The general public got to know Jan Jaap van der Wal as the presenter of the radio program Spijkers Met Koppen and as a lyricist and panel member of the satirical television program Dit Was Het Nieuws. His talent for stand-up comedy was recognized early on: at the age of seventeen, he was accepted into the Comedytrain. In that form he can best get to the core of what he wants to say. In his theater
… programs, Van der Wal does not show himself as the easy-to-score joker. On the contrary, in a non-subtle but involved way he exposes many things in Western society. The starting point for his fourth theater program BSUR (Be As You Are) was his travels to six developing countries for the Liliane Foundation. Van der Wal is indignant about the spiritual poverty in our antisocial country and about the hypocrisy and inauthenticity of certain famous Dutch people. He also discusses political scheming, the (un) usefulness of development aid and the triviality of the consumer society. His harsh and cynical humor calls for awareness and self-reflection. (SvdP)more
