp moved on as a solo artist. From then on he has had great popularity. Though his shows and statements may be considered controversial, he has developed himself, not only as a comedian, but also as an idealist. His humor is always mixed with a sense of irony towards modern life, culture, and national and international politics. Other themes often found in his shows and humor are death, hypocrisy, the innocence of children, the sincerity of the elderly, the gap between what society expects from you and what you, deep in your heart, want the most, and the question: "When would you call someone crazy and when would you call him/her normal or healthy?".

His big break came in 1983 on KRO's "De alles is anders-show". His energetic performance made him a household name overnight.

He is known as "the Buckler of Dutch comedians" because he ridiculed Buckler, a low-alcohol beer brewed by Heineken in his 1989 end-of-year show so effectively, sales plummeted and the brand was eventually withdrawn from the market.[1] Youp has often cited this as the best joke in his career and has subsequently referred to it in all his retrospective shows.

Reviews

[Anneke Visser-van Dijken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Echte You van t Hek columns waar ik erg van genoten heb.

[Dirk Dierickx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een verzameling columns, dat leest natuurlijk heel vlot, zeker als het geschreven is in de stijl de we kennen van Youp van't Hek. Er worden wel al eens namen van mediafiguren of politicie genoemd die je als Belg niet kent, maar een echt struikelblok om de boodschap van de column te begrijpen is dat niet. Het boekje is van 2011, maar de behandelde onderwerpen klinken eigenlijk nog altijd actueel.