Kabaret TEY was one of the most popular Polish

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

s in the 1970s and 1980s. Its main performers included Zenon Laskowik and

Bohdan Smoleń Bohdan Smoleń (9 June 1947 – 15 December 2016) was a Polish comedian, singer and actor. He was a member of the Kabaret TEY, and was featured in the television show ''Świat według Kiepskich'' (''Night and Day''). On 20 May 2009 he was awar ...

. The name TEY means "you" in the

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

dialect.

History

Founded in the mid-1960s as ''Klops'' by Zenon Laskowik, Krzysztof Jaślar and Aleksander Gołębiowski, on 17 September 1971 it changed its name to ''Kabaret TEY''. Popular performers included

(joined in 1977), Jadwiga Żywczak Marian Pogasz, Rudi Schuberth

Janusz Rewiński Janusz () is a masculine Polish given name. It is also the shortened form of January and Januarius. People *Janusz Akermann (born 1957), Polish painter *Janusz Bardach, Polish gulag survivor and physician *Janusz Bielański, Roman Catholic priest ...

, Grażyna Łobaszewska, Zbigniew Górny,

Zbigniew Wodecki Zbigniew Stanisław Wodecki (; 6 May 1950 – 22 May 2017) was a Polish singer, musician, composer, actor and TV presenter. Early life and career He was born on 6 May 1950 in Godów, Poland. He started to play the violin at the age of fiv ...

and

Małgorzata Ostrowska Małgorzata Teresa Ostrowska, née Kuźniewska (31 July 1958 – 8 August 2024)Włodzimierz Korcz Włodzimierz Korcz (born 13 November 1943 in Łódź) is a Polish composer, pianist, music producer and author of many popular songs. He graduated from the Academy of Music in Łódź and debuted in 1965. In 1968–1970 Korcz worked as music edi ...

(author of ''

Żeby Polska była Polską "Żeby Polska była Polską" (''Let Poland be Poland'', or – less commonly, ''For Poland to be Poland'') is one of the best-known Polish protest songs written in 1976 by the Polish singer-songwriter Jan Pietrzak, with music by Włodzimierz Korcz ...

'', the informal anthem of ''Solidarity''). "Prawda w żartach zawarta."
Interview with Jan Pietrzak by Patrycja Gruszyńska-Ruman. Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej Nr 7 (90) lipiec 2008, ISSN 1641-9561, p. 16-17. Retrieved June 14, 2012. The most popular of these were Laskowik and Smoleń, who often performed as a team. The cabaret style relied heavily on improvisation. Its first significant award was the satirical ''

Szpilki ''Szpilki'' was a Polish satirical magazine. It was established in 1936 by a group of leftist literary people, including Eryk Lipiński, , and (chief editor).J. Łojek, J. Myśliński, W. Władyka, ''Dzieje prasy polskiej'', Warszawa 1988, p. 103, ...

'' magazine's '' Złota Szpilka'' (the Golden Pin) award at the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole in 1973; this award also did much to popularize the cabaret. From 1977 the group worked with Polish national television (

Telewizja Polska Telewizja Polska S.A. (; "Polish Television"; TVP), also known in English as the public Polish Television is a Polish state media corporation. It is the largest Polish television network, although viewership has been declining in the 2010s. Sinc ...

). As the communist system of the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

began to wind down, so did Kabaret TEY, whose career was very much built on parodying the existing political system and communist reality. The group had another successful performance in Opole in 1980, and toured both Poland and some other countries. In 1984 it changed its name to TEYATR. Its last performance in Poland took place in 1987 and the last performance for Polonia (Polish

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

in the United States and Canada) took place in 1988.

Reception

Kabaret TEY was one of the most popular Polish

s in the 1970s and 1980s. Its fame was such that in the mid-1980s, it became one of the main icons associated with

, and some of the jokes and phrases coined in it have entered the

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...

and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

. The group texts became more political in the aftermath of the rise of Solidarity and introduction of the martial law in Poland in 1981.

Performers

Artists

* Zenon Laskowik * Krzysztof Jaślar * Aleksander Maria Gołębiowski *

* Rudi Schuberth * Zbigniew Górny

Associates

Krystyna Tkacz Krystyna is a Polish variant of name Christine or Christina. It may refer to: People with the name *Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz (born 1936), Polish naval engineer and sailor *Krystyna Janda (born 1952), Polish actress *Krystyna Kuperberg (bor ...

* Grzegorz Warchoł *

* Barbara Gołaska * Tadeusz Osipowicz * Jerzy Garniewicz * Wojciech Michalski * Jerzy Banaś * Grażyna Łobaszewska *

Małgorzata Ostrowska Małgorzata Teresa Ostrowska, née Kuźniewska (31 July 1958 – 8 August 2024)Marian Pogasz *

Michał Grudziński Michał () is a Polish and Sorbian form of Michael and may refer to: * Michał Bajor (born 1957), Polish actor and musician * Michał Chylinski (born 1986), Polish basketball player * Michał Drzymała (1857–1937), Polish rebel * Michał Helle ...

* Piotr Sowiński *

Tadeusz Wojtych ''Tadeusz'' is a Polish first name, derived from Thaddaeus. Tadeusz may refer to: * Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (1895–1966), Polish military leader * Tadeusz Borowski (1922–1951), Polish writer and The Holocaust survivor * Tadeusz Boy-Żeleńsk ...

* Małgorzata Bratek * Jacek Różański * Aleksandra Jursza

References

External links

*
Kabaret TEY - Official page
*
Kabaret TEY - fan page
{{Authority control Polish cabarets 1971 establishments in Poland 1988 disestablishments in Poland Performing groups established in 1971