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Hardly anyone has shaped the Swiss comedy scene like he has. Figures like Harry Hasler, Debbie Mötteli or Fredy Hinz have long since achieved cult status. Viktor Giacobbo is now 70 years old.
“I’ll be 40,” Giacobbo corrected the SRF reporter in an interview on the birthday on February 6th. Meant ironically, of course, and yet there is a grain of truth behind the joke, as with much of what the satirist says.
He doesn’t feel old yet. And he always has plans for the future. For example, a leading role in a play in Winterthur’s Casinotheater, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2022 under the direction of Giacobbo. Or a documentary about the orangutans in Sumatra, which are threatened with extinction. An affair of the heart for animal lover Giacobbo. Last but not least, the soon to be 70-year-old is also planning a few trips, “but on a private basis”.
young years
As a young man, the man from Winterthur initially did an apprenticeship as a typesetter, but quickly found his way onto the stage. First he appears in humorous plays. In the late 1980s, he appeared regularly on Swiss television for the first time as a sidekick in the “Medienkritik” program.
Finally, in 1990, he received his own satirical program, “Viktors Programm”, on Swiss television. The success also continues with the follow-up format “Viktor’s late program”.
From the start, Giacobbo’s characters have been a central part of the show and its success. From the naive blonde Debbie Mötteli to the swanky macho Harry Hasler to the homeless stoner Fredy Hinz. Giacobbo doesn’t particularly like looking back at old sketches, as he admitted a year ago on “Gredig direkt”. Satire is created every day, so it’s “pointless to talk about old characters and sketches.”
Giacobbo/Müller
Giacobbo can finally build on the successes of the late program together with Mike Müller in the satirical weekly review “Giacobbo/Müller”. From 2008 to 2016, the duo generated good ratings and lots of laughs on Sunday nights.
The parodic sketches of well-known personalities such as Ueli Maurer, Roger Schawinski or Donatella Versace have also become cult. Today Giacobbo prefers to joke on social media. He regularly comments on political events in the usual way.
70th birthday special
There is no longer a TV show of its own and there shouldn’t be any more. The exception to the rule comes on Sunday in a birthday special. Colleague Dominic Deville will moderate, but Giacobbo will of course also be seen. Otherwise, the almost 70-year-old celebrates on Saturday evening in the local casino theater with friends and employees. Although he is reluctant to celebrate his own birthday, this year he is making an exception.
