Theo Maassen


Theodorus Wilhelmus Maassen is a Dutch comedian and actor who grew up in the village of Zijtaart in the Dutch province of North Brabant. He currently lives in Eindhoven. In addition to his shows, he has also made a number of appearances in films.

Career

Maassen won two of the biggest comedy contests in the Netherlands in 1990, the Groninger Studenten Cabaret Festival, 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.
Since 1995, Maassens shows are shown on Dutch national television, making him more and more a household name.
In 2006, Maassen received the 'Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Theater Prijs 2006' for his 'daring combination of theatre and comedy'. The same year he also received the Prijs van de Kritiek, a yearly prize by Dutch theatre critics.
He also has released a song titled Lauwe Pis which peaked at #1 on the Dutch Top 40.

Shows

Maassen played large and small roles in the following Dutch movies:
Maassen plays the role of 'Roel' in the television series 'Mevrouw de minister'. He also had a supporting role in the serie Dunya en Desie.

Personal life

Maassen once stole the UEFA cup from the stadium of football club 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 football 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. He received a few hours of community service after being brought up on charges by the team. Later, he also showed on Studio Voetbal that he had stolen PSV's second prize of the UEFA Supercup.
In 2008 Maassen started the organization Comedians for Congo to raise money for children fleeing the war torn country.