Daniël Arends

Daniël Arends (full name Daniël Joko Erik Arends, born 15 October 1979 in Jakarta, Indonesia) is a Dutch cabaret artist and alternative stand-up comedian of Indonesian descent, raised by his adoptive parents in Bussum. He studied at the Academie voor Kleinkunst in Amsterdam and joined the Comedytrain collective in 2003. He is widely considered one of the most innovative and unpredictable voices in contemporary Dutch cabaret.

During his studies at the Academie voor Kleinkunst, Arends was part of the cabaret group Vier Gasten. In 2003 he joined Comedytrain, the Amsterdam stand-up collective, and built his reputation in the clubs around Toomler. In November 2006 he won both the jury and audience prizes at the Cameretten Festival, the major breakthrough that launched his solo career. The following year he was featured on television in the series Comedytrain presenteert. In 2013 he starred in one of the lead roles in the Dutch film Bro's Before Ho's. He has since produced a long line of theater programmes including Meer van hetzelfde (deel 1), High Class Bitch and Had ik maar nooit zo aardig gedaan, the latter two often performed as a double bill of two 80-minute shows in a single evening, with snowfall as a striking stage effect. In 2021 he joined the satirical news programme Dit was het nieuws as team leader alongside Jan Jaap van der Wal and host Harm Edens. His comedy is characterised by sharpness, audience improvisation, unpredictability and confrontational dark humour.

Daniël Arends tours Dutch theaters with his solo programmes, including the High Class Bitch reprise and Had ik maar nooit zo aardig gedaan, often presented back-to-back as a double evening. He performs regularly at Theater Carré, DeLaMar and other major Dutch venues. Current tour dates and tickets are listed on his website danielarends.nl, and clips from his shows are available on his YouTube channel youtube.com/@danielarendscomedy.