Martin Schneider

Martin Schneider (born 25 May 1964), often just called "Maddin", is a German comedian, cabaret artist and actor. He was born in Bad Homburg vor der Hohe and grew up in Burgholzhausen, a district of Friedrichsdorf. He has a twin sister named Martina and today lives in Marburg. He began with an internship at the Hessischer Rundfunk, where he first tried doing cabaret.

In 1990 he was given his first stage job, with his debut programme titled Gell, Sie sind spirituell? (You're Spiritual, Aren't You?). Since 1992 he has appeared in the Quatsch Comedy Club, which was still a theatre in Hamburg at that time. He later appeared in several television shows, including RTL Samstag Nacht, with guest appearances in 7 Tage, 7 Kopfe and Genial daneben, and was a cast member of Comedy Factory (1996-97) on ProSieben. Since 2004 he has appeared with his best friend Cordula Stratmann in Sat.1's improvisational comedy show Schillerstrasse.

Schneider is known for his Hessian dialect, and the line "Aschebeschar" ("Aschenbecher" in Standard German, "ashtray" in English) became a dictum of his; his characteristics include his distinctive face and big mouth. In October 2004 he played the dwarf "Speedy" in the film 7 Zwerge - Manner allein im Wald, directed by Otto Waalkes, with a sequel in 2006. He has released several CDs, including Aschebeschar and Best of Maddin, as well as the book Im Bett mit Maddin (In Bed with Maddin).