Anders Matthesen

Anders Matthesen (born 6 July 1975) is a Danish stand-up comedian, actor, and rapper. As a musician and comedian he performs under the name Anden ("the duck"). He has released two rap records and several comedy albums, and has written and directed several animated films, including Terkel in Trouble (2004), Checkered Ninja (2018), Checkered Ninja 2 (2021), and Checkered Ninja 3. He is the creator of the 2003 TV Christmas calendar Jul på Vesterbro and has appeared in several television series as well as in the 2022 film Toscana.

Born in Østerbro, Copenhagen, to parents who are both visual artists, Matthesen made his stand-up debut at the Danish Championship in Stand-up Comedy in 1993, where he finished in second place, losing only to Mads M. Nielsen. In 1999 he featured in ten episodes of DR2's sketch comedy show Casper & Mandrilaftalen. In 2001 he released the comedy album Arne fortæller... Terkel i knibe, which was adapted into the adult animated musical comedy film Terkel in Trouble in 2004.

Matthesen made his directorial debut in 2009 with the comedy film Sorte kugler, which he also wrote and starred in, and which was later remade in Hindi as Thank God. In 2008 he received the Livsglædens Pris from the Simon Spies Foundation. His stand-up shows include Anden paa coke?, Anders (2012), and Shhh (2016), and in 2016 he published the children's novel Ternet Ninja, which received the Orla Prize for Best Story in 2017. The 2017 documentary The Other Side follows him between his solo shows.