OUR STORY
The Schuman Show is Europe’s answer to late night and sketch comedy
“Not to say that everything the EU does is perfect, but let’s at least have the stories out as they are, and communicate it as they are.”
Our independent organisation was founded by the Greek-American performer Kelly Agathos and Dutch investigative journalist Lise Witteman.
We began in the basement of a bar in September 2021. It was such a hit, we got featured in Politico and our next show was in a big theatre, for which we managed to sell out tickets in the space of 4 hours.
We use comedy to make EU affairs more understandable for a global audience, in a monthly hour-long show live in front of a theatre audience. Music, jokes, theatre, and improv - these are the tools we use to satirize EU decisions (and decision-makers!).
Our show was born out of the wish to reform the storytelling about the European Union and to ensure that people know what’s going on in Brussels, the heart of European power, by making it funny and accessible. While European countries might have their own televised satire at the national level, we do not have an EU comedy news equivalent, and this is the gap we are trying to fill!
The cast is made up of journalists, improvisers, actors, consultants, and former EU officials who believe that comedy is the key to bringing the EU closer to the people – and to hold it to account.
Next to our monthly show, we’ve also begun producing videos in which we use humour to feature investigative stories on EU affairs, entitled The Schuman Files. We believe satire covering the ins and outs of the most diverse political machinery in the world would go a long way to introducing European citizens to what on earth the EU is all about, especially in a time when populism is on the rise and participation in European Elections is at an all time low.
By the end of 2022, we received funding from 3 journalism-based grants to help us film and put our work online, entertaining and informing more people of the goings on in the capital of the EU and why it matters to their life too.
“The truth is funny, life is funny, news is funny —
the ridiculousness is already in the story, we are just putting a spotlight on it.”
Thus, The Schuman Show’s aim is to burst (out of) the Brussels bubble
– by bringing the people and the politics of the EU to life.
In 2023, several notable foundations have graciously aided us in our goal to burst the Brussels bubble. We are grateful for their support.
