Dr. Dick Zijp is Assistant Professor in Theatre Studies at the Department of Media and Culture Studies at Utrecht University. He teaches in the BA Media and Culture, the MA Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy and the MA Arts and Society. His research focuses on the politics and aesthetics of humour, Dutch cabaret and stand-upcomedy. He is also interested in the history and archiving of postwar Dutch theatre, (theatre) criticism and cultural studies approaches to theatre and performance (from a feminist, decolonial and socialist perspective). Zijp works as a freelance comedy critic for the progressive Dutch weekly De Groene Amsterdammer and likes to participate in public debate.

Background

Zijp studied at the University of Amsterdam, where he completed a BA in Theatre Studies, a BA in Philosophy and a Research Master in Art Studies (all cum laude). He was granted a Young Scholar Award from the International Society for Humor Studies (ISHS) for his MA thesis on Dutch cabaret. After his graduation in 2014, he started his career as a freelance teacher, researcher and comedy critic. He taught courses on theatre, performance and philosophy at Utrecht University and the University of Amsterdam and on cabaret and contemporary art at the Koningstheateracademie, a BA programme for comedians. He also worked as a cabaret critic for Theaterkrant, NRC Handelsblad and De Groene Amsterdammer.

PhD research

In February 2023, Zijp succesfully defended his PhD thesis on the politics and aesthetics of humour in Dutch cabaret (1966-2020). He wrote this thesis as an external PhD candidate, combining his research with a job as a teacher and critic. His thesis was supervised by Prof. dr. Maaike Bleeker (Theatre and Performance Studies, Utrecht University) and Prof. dr. Giselinde Kuipers (Cultural Sociology, KU Leuven). In his thesis, Zijp examined how comedians employ humour to present social criticism and how broader politicial ideas and sentiments resonate in comedy performances. He looked at the work of Wim Sonneveld, Wim Kan, Freek de Jonge, Youp van 't Hek, Hans Teeuwen, Theo Maassen, Claudia de Breij, Micha Wertheim and Alex Klaasen, among others. The thesis is freely available via the website of Utrecht University Library. 

During his PhD, Zijp spent six months as a visiting scholar at KU Leuven (Belgium), made possible by a research grant of the Prince Bernhard Culture Fund. His research was also awarded the Christie Davies Award (2022) from the International Society for Humor Studies (ISHS). Zijp was and is regularly asked for radio and television performances around humour and cabaret (see: 'In the media').