Casper & Mandrilaftalen
Encyclopedia
Casper & Mandrilaftalen (Casper and the Mandrill Deal) was a Danish
cult
TV program aired on DR2
in 1999.
sketch and talk show
hosted by Casper Christensen
. The show was created by Christensen and two other Danish comedians Lasse Rimmer
and Lars Hjortshøj
. Frank Hvam
later joined the program. Many prominent Danish comedians were occasionally part of the program, e.g. Jan Gintberg
, Anders Matthesen
, Mick Øgendahl, Uffe Holm, Sebastian Dorset, and Anders Lund Madsen.
The English comedian John Cleese
also made an appearance in one episode, as "Bosse" who pretends to be coach of the Danish national football team. This was a nod to the influence Monty Python
had on the show.
Episodes were typically written in the morning, filmed in the afternoon, and shown the same evening without much editing being done. This added to the impromptu
humor of the show.
The first 48 episodes of the show aired on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 23:30 during the first six months of 1999. The next 19 episodes were shown on Wednesday and Friday in the second half of 1999.
In 2003, the four comedians met again and made a new episode called "Fisso". It was released on the second DVD
(2006 re-release: third DVD
) of Casper & Mandrilaftalen.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
TV program aired on DR2
DR2
DR2 is a Danish television station. It is part of Danmarks Radio, the public service broadcasting company of Denmark.It was launched in 1996 as a satellite-/cable-only channel. This was highly controversial at the time, as it was considered close to a breach of public service principles that the...
in 1999.
Background
Casper & Mandrilaftalen was a surrealistic comedySurreal humour
Surreal humour is a form of humour based on violations of causal reasoning with events and behaviours that are logically incongruent. Constructions of surreal humour involve bizarre juxtapositions, non-sequiturs, irrational situations, and/or expressions of nonsense.The humour arises from a...
sketch and talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
hosted by Casper Christensen
Casper Christensen
Casper Lindholm Christensen is a Danish comedian. He has hosted many shows including Casper & Mandrilaftalen, the Danish airing of Shooting Stars and Don't Forget Your Toothbrush , and the Danish version of Deal or No Deal...
. The show was created by Christensen and two other Danish comedians Lasse Rimmer
Lasse Rimmer
Lasse Rimmer Nielsen is a Danish stand-up comedian and television and radio host.He made his first appearance as a stand-up comedian in 1993 at Café Din's in Copenhagen and participated in DM i Stand-Up in the same place in October 1993.He wrote and took part in DR2's Casper & Mandrilaftalen in...
and Lars Hjortshøj
Lars Hjortshøj
Lars Hjortshøj is a Danish stand-up comedian and television and radio host.He has taken part in many Danish shows, including Casper & Mandrilaftalen and in the sit-com Langt fra Las Vegas....
. Frank Hvam
Frank Hvam
Frank Hvam is a Danish stand-up-comedian.Hvam was born in Viborg and grew up on a farm in Ørum Sønderlyng. Shortly before completing training as a veterinarian, he dropped out to try his luck as a comedian....
later joined the program. Many prominent Danish comedians were occasionally part of the program, e.g. Jan Gintberg
Jan Gintberg
Jan Gintberg is a Danish stand-up comedian and television and radio host.He started his career as a stand-up comedian in 1992 where he was number three in the competition to be the best Danish stand-up comedian...
, Anders Matthesen
Anders Matthesen
Anders "Anden" Matthesen is a Danish stand-up comedian, actor and rapper. He is known for creating a wide array of memorable characters and stereotypes which he uses as alter-egos in performances....
, Mick Øgendahl, Uffe Holm, Sebastian Dorset, and Anders Lund Madsen.
The English comedian John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
also made an appearance in one episode, as "Bosse" who pretends to be coach of the Danish national football team. This was a nod to the influence Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
had on the show.
Episodes were typically written in the morning, filmed in the afternoon, and shown the same evening without much editing being done. This added to the impromptu
Impromptu
An impromptu is a free-form musical composition with the character of an ex tempore improvisation as if prompted by the spirit of the moment, usually for a solo instrument, such as piano...
humor of the show.
The first 48 episodes of the show aired on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 23:30 during the first six months of 1999. The next 19 episodes were shown on Wednesday and Friday in the second half of 1999.
In 2003, the four comedians met again and made a new episode called "Fisso". It was released on the second DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
(2006 re-release: third DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
) of Casper & Mandrilaftalen.
Format
The show revolved around Casper Christensen as the host of what was, ostensibly, a mix of a current events-show, a talkshow and a varietyshow, and the other comedians as guests and crew of the show, with occasional guest-performers and cameos by the actual crew. Christensen also introduced the sketches in the show. The guest were always very strange and abnormal characters, and the humor was very surreal.Recurring characters
The show featured many fictional guests, usually interviewed by Casper Christensen in an "absurd talkshow" style. They were usually played by the Mandril crew. While many characters appeared only once, some would re-appear in many episodes.- Frank Hvam as Bjarne GoldbækBjarne GoldbækBjarne Goldbæk is a Danish former professional footballer and current sports pundit for Kanal 5. He played for a number of foreign clubs, including Chelsea F.C. and Fulham F.C. in England and several clubs in Germany. He most prominently won the 1990 German Cup tournament and 1990–91...
- Frank Hvam as Gentleman Finn
- Frank Hvam as Sidney Kreutzfeldt
- Frank Hvam and Lars Hjortshøj as Rulle & Cromwell
- Lars Hjortshøj as Broder Salsa
- Lars Hjortshøj as Thore Ellen Hanhøj
- Lars Hjortshøj as Smokey Spartacus
- Lars Hjortshøj as Peter SchmeichelPeter SchmeichelPeter Bolesław Schmeichel MBE is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and was voted the "World's Best Goalkeeper" in 1992 and 1993...
- Lars Hjortshøj as Ebenezer Kvasthval
- Lasse Rimmer as Wesley SnipesWesley SnipesWesley Trent Snipes is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist, who has starred in numerous action films, thrillers, and dramatic feature films. Snipes is known for playing the Marvel Comics character Blade in the Blade film trilogy, among various other high profile roles...
- Lasse Rimmer as Pelle Klumpfeber
- Lasse Rimmer as Svenne O'lotta
- Frank Hvam as Kresten Pikhår
- Frank Hvam as Klaas Gynhjalter