Willem Cornelis "Wim" Kan (15 January 1911 – 8 September 1983) was a Dutch

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 ...

artist. Together with

Toon Hermans Antoine Gerard Theodore "Toon" Hermans (17 December 1916 – 22 April 2000) was a noted Dutch comedian, singer and writer. Toon Hermans was born in Sittard. He began performing in the 1930s, achieving local, regional and, eventually, natio ...

and

Wim Sonneveld Willem "Wim" Sonneveld (; 28 June 1917 – 8 March 1974) was a Dutch cabaret artist and singer. Together with Toon Hermans and Wim Kan, he is considered to be one of the 'Great Three' of Dutch cabaret. Sonneveld is generally viewed as a Dutch cu ...

, he is considered to be one of the Great Three of Dutch cabaret. In 1936, he established the ABC Cabaret, which soon became one of the most successful Dutch cabaret groups, in which several artists debuted who later became famous. In 1940, the ABC Cabaret was touring the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, and because of the German invasion could not return to the Netherlands. After the Japanese conquest of the Dutch East Indies, he was deported to camps at the

Burma Railway The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 ...

. Because of his experiences at these camps he later agitated against Hirohito's visit to the Netherlands in 1971. Wim Kan is possibly best known as the originator of the tradition of the so-called " Oudejaarsconferences". These are performances of political cabaret on (or around)

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

, discussing the events of the past year. Wim Kan made the first oudejaarsconference in 1954, which was broadcast on radio. His first televised oudejaarsconference was in 1973, scoring an

audience measurement Audience measurement measures how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also in relation to newspaper and magazine readership and, increasingly, web traffic on websites. Somet ...

of 75% and record appreciations rating of 8.8 (out of 10). Although he actually made only 5 television conferences (1973, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982), they made such an impact that many people remember it as a yearly tradition.

References

External links

De Wim Kan Pagina: New Year's Eve cabarets, historical audio, and quotes, in cooperation with the Dutch World Broadcaster (Radio Nederland Wereldomroept).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kan, Wim 1911 births 1983 deaths Dutch male comedians Dutch comedy musicians Dutch cabaret performers Dutch satirists 20th-century Dutch male singers Entertainers from The Hague World War II civilian prisoners held by Japan Burma Railway prisoners