The Unpredictable Micha Wertheim: What to Expect from His New Year’s Eve Conference

He needs no introduction among enthusiasts, but for the general public Micha Wertheim is perhaps the least known – and least predictable – comedian who ever gave the ‘official’ New Year’s Eve conference. What can we expect?

Mike Peek29 december 2023, 14:43

At Wertheim’s express request, no reviews of Micha Wertheim will be published these days before noon, with which he will make his New Year’s Eve debut on December 31. The comedian created his conference especially for television. The tryouts with which he toured the country in recent months were intended to get to grips with his material. The end result, whatever form it may take, reportedly only comes into its own on the television screen.

It is certainly not the first time that a Wertheim project has been surrounded by mystery. In Elgens Anders (2016), which was also not allowed to be published at the time, the comedian appeared to be physically absent during his own performance. It caused growing despair among the audience, who, despite the title, found it difficult to imagine that he was actually somewhere else.

Or take the fantastic Nobody Anders (2021), the online performance that Wertheim made during the corona crisis. In it, he had spectators turn on their webcams at home, ostensibly to create a shared experience. At the bottom of the screen you saw other ‘visitors’ passing by, so you knew: others see me too. At least, that’s what the master illusionist made us believe. In the end it turned out to be a trick. But a layered trick that showed what we lost during the pandemic. And on a deeper level: that man is essentially always alone, even if he imagines himself surrounded by like-minded people.

Kerel pedant

It shows courage that the NPO asked Wertheim for the New Year’s Eve conference. The chance that he will only tell pleasant jokes for 80 minutes is very small. This is also evident from the secrecy surrounding the performance. Undoubtedly something special will happen. Something with which the comedian undermines the concept of New Year’s Eve, changes it or puts it in a completely different light. It will probably be enjoyable for enthusiasts. Only time will tell whether the general public is interested in formal experiments.

Wertheim is not a very well-known name in the average living room. Recent New Year’s Eve debutants such as Claudia de Breij and Peter Pannekoek had more than earned their spurs on television before they ventured into the conference of conferences. Wertheim rarely appears on TV, does not like to talk about his work and does not have a high cuddliness factor. If people know him at all, it is probably as a somewhat pedantic guy who makes difficult performances.

In the year that the Netherlands made a move to the right, the final conference is going in the opposite direction. Not because of Wertheim’s views, but because he is more of a conceptual artist than all his predecessors. A walking left-wing hobby. That makes it the most exciting New Year’s Eve of the past decade.

The New Year’s Eve conference is changing

When Wertheim’s name came out of the hat, many people were surprised. Understandable, because he is not an obvious choice. Yet this fits in with the changes that the New Year’s Eve conference has undergone since 2010. At the time, Erik van Muiswinkel made Tolerance, Hope & Love together with a lot of colleagues (including the very young Van der Laan & Woe). Not a story of one person, but a sketch show in the tradition of the VARA cabaret.

Since then, the Man With an Opinion is no longer a given on New Year’s Eve. De Breij became the first woman to participate in the conference (three times now), but names such as Marc-Marie Huijbregts and Herman Finkers were also discussed. They were much better known than Wertheim, but just like him, they did not have a reputation for being on top of current affairs. Or flaunting their political opinions.

Because that is what many people still envision at the New Year’s Eve conference. Committed cabaret about society in general and The Hague in particular. Settlements with the leading actors of the year.

But the institution has evolved. Although De Breij’s conferences are packed with opinions, the first two in particular revolved around the question of how you relate to the world. How do you find connection when you disagree with the other person?

What is engagement?

Wertheim goes much further in this regard. In an interview with the undersigned for De Uitkrant, he once said that there is a misunderstanding about what engagement is. “I believe the world is very chaotic and complicated, so I’m never that impressed by people who know how to do it all. … I think Laurel and Hardy are terribly committed. They are constantly fighting with each other and with the world around them. Those films are about how difficult it is to even get in touch with your best friend. In small words, that says a lot about how difficult it is to function as a society.”

We will find out what that means for a Wertheimian New Year’s Eve conference on December 31. His agency has already released about ten photos in which the comedian adopts different poses. He stands on a large clock, but more striking are the small wall clocks behind him. They all show a different hour. Is it a representation of the confusing times we live in? Is Wertheim going to theatrically time travel? Or would he secretly (and ironically or not) sing No One Knows What Time It Is, the famous song by his illustrious predecessor Youp van ‘t Hek?

Nobody knows what time it is. This has rarely been so applicable to the New Year’s Eve conference itself as in 2023.

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2023-12-29 13:43:23


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