Michael Mittermeier In-depth Biography
Michael Mittermeier} combined conventional standup} with elements of cabaret} to emerge as the most popular German comedian of his generation. Born in Dorfen, Upper Bavaria, on April 3, 1966, Mittermeier} first dreamed of a career playing rock & roll}. After learning guitar as a child, in 1987 he was plucked from the crowd to play guitar with his favorite band, U2}, during their performance in Munich. He nevertheless gravitated toward comedy}, in 1994 even writing his Universität München thesis on the subject of standup}. Around the same time Mittermeier} teamed with the Berliner Kabarett} to develop the musical comedy} showcase Killer Montag}. In early 1996, he headlined the cult comedy} Star Trek Special: Der Zorn des Kirk}, and that same year won the Prix Pantheon at Bonn's German Spaß-und-Satire-Open}.
The resulting attention set the stage for Mittermeier}'s breakthrough one-man show, Zapped!}, a series of riffs on topics ranging from health insurance to the American television show MacGyver}. After touring to sellout crowds in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, he issued Zapped!} on CD in early 1997, winning the Golden Europa prize in the comedy} category. In 1999 Mittermeier} earned the first of back-to-back Deutscher Comedypreis honors for Best Comedian -- his second win coincided with the release of his sophomore album, Back to Life}, and in 2001 he even scored a novelty} hit single with "Kumba Yo!,"} a collaboration with the rock} outfit Guano Apes}. Mittermeier} issued his third LP, Paranoid}, in 2004, supporting the project with an English-language tour of the New York City comedy} circuit. He also earned global attention on July 2, 2005, when he performed on the Berlin stage of the international Live 8} event. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
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