Henning Schmidtke

Henning Schmidtke is a German cabaret artist, musician, and author born on February 3, 1970, in Northeim, Lower Saxony. He grew up in Hattorf am Harz, attended the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Gymnasium in Herzberg am Harz and earned his Abitur in 1989, then studied German and English in Goettingen. His stage work sits at the intersection of stand-up, music, and infotainment: a North German sensibility, dry observations, and songs interleaved with spoken sets, with rap and other musical forms also appearing in his repertoire.

Since 2004, Schmidtke has worked exclusively as a stage artist, musician, and author. He has won several of Germany's most respected small-art (Kleinkunst) prizes. In 2023 he received the St. Ingberter Pfanne, and in 2024 he won both the Passauer Scharfrichterbeil and the Lorscher Abt - the latter awarded at a festive ceremony at Theater Sapperlot, with Schmidtke taking both the jury and audience prizes in the tenth-anniversary edition. He had a recurring cabaret column on the ZDFinfo channel for two years. His current stage program is 'Es ist nicht alles so scheisse wie du denkst' (It Is Not All As Bad As You Think), a mix of stand-up, music, and infotainment built around a book of the same title. Critics describe his style as a unique combination of laughter and reflection that explicitly resists the cynical tone of much contemporary German political comedy. He maintains a steady touring schedule across German theatres and Kleinkunst venues, with regular guest appearances on culture and infotainment formats. He is also active on Instagram (@henningschmidtke), where he posts clips and tour updates.

Henning Schmidtke tours extensively with 'Es ist nicht alles so scheisse wie du denkst', with regular dates across Germany including Munich, Dresden, Neuss, and venues across his home region of Lower Saxony and northern Germany. A confirmed 2026 date includes January 21 at Muenchen Ticket-listed venues. Tickets are available via Reservix, Muenchen Ticket, Vivenu, and via his official website henning-schmidtke.de.