Severin Groebner

"I am the people." In German.

The little man on the street is still a human being just like you and me. So let’s ask him: Why is he always standing on the street—doesn’t he have a home? And exactly how small is he? Is that perhaps why the people strive for greatness—because they’re made up entirely of little men? What does it actually want, and does it even know itself? In “Ich bin das Volk,” Severin Groebner asks the questions no one else asks—and answers them right away. After all, the people are Severin. Or the sovereign. Whatever.

What follows is a populist, populous encounter with folksy justifications, in which nothing remains without a “people.” Volkasko unsettles us, so to speak—but in return, there’s whole-grain bread and games. In between, the question of whether being stupid is an advantage once AI takes over, and whether voting is still worth it. In the end, there’s an autocrat you could just kiss—one for whom caprice comes before duty. Just someone like you and me.

The Vienna native has been performing on the cabaret stage for more than three decades; this show coincides with his 30th stage anniversary and earned him the 2026 Austrian Cabaret Award. The jury describes it as a “splendid modern take on ‘Herr Karl’” and attests that he has “reached mastery” in recent years.

“…in the process, he sarcastically applies sharp social and political observations from around the world to the microcosm of midlife crises.” (Kurier)

“Gallows humor with grandeur” (Ö1)