Xander De Rycke | |
|---|---|
 De Rycke in 2018 | |
| Born | December 19, 1987 |
| Notable work | Mosselen om half twee , Houdt het voor bekeken |
| Comedy career | |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Medium | Stand-up comedy |
| Subjects | media, youth, everyday life, trends |
| Website | Official website |
Xander De Rycke (born 19 December 1987) is a Belgian (Flemish) stand-up comedian. He is known for his stage shows, the podcast Mosselen om half twee , and the year-end media review show Houdt het voor bekeken. [1]
De Rycke spent his early childhood in Zelzate. At the age of eight he moved to Eeklo, returning to Zelzate in his mid-teens. In a 2011 interview with Humo , he said he never knew his father and was raised by his mother. [2] In later interviews, he has said his mother struggled with alcoholism. [3] [4] According to the same 2011 interview, he left school at 18 intending to pursue stand-up comedy professionally and subsequently moved out of the family home, living for a time with an acquaintance in Eede (in the Dutch province of Zeeland), just across the border. [2]
De Rycke began performing stand-up comedy in 2006. He won the talent competition Homo Cabarectus and later that year reached the final of the Lunatic Comedy Award organised by The Lunatic Comedy Club. [5] [6] [7]
He gained wider recognition after winning the Comedy Casino Cup on Canvas in 2007. [8] That year, he also appeared at the newly introduced Comedy Stage at Pukkelpop. [9] [10]
De Rycke's first full-length show, Uw Zoete 666, premiered in 2008 and toured until 2010. [4] His second show, Mijn Zwarte Parade, premiered in 2011 and toured through 2012. [11] His third show, Zijn Derde Show, premiered in 2013. [12]
To mark ten years on stage, De Rycke toured in 2015 and 2016 with the anniversary show 10 jaar bezig, 2 uur grappig ("10 years at it, 2 hours funny"), concluding with a three-day 10 jaar Xander De Rycke Ego-Festival (31 March–2 April 2016). [13]
In 2017 he premiered Quarter-Life Crisis. [4] In March 2020 he premiered Bekend & Bescheiden ("Famous & modest"). The planned tour was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he created an alternative pandemic-era show, Uitgerust & Immuun, focused on the coronavirus and lockdown measures. [4] Bekend & Bescheiden returned to the stage in 2022. [4]
On 27 November 2021 he performed the best-of show XDR15 at the Lotto Arena. [5] In the final week of 2022 he presented Een avond met Xander De Rycke ("An evening with Xander De Rycke"); a recording was uploaded to his YouTube channel on 23 January 2023 under the title Dit Terzijde. [14] The show later received a television broadcast on Canvas. [15]
In 2016 De Rycke launched the year-end show (eindejaarsconference) Houdt het voor bekeken, a satirical review of the Flemish television and media landscape. [1] Recordings of editions have been published online, including the 2016–2017 show. [16]
A planned 2020 edition (HHVB Endgame) was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [17] In late 2023 De Rycke returned with arena editions of Houdt het voor bekeken, which continued in 2024. [18] In 2025 the show moved to the Sportpaleis for the first time. [19]
In 2011 De Rycke appeared in the third season of Mag ik u kussen? on Canvas and later appeared as a panellist in the follow-up Een Laatste Groet . [2] In 2013 he presented the seventh season of Comedy Casino on Canvas. [4]
From 2022 to 2025 he worked at Studio Brussel as co-presenter with Eva De Roo on De Roo en De Rycke. [20]
In 2024 he competed on De Slimste Mens ter Wereld . [21] He also appeared in a 2024 special of the VRT 1 programme Ik vraag het aan. [22]
In 2011 De Rycke published an autobiography, Het leven is kak, en dan wordt het grappig ("Life is crap, and then it gets funny"). [4] In 2020 he published a second book, Bekend & Bescheiden, described as a reworked edition with additional material. [4]
In 2019 De Rycke presented five live talk-show-style evenings at the Minard Theatre in Ghent, titled Vanavond Live met Xander De Rycke, combining interviews, stand-up, and live music and modelled on American late-night television formats. [23]
De Rycke launched the podcast Mosselen om half twee in 2011; De Morgen credited the programme with helping sustain the Flemish podcast scene during the mid-2010s. [24]
De Rycke has said that Henk Rijckaert (who taught him biology in secondary school) influenced his decision to start doing comedy. [3]