The Brussels comedy landscape has been taken by storm recently by The Schuman Show. Gathering together the talents of professional performers, journalists, former EU officials and lobbyists, the show’s creators want to make EU politics more accessible to the average citizen— by making fun of it.
“We don’t have a pan-European political pop culture,” says Kelly Agathos, co-founder and host of The Schuman Show. While European countries might have their own televised satire at the national – or in the case of Belgium at the regional – level, “international political culture is mostly focused on the US. You probably know John Oliver and Trevor Noah and Seth Myers and Steven Colbert.”
The Schuman Show is a cross between these US Late Night talk shows and Saturday Night Live, creating its own unique genre with a mixture of stand up, sketch and improvisational comedy.
When we look at tackling rising Eurosceptic sentiments across the continent, questions as simple as ‘what’s going on inside that Council meeting?’ and ‘how does EU policy affect my everyday life?’ are simply not being addressed. It allows national governments to blame Brussels for all its ills, often to the detriment of its own citizens. Making EU politics more accessible is an absolute must. ~ Lise Witteman, investigative journalist and co-founder of the project
Taking place on the last Thursday of every month, the last performance of 2021 will take place on 25 November at the Claridge, followed by a brief hiatus for online video content. The Schuman Show is so far a runaway success story. Starting in the basement of a Brussels bar with space for just 40 people on mismatching chairs, tickets sold out in just four days. Their second show, which took place on 27 October, was also a sell out: this time with 250 people in attendance.
The response to the show locally shows that we’ve given our audience a chance to laugh about their jobs. I think a big part of our success also comes down to the fact that Brussels is ready to take itself a little less seriously. Kelly continued.
But The Schuman Show’s ambitions don’t stop at the physical stage. Its creators and producers will be taking a break performing live shows in December and January to focus on producing more video content to share online, to expand their audience outside of the ‘Brussels bubble.’
The Schuman Show will return to the stage on 24 February 2022.
About:
‘The Schuman Show’ is a monthly comedy show taking place in the heart of the EU: Brussels. The title is a play on the dystopian film ‘The Truman Show’ and one of the European Union’s founding fathers, Robert Schuman.
We are the comedy show the EU has been waiting for, here to burst the Brussels Bubble. With a monthly show in the heart of the European capital, we bring you the news you didn’t know you missed in a way you won’t forget. We satirize the decision makers and disrupt the narratives with absurd theatrical sketches, witty monologues and catchy songs. ~ The Schuman Show