Karim Slama
Versatile humourist
Nominated for the Schweizer Kleinkunstpreis 2020
Karim Slama, who was born in Lausanne in 1976, was previously nominated for the Schweizer Kleinkunstpreis in 2017. The son of a Tunisian father and a mother from German-speaking Switzerland, he discovered improvisational theatre while still at school. As he himself says, his parentage made him something of an Italian. It was not until 2001, after training as an engineer, that he encountered the world of humour as part of the legendary satirical radio show “La Soupe”. His first solo programme, “Le Film 1” was created that same year, and was followed by numerous other radio and TV appearances in French-speaking Switzerland. In 2008 he began entertaining audiences in the German-speaking part of the country, where he now stages a third of his performances. He received the “Prix des Arts de la scène” from the Fondation Vaudoise pour la Culture in 2011.
A creative perfectionist and versatile humourist, he devises solo programmes that constantly reveal new facets and forms. His wryly humorous take on everyday life is also to the fore in “Karim Slama cherche un peu d’attention” (2005), “Karim Slama cherche encore un titre pour son spectacle” (2009) and “à part ça, globalement, ça va plutôt bien”. German-language versions of his works follow, in 2008 with “Karim Slama bittet um etwas Aufmerksamkeit” and then “Welsch ein Slamassel” (2014) and “Knacknuss” (2016), making him one of the few artists in the scene who can appeal to audiences across the country. His performances are accompanied by taped music and a specially created soundscape. Always keen to explore new challenges, he performs in collectives such as the “Le Caméléon” theatre forum, with Zirkus Knie and in the spectacle “Fabrikk” by Karl’s Kühne Gassenschau. His puppet play “Titeuf” (2016), an adaptation of the work by the French-speaking Swiss cartoonist Zep, was followed by 2018’s “L’Evadé”, a fascinating and moving piece of wordless physical theatre on the subject of locked-in syndrome. In 2019 he created “La Smala”, his first puppet theatre piece for children.
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