Lara Stoll – «Don’t answer the phone!»
Legend:
Lara Stoll does slam poetry, film, television and as Stefanie Stauffacher she can also show a failed Eurovision song.
Keystone / GAETAN BALLY
Dear Emil, now you’re already turning 90. So 90 is like 4 times 4 minus 7 times 10 plus 15 minus 15. You madman! I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart and hope you enjoy the day to the fullest, don’t knock over too many prams and preferably don’t answer the phone.
I wish you only the best and the happiest in the new year of your life, i.e. in your 91st year of life. 91 like 3 times 100 minus 54 divided by 2 minus 34 plus 1.
Bänz Friedli – “You are people’s property”
Legend:
Bänz Friedli may already be a folk good himself, at least he is extremely diverse. Among other things, he is a cabaret artist, columnist, author, commuter, house husband and women’s football fan.
Keystone / WALTER BIERI
You dear great, incredible, unique Emil. Four letters, one first name, and everyone in the country immediately has a smile on their face because they know and like you – Röschtigraben or not. No one has that but you. You are a people’s property, belong to everyone and all of us who have something to do with humor can only bow to you deeply.
Even those who are not so aware of how you prepared the ground for us. Who didn’t sit in the Knie circus and admired you like I did in 1977, who knew your sketches by heart. I’m impressed that you scold us Swiss, with all our quirks and “shambles”, but never expose anyone. Because you like your characters. Because you like people.
You are the greatest and most important thing in our field that has ever existed. An eternal role model for me.
You know what I admire the most? How timeless your comedy is. The prams you describe no longer exist, the telegram has died out. But when you do the “calorie restaurant” you wrote over 40 years ago, you get the feeling you’re making fun of today’s molecular gastronomy. When the chef says: “We could use a beetle,” we’re, bang, in today’s hip pubs that serve grilled insects.
Enjoy your birthday. And maybe you enjoy knowing and feeling that you are the greatest and most important person in our field that has ever existed. For me an eternal role model and a wonderful colleague.
Simon Enzler – «I am amazed»
Legend:
Simon Enzler is perhaps the most famous Appenzeller in the world and a multiple award-winning cabaret artist.
Keystone / MARTIN RUETSCHI
heavens, hay ladder! Now you’re turning 90! Dear Emil, warmest congratulations on this big day. You’re not, I just did a quick calculation, not only practically twice my age, but also at least twice as fit.
I’m amazed at what you can still achieve at this tender age, it’s just tremendous. If I was still hopping around on stage at 90 like you are today, I would have done well. Enjoy it, dear Emil, let yourself be celebrated at least three times. I hope that you stay with us healthy and happy for a long time.
Nicole Knuth – «Always the election loser»
Legend:
Nicole Knuth was one half of the duo “Knuth and Tucek” until 2019. Now she can be seen with her own play on Swiss theater stages.
Sabine Rock
I wish you all the best on your birthday and lots of strength, lots of energy, lots of fun with implementations for the stage or other implementations for life. Thank you very much for that «Election loser», which accompanies me again and again.
It’s always good for me when I feel lost because I’m often not one of the winners. In such moments, the “election loser” helps me to find the right sense of proportion.
Michael Gammenthaler – «Scraped Eggs»
Legend:
Michael Gammenthaler successfully combines magic and stand-up comedy. It is not known whether he eats a lot of soup.
Mirco Rederlechner
Dear Emily, Happy Birthday! I just turned 50 and you’re turning 90 now!? What’s your secret to staying fit for so long? Maybe a warm soup?
When I was about ten years old, I sat with my mother at the kitchen table, we listened to your “Fyraabig” and laughed our heads off over pressed asparagus, scrambled eggs and yamami bread and your increasingly desperate attempt to order a warm soup. I think you’ve received a lot of warm soup since then. Or?
Christoph Simon – “Like brushing teeth”
Legend:
The writer and cabaret artist Christoph Simon has traveled widely: He explored the world from the Emmental, visiting Klagenfurt and Olten, among other places. He continues to travel a lot, especially in Switzerland and Germany.
Keystone / ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE
Dear Emil, you whirl everyday life upside down. You turn the world upside down. You will find adventure on your own doorstep. From E for Emil to Z for circus: Your thieving joy in comedy, in creating and improvising, always amazed and enchanted me.
Your art is and remains a pure joy, like climbing a tree, living offline for a week, a joy like painting a gray wall a bright color, or using only the faint of hand for a day. Brushing your teeth is a similar experience to watching you tinker with a stroller.
Thank you for your humor, for your skills, your passion and your kindness.
Once you were in the audience with me and I was so nervous that I forgot half of the text. Afterwards you comforted me with the words: “Well, I liked half of what you heard.”
Your entry from 1974 can be read in the guest book of the basement stage in St. Gallen. It says: “I played in the basement stage six times. I received a nice welcome six times. I was tired six times at the end, and six times everything didn’t work out.”
Dear Emil, thank you for your humor, for your skills, your passion and your friendliness, even if everything doesn’t always work out. From A for applause to Z for encores, I wish you something that goes far beyond that: a lot of joy.
Franz Hohler – «Goodbye!»
Legend:
Cabaret artist, writer, songwriter and kiosk customer Franz Hohler is a similar size to Emil himself in the cultural landscape.
Keystone / PATRICK HUERLIMANN
Hello, Mr. Steinberger. This is the kiosk on Meisenweg speaking. I have a customer here who really wants to wish you a happy birthday and he says, the thingy, his cell phone battery is dead, so can I do it for him? It is a good customer who always gives me his sports pool slips.
He has never won anything, but he always comes back. He leaves, what’s your name again, Hohler, he says, so this Mr. Hohler congratulates you very much on your birthday and wishes you all the best, and of course I do too. So goodbye…
She, he didn’t even answer the phone. But it’s probably all on the answering machine.
More congratulations on Emil’s birthday