Herman Finkers

Herman Finkers (born Hermenegildus Felix Victor Maria Finkers; 9 December 1954) is a Dutch comedian, well known in the Netherlands for his friendly, dry-witted humour and ambiguous style of storytelling. His humour is never at the expense of others, except his brother Wilfried Finkers, who is frequently the target of jokes and who co-wrote material and occasionally appeared in his shows. Finkers was born in Almelo and raised in a Catholic family. His career as a cabaret performer began after his studies, when he made his stuttering his trademark, and in 1979 he won multiple prizes at the Delftse Cameretten festival.

Finkers temporarily stopped performing in 2000 due to a lack of inspiration, and was soon afterwards diagnosed with a form of leukaemia. He returned to theatres in 2007 with a show called Na de Pauze (After the Break). On 31 December 2015, he gave the traditional New Year's Eve performance (Oudejaarsconference) on Dutch television, which was viewed by three million people. In 2020, he played the lead role in the film The Marriage Escape, which won the Golden Film and Platinum Film awards, and in 2021 he received the Zilveren Krulstaart award for best screenplay.

Finkers has a strong love for the Tweants dialect, his mother tongue, into which he has translated a number of his shows. He wrote and directed two short animation films entirely in Tweants and played a role in the first soap series in the dialect, Van Jonge Leu en Oale Groond. For his efforts to promote Tweants he received the Johanna van Buuren prize. His many honours include the Groenman language award, the Golden Harp, the Poelifinario, and the rank of Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.