Nico Semsrott
{{short description|German cabaret artist and politician}}
{{Update|date=February 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name =
| honorific-suffix = MEP
| party = Independent (since 2021)
| otherparty = Die PARTEI (before 2021)
| office = Member of the European Parliament
for Germany
| image = 2018 Nico Semsrott - by 2eight - DSC9507 (cropped).jpg
| caption =
| constituency = Germany
| term_start = 2 July 2019
| term_end =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| parliament = European
| 1blankname = Group
| 1namedata = Greens/EFA
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1986|03|11}}
| birth_place = Hamburg, West Germany
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = German
| relatives = Arne Semsrott (brother)
| website = https://nicosemsrott.eu/
}}
Nico Semsrott (born 11 March 1986) is a German Kabarett artist, slam poet, and politician. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2019 as a member of Die PARTEI, but left the party in 2021, and sat as an independent.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/27/nba-star-a-tv-chef-and-a-sad-comic-meet-some-of-europes-new-meps-europe-eu-elections |title=An NBA star, a TV chef and a comedian: meet some of the new MEPs |first1=Philip |last1=Oltermann |first2=Shaun |last2=Walker |first3=Angela |last3=Giuffrida |date=27 May 2019 |work=The Guardian |access-date=28 May 2019 }}
Career
=Entertainment=
In school, he founded the satirical school newspaper Sophie's Underworld ({{langx|de|link=no|Sophies Unterwelt}}) together with his younger brother, Arne Semsrott at the Hamburg {{interlanguage link|Sophie-Barat-Schule|de}}. Its sale was banned on the school grounds by the school's headmistress, though it was continued to be sold from a portable toilet.{{Cite web|first=Matthias |last=Hanselmann |url=https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/nico-und-arne-semsrott-mal-lustig-mal-ernst-aber-immer.970.de.html?dram:article_id=391523 |title=Nico und Arne Semsrott – Mal lustig, mal ernst – aber immer politisch |work=Deutschlandfunk |date=20 July 2017 |trans-title=Nico and Arne Semsrott: Sometimes funny, sometimes serious – but always political |language=de |access-date=11 May 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.spiegel.de/lebenundlernen/schule/rebellische-schuelerzeitung-pressekrieg-um-sophies-unterwelt-a-362828.html |title=Pressekrieg um "Sophies Unterwelt" |author=Benedikt Mandl |work=Spiegel-Online |language=de |date=1 July 2005 |accessdate=3 September 2021}}
Since 2008, Semsrott has portrayed a depressive persona on poetry slams and cabarets. He usually introduces himself to the audience as a “demotivational speaker”.{{Cite web|url=https://nicosemsrott.eu/en|title=Nico Semsrott|website=nicosemsrott.eu|access-date=20 May 2021}} 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" ({{langx|de|link=no|Freude ist nur ein Mangel an Informationen}}), 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/nicosemsrott/videos/285924478710048/|title=Nico Semsrott|website=facebook.com|access-date=11 May 2019}}{{Primary source inline|date=May 2019}} Semsrott was part of the ZDF heute-show team from 2017 until 2019, hosting the segment No Fun Facts.{{Cite web|url=https://www.zdf.de/suche?q=no+fun+facts |title=No Fun Facts – Heute Show|website=zdf.de|language=de|access-date=11 May 2019}}
=Politics=
Semsrott ran in the 2017 German federal election as leading candidate for Berlin for Die PARTEI, a satirical German political party, receiving 2.1% of the votes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wahlen-berlin.de/wahlen/BU2017/presse/20170925a.pdf|title=Berlin Votes}}
In the 2019 European elections, Semsrott was elected to the European Parliament as the second party-list candidate (behind Martin Sonneborn) from Die PARTEI.{{cite web |title=Key dates ahead|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/elections-press-kit/0/key-dates-ahead |publisher=European Parliament |access-date=28 May 2019 |date=20 May 2017}}{{cite web |title=Key dates ahead|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48365702|work=BBC News|access-date=28 May 2019 |date=22 May 2017}} His party received 2.4%. Unlike other elections in Germany, there is no 5% electoral threshold 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8HvDaTVAjo|title=LETZTWÄHLER - EINE GEFAHR FÜR EUROPA! (advertisement in German Public TV (ARD)) |date=25 April 2019|work=Youtube/Nico Semsrott |access-date=31 May 2019}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/europawahl-2019-so-will-martin-sonneborn-afd-stimmen-abjagen-15750482.html|title=Sonneborn bei der Europawahl : Mit Göbbels und Speer als Kandidaten |trans-title=Sonneborn at the European Election: With Göbbels and Speer as Candidates |date=22 August 2018 |work=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung |access-date=28 May 2019}}{{cite news |url=https://www.stern.de/neon/wilde-welt/politik/nico-semsrott-ueber-junge-waehler--rechte-im-eu-parlament-und-die-partei-8730010.html |title=Junge Wähler pushen Die Partei ins EU-Parlament – das sagt Nico Semsrott zum Wahlerfolg |date=28 May 2019 |access-date=28 May 2019 |work=Stern |trans-title=Young Voters Push Die PARTEI into the European Parliament – Nice Semsrott speaks about the electoral victory |first=Nikolaus |last=Pichler }} 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 or the FDP, two establishment parties.{{Cite news|url=https://www.rtl.de/cms/europawahl-2019-martin-sonneborns-partei-bei-erstwaehlern-beliebter-als-spd-und-fdp-4346637.html |title=Europawahl: Satirepartei bei Erstwählern beliebter als SPD und FDP |trans-title=European Election: Satirical party more popular with first-time voters than the SPD and FDP |date=28 May 2019|work=RTL |access-date=31 May 2019}}
In May 2020, Semsrott revealed a series of thefts in the European Parliament.{{cite news |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/eu-parlament-waehrend-corona-schliessung-kam-es-offenbar-zu-diebstahlserie-a-b53a71cf-10e5-44a2-9de6-29f66a6b3fbf |title=Diebstahlserie im EU-Parlament |newspaper=Der Spiegel |date=2 July 2020 |access-date=10 July 2020|language=de}} He published a video about the incidents on his YouTube channel, where he criticised the way the security staff were handling the investigation.{{cite web |title=In meinem Abgeordnetenbüro in Brüssel wurde eingebrochen! |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg5iwr0GHhI&feature=youtu.be |website=YouTube | date=30 June 2020 |publisher=Nico Semsrott |access-date=10 July 2020|language=de}} He also published a timeline of the thefts and measures that were taken by him on his website.{{cite web |title=Neues Sicherheitssystem im Parlament eingeführt| url=https://nicosemsrott.eu/de/my-work/securing-the-european-parliament |website=Nico Semsrott |access-date=10 July 2020|language=de}} 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 Martin Sonneborn. Semsrott has continued his mandate in the European Parliament as an independent member of parliament.{{Cite web|title=Humorlose Erklärung, warum ich aus Die PARTEI austrete|url=https://nicosemsrott.eu/de/my-work/humorlose-erklarung-warum-ich-aus-die-partei-austrete|access-date=13 January 2021|website=nicosemsrott.eu}} He did not stand in the 2024 European election.
Awards
- 2009: Winner NDR-Comedy Contest
- 2010: Karl-Marx-Poesie-Preis
- 2011: Stuttgarter Besen, audience award
- 2011: Kleines Passauer Scharfrichterbeil (3rd place)
- 2011: Winner NDR-Comedy Contest{{Cite web|url=http://www.n-joy.de/entertainment/comedy/comedy_contest/finale831.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015160726/http://www.n-joy.de/entertainment/comedy/comedy_contest/finale831.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 October 2013|title=Nico gewinnt Finale {{!}} N-JOY XTRA – Entertainment – Comedy – Comedy Contest|date=15 October 2013|access-date=11 May 2019}}
- 2012: Die Freiburger Leiter{{Cite web|url=https://www.badische-zeitung.de/kultur-sonstige/kulturboersenpreis-fuer-fuenf-a-cappella-saengerinnen |trans-title=Cultural Expo Prize for Five A-Capella Singers |title=Kulturbörsenpreis für fünf A-Cappella-Sängerinnen |work=Badische Zeitung |date=27 January 2012 |language=de|access-date=11 May 2019}}
- 2014: Bayerischer Kabarettpreis, Senkrechtstarter
- 2017: Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis, category political satire
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{official|http://www.nicosemsrott.de}}
- [https://av.tib.eu/search?f=creator%3Bhttp://d-nb.info/gnd/1022217542 Videos by and about Nico Semsrott] on the AV-Portal of the Technischen Informationsbibliothek
{{Current EP Germany}}{{EP Political Group Greens–EFA}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Semsrott, Nico}}
Category:German cabaret performers