Lennart Schilgen - "Abwesenheitsnotizen"

Being constantly reachable is so last decade. Lennart Schilgen is back with his third show - and makes himself conspicuous by his absence. When he's not performing concerts or picking up cabaret awards (Prix Pantheon, Stuttgarter Besen, and more), he's mainly doing one thing: disappearing. Off on a cycling trip, a monastery retreat, or a communist summer camp. Or just into the depths of his own thoughts, which is often adventure enough.

What comes out are songs about detours - in the world and inside his own head. Light and witty, but not shy about the darker corners either. This time Schilgen digs up things that have been swept under the rug for years: an old PUR cassette, primary school report cards, the story of a night-bus stop. Fortunately, he guides the audience safely across every abyss - carried by his accomplished piano and guitar playing, his voice, and what the laudation for the 'Tuttlinger Krähe' award called "an alert mind, with heart, humour, and treacherous punchlines".

And if all else fails, there are the poems: small linguistic surprise packages, deeply silly and highly crafted at the same time. His recently published "Gesammelte Werke" are, if a little self-promotion is permitted here, something of a bestseller by poetry-collection standards. Still have questions? Feel free to email him any time. He just won't reply. Best to come to the show.