Rainer Pries (30 April 1938 – 9 August 2020), better known by his stage name Fips Asmussen, was a German comedian and entertainer, known for his rapid delivery of puns and deliberately unfunny jokes.

Life and career

Born Rainer Pries in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, he attended an advertising academy, and graduated with a diploma as a skilled

typesetter Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing ''characters'' (letters and other symbols).Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random Ho ...

. Since the early 1970s, he worked as a comedian, mostly on stage, sometimes on radio and TV. Many of his performances were released as frequently best-selling sound recordings. He also published several books. Fips Asmussen's early comedy was more sophisticated and political. His later comedy performances became known for unfunny, mostly politically incorrect jokes and puns delivered in his trademark rapid stream, often considered to be "so unfunny they're funny again." He was frequently the butt of jokes by other comedians, but gained a cult following in Germany.

Oliver Kalkofe Oliver Lars Fred Kalkofe (born 12 September 1965) is a German satirist, columnist, book author, actor, voice actor, writer and audiobook narrator. Life and career Kalkofe was born in Hanover. He grew up in Engelbostel and Peine. After passing t ...

and Fips Asmussen maintained a humorous rivalry. Asmussen accused the entertainer and comedian

Dieter Hallervorden Dieter "Didi" Hallervorden (born 5 September 1935) is a German comedian, actor, singer, and cabaret artist. He achieved great popularity in German-speaking countries in the mid-1970s with the slapstick series Nonstop Nonsens and his character Did ...

several times of using various gags without his consent, such as the famous "bottle of French fries" skit ("Palim-Palim"), which Hallervorden bought for his program from the entertainer Heinz Quermann. This controversy was eventually parodied by Harald Schmidt and Oliver Pocher in the show "Schmidt & Pocher".http://www3.ndr.de/ndrtv_pages_std/1,5089,OID1294138_REF4130,00.html During the 90s the comedian lived in

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...

and later in life in

Querfurt Querfurt () is a town in the Saalekreis district, or ''Kreis'', in southern Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is located in a fertile area on the Querne, west from Merseburg. In 2020, the town had a population of 10,454. The town Querfurt consists of Q ...

Saxony Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

, where he died on 9 August 2020.

Music

Asmussen's version of "Mein Gott Walter" by

Mike Krüger Michael Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger (born 14 December 1951 in Ulm) is a German comedian, actor and singer. Filmography * ''Piratensender Powerplay'' (1981) * '' Die Supernasen'' (1983) * ''Zwei Nasen tanken Super'' (1984) * '' Seitenstechen'' (1 ...

appeared in German single charts. He made parodies of other songs.

CDs

* Witze am laufenden Band 1 * Witze am laufenden Band 2 * Eine Mütze voller Witze * Au weia! * Aber Hallo ... * Das halt’ ich im Kopf nicht aus! * Balla balla * In der Haifischbar * Schlag auf Schlag * Kennen Sie den? * Er nun wieder! * Von Vegesack bis Titisee * Auch das noch! * ... aus dem Leben gegriffen * Spaß muss sein * Jetzt geht's rund * Da bleibt kein Auge trocken * Gnadenlos witzig * Grobe Feinheiten * Frei nach Schnauze! * Ausgefallene Einfälle * Das pralle Leben * 2007 - Saustark (Aufzeichnung April 2007)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Asmussen, Fips German male comedians 1938 births 2020 deaths Comedians from Hamburg