Ilka Bessin aka Cindy from Marzahn
Her humor helped the comedian get through her difficult school years
© imago/Future Image
Ilka Bessin knew how to use the power of humor even as a young girl. At that time she used him as a shield from teasing.
Ilka Bessin (52) became famous throughout Germany around 20 years ago as her shrill alter ego Cindy from Marzahn. In conversation with the “Picture on Sunday” The stand-up comedian, who was born in the GDR, revealed how humor was a constant companion to her from her early school days, which she knew how to use to her advantage: “At school I had a big snout. I was big and chubby, was teased and made up for it with funny sayings.”
Despite the teasing, she enjoyed her time at school – at least up to a certain point: “I thought school was great. But only until the ninth grade. From then on I lost my bearings and had no idea what career I should choose.” When she graduated from secondary school the following year, she only received a good grade – an “A” in Russian. The rest were “modest” and her mother was not at all happy about Bessin’s supposed laziness: “I didn’t see it as laziness, but as freedom to further my own education.”
At the latest with “Wetten, dass…?” She had also convinced her mother
It still took a while – more precisely, a less than glorious training as a cook and subsequent retraining as a hotel manager – but then Bessin’s perseverance paid off: in 2004, her comedy talent was showcased in Thomas Herrmanns’ (60) “Quatsch Comedy Club”. cheeky Cindy from Marzahn discovered that less than ten years later she even became the co-host of “Wetten, dass…?”
By then, her mother was also overcome with pride, albeit with a catch: It was sweet “how happy she was about my success,” Bessin remembers of her time as “Wetten,dass..?”’s assistant Markus Lanz (54) back. At the same time, however, her mother was also worried that “I might stumble down the stairs and embarrass her.”