Jan Michael Gintberg (born 3 December 1963 in Lynge,

Allerød Municipality Allerød Kommune is a municipality (Danish language, Danish, ''Commune (country subdivision), kommune'') on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 67 km2, and has a popul ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

) is a Danish

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

and television and radio host.

Education

Gintberg originally planned a farming career, and has a farming diploma from Kalø Landbrugsskole in

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

. He subsequently started on the agronomy programme at the

Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (, abbr. KVL, , abbr. RVA) was a veterinary and agricultural science university in Denmark. It was founded in 1856 and operated until 2007, when it became a part of the University of Copenhagen. It ...

(later merged into the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

). He has a bachelor's degree in agronomy.

Career

He started his career as a stand-up comedian in 1992 where he was number three in the competition to be the best Danish stand-up comedian. In 1997 he got his breakthrough with the radio-program '' Tæskeholdet'' (Danish for: The Thrashing Team) on DR's P3, along with

Casper Christensen Casper Lindholm Christensen (born 22 August 1968) is a Danish comedian. He has hosted many shows including '' Casper & Mandrilaftalen'', the Danish airing of '' Shooting Stars'' and '' Don't Forget Your Toothbrush'' ('' Husk lige tandbørsten ...

Mads Vangsø Mads Vangsø is a Danish comedian. Mads Vangsø gained popularity with ''"Tæskeholdet"'' alongside Jan Gintberg, Søren Søndergaard and Casper Christensen. ''"Tæskeholdet"'' was a huge success on P3 (largest radio station in Denmark), and e ...

, and Søren Søndergaard. Since then he has been a part of many television comedy shows, either as a writer or host, and has toured Denmark with a number of stand-up shows, among them a double show with Jonathan Spang. In early 2006 he appeared on

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

during the Muhammed drawings crisis. He is currently the host of the Danish version of the game show ''

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? ''Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?'' is a game show franchise that was co-created and produced by Mark Burnett, Barry Poznick and John Stevens. Adult contestants answer questions, as if they came from an elementary grade school quiz. The orig ...

''. Has now a count of 5 oneman stand-up shows, from 1998 to 2007: 'Det ligger i generne' (It's in the genes)(1998), 'Gearet 2 tænder' (Geared 2 tacks)(2000), 'Op på fars jihad' (Onto dad's jihad)(2002), 'Den grimme melding' (The ugly announcement)(2004) and 'Big Time Paranoia' (2007). Gintberg is especially known for talking about politicians, political subjects and other current events in his shows. Mostly it's the Danish Government that's in his focus. On 1 November 2006 Gintberg published is first ever book, ''Dysfunktionel Far'', about his life as a father, seen from Gintberg's characteristic, and humorous, point of view. ''Gintberg Verden'' (''Gintberg's World''), a book collecting Gintberg's best columns from a variety of newspapers, was published in the fall of 2007. He also gave voice to

Mushu Mushu is a fictional character in Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's ''Mulan (franchise), Mulan'' franchise, first appearing in the 1998 animated film ''Mulan (1998 film), Mulan''. A small Chinese dragon, Mushu was a Tutelary deity#Chinese f ...

in the movie ''

Mulan Hua Mulan () is a legendary Chinese folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century Common Era, CE) of Chinese history. Scholar, Scholars generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character. Hua Mulan is depicte ...

''.

Personal life

Gintberg is the youngest of four siblings, with two sisters and one brother. Despite a lot of joking about marriage, Gintberg married his longtime girlfriend Nina Sepstrup. They have two children, Eline (b. 1997), and August (b. 2004). Eline was born with Down syndrome. They currently live in Søborg, in Northern Zealand of Denmark. Although Gintberg is known to be a rather political-centered comedian, he has not revealed his own political views or party.

References

External links

*. * 1963 births Living people People from Allerød Municipality Danish male comedians Danish television presenters Danish stand-up comedians {{comedian-stub