Xander De Rycke

Xander De Rycke (born 19 December 1987) is a Belgian (Flemish) stand-up comedian. He is known for his stage shows, the podcast Mosselen om half twee, and the year-end media review show Houdt het voor bekeken. De Rycke spent his early childhood in Zelzate. At the age of eight he moved to Eeklo, returning to Zelzate in his mid-teens. He left school at 18 intending to pursue stand-up comedy professionally.

De Rycke began performing stand-up comedy in 2006. He won the talent competition Homo Cabarectus and later that year reached the final of the Lunatic Comedy Award. He gained wider recognition after winning the Comedy Casino Cup on Canvas in 2007. De Rycke's first full-length show, Uw Zoete 666, premiered in 2008 and toured until 2010. His second show, Mijn Zwarte Parade, premiered in 2011, and his third show, Zijn Derde Show, premiered in 2013. To mark ten years on stage, De Rycke toured in 2015 and 2016 with the anniversary show 10 jaar bezig, 2 uur grappig. In 2017 he premiered Quarter-Life Crisis, and in March 2020 he premiered Bekend & Bescheiden.

In 2016 De Rycke launched the year-end show (eindejaarsconference) Houdt het voor bekeken, a satirical review of the Flemish television and media landscape. In 2025 the show moved to the Sportpaleis for the first time. From 2022 to 2025 he worked at Studio Brussel as co-presenter with Eva De Roo on De Roo en De Rycke. De Rycke launched the podcast Mosselen om half twee in 2011. In 2011 he also published an autobiography, Het leven is kak, en dan wordt het grappig. De Rycke has said that Henk Rijckaert (who taught him biology in secondary school) influenced his decision to start doing comedy.