Nico Semsrott (born 11 March 1986) is a German

Kabarett Kabarett (; from French ''cabaret'' = tavern) is satirical revue, a form of cabaret which was developed in France by Rodolphe Salis in 1881 as the ''cabaret artistique''. It was named Le Chat Noir and was centered on political events and satire. ...

artist,

slam poet A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. Poetry slams began in Chicago in the 1980s, with the first slam competition designed to move poetry recitals from ac ...

, and politician. He was elected as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

as a member of

Die PARTEI (''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazine ...

, but left the party in 2021, and sat as an independent.

Career

Entertainment

In school, he founded the satirical

school newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station Graduate student journal, produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related new ...

''Sophie's Underworld'' () together with his younger brother, Arne Semsrott at the Hamburg . Its sale was banned on the school grounds by the school's headmistress, though it was continued to be sold from a

portable toilet A portable or mobile toilet (colloquial terms: thunderbox, porta-john, porta-potty or porta-loo) is any type of toilet that can be moved around, some by one person, some by mechanical equipment such as a truck and crane. Most types do not require ...

. Since 2008, Semsrott has portrayed a depressive persona on

poetry slam A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word, spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. Poetry slams began in Chicago in the 1980s, with the first slam competition designed to move poetry rec ...

s and cabarets. He usually introduces himself to the audience as a “demotivational speaker”. This was also a profession on the ballot for the 2019 European elections. His first solo show, titled "Joy is just a lack of information" (), premiered on 14 June 2012 in Hamburg. He performed updated versions from Autumn 2014 until Christmas 2018. In 2019, Semsrott announced a pause in favor of his political work. Semsrott was part of the

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

heute-show The ''heute-show'' ("(the) today show"; stylized in its logo as ''heute SHOW'') is a German late-night satirical television program airing every Friday evening on public broadcasting channel ZDF. A conceptual adaptation of ''The Daily Show'' wi ...

team from 2017 until 2019, hosting the segment ''No Fun Facts.''

Politics

Semsrott ran in the

2017 German federal election The 2017 German federal election was held in Germany on 24 September 2017 to elect the List of members of the 19th Bundestag, members of the 19th Bundestag. At stake were at least 598 seats in the Bundestag, as well as 111 Overhang seat, overhan ...

as leading candidate for

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

for

, a satirical German political party, receiving 2.1% of the votes. In the 2019

European elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until 2019, 751 ...

, Semsrott was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

as the second

party-list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

candidate (behind

Martin Sonneborn Martin Hans Sonneborn (born 15 May 1965) is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He is a founder and federal chairman of Die PARTEI. He was editor-in-chief of the satirical magazine ''Titanic (magazine), Titanic'' fr ...

) from Die PARTEI. His party received 2.4%. Unlike other elections in Germany, there is no 5%

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...

concerning the European Parliament elections. In the run-up to the election Semsrott criticised the lack of attention given to younger generations in a TV advertisement. A survey made after the election showed that votes for Die PARTEI came especially from first-time voters (about 9% of this group), who cast more votes for it than for the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

or the FDP, two establishment parties. In May 2020, Semsrott revealed a series of thefts in the European Parliament. He published a video about the incidents on his YouTube channel, where he criticised the way the security staff were handling the investigation. He also published a timeline of the thefts and measures that were taken by him on his website. On 13 January 2021, he announced the resignation of his party membership from Die PARTEI after heavy controversies and accusations of racism and blackfacing emerged around the federal chairman

. Semsrott has continued his mandate in the European Parliament as an independent member of parliament. He did not stand in the 2024 European election.

Awards

* 2009: Winner NDR-Comedy Contest * 2010: Karl-Marx-Poesie-Preis * 2011:

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

er Besen, audience award * 2011: Kleines

Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...

er Scharfrichterbeil (3rd place) * 2011: Winner NDR-Comedy Contest * 2012: Die Freiburger Leiter * 2014: Bayerischer Kabarettpreis, Senkrechtstarter * 2017:

Deutscher Deutscher is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alma Deutscher, British musician and composer * Drafi Deutscher, German singer and composer * Guy Deutscher (linguist) * Guy Deutscher (physicist) * Isaac Deutscher, Britis ...

Kleinkunstpreis, category

political satire Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satir ...

References

External links

*
Videos by and about Nico Semsrott
on the AV-Portal of the Technischen Informationsbibliothek {{DEFAULTSORT:Semsrott, Nico 1986 births Living people German cabaret performers Slam poets MEPs for Germany 2019–2024 Die PARTEI MEPs