The Netherlands has the tradition of a so-called "holy man" who comes to bring presents to all the children. He supposedly comes from Spain on a steamboat carrying all sorts of little slaves called "Black Petes" for children. This is often an overwhelming celebration. And many parents often find it great fun to put on an act and pretend that they are "holy" and truly know everything. And that it is all supposedly written in a very big, thick book. Of course, it is often nice for a child to receive presents, but the sheer overwhelmingness wasn't good for me. I vividly remember bursting into tears at the end of one of those so-called "Sinterklaas evenings" as a child, simply because I didn't understand it. Later, as a child, you hear that that holy man is complete nonsense and that the Holy Man doesn't exist at all! Yes, and there once was a truly good holy man, but that good holy man didn't come from Spain at all, but from Turkey. But the Dutch rulers wouldn't allow that, simply because at that time all sorts of dark-skinned people came from Turkey who often had to do the dirty work in the Netherlands. (Like sweeping excrement or digging ditches.) So it was all one big load of nonsense. And where people would actually paint themselves pitch black like real slaves. This was therefore banned during my lifetime. Many demonstrations broke out against the so-called "Sinterklaas celebration." It is, therefore, actually completely too absurd for words. Especially when one considers that the Netherlands became a very rich country in the past due to the slave trade, with Spain and Portugal as examples. And that as a child in the Netherlands you are even told about "The Golden Age," a time that arose due to the slave trade. Toon Hermans played on this factually absurd celebration fantastically within the Netherlands.

Toon Hermans

“It started in primary school. There, I would sometimes make my nose red with colored chalk; I really enjoyed that and it suited me well.” For Toon Hermans, the theater was not a choice; he simply could not do otherwise. The world of theater was in his very being. The love for the theater flowed from his heart to the tip of his little toe.

Tonie

Antoine Gerard Theodore ‘Teun’ Hermans was born on December 17, 1916, in Sittard, Limburg. He was the son of a bank director who passed away at the age of 47 shortly after his bankruptcy. Toon was eleven years old at the time. His mother affectionately called him Tonie. After primary school, Toon went to secondary school (Mulo). Due to his capriciousness and the lack of money in the Hermans family, he left secondary school prematurely to pursue training as a window dresser through various odd jobs. Barely fourteen years old, he wrote his first song. Thousands more would follow.

Great Love

After Toon won a talent show in Heerlen, he left for Amsterdam in 1942 to try his luck there. With songs in the style of Louis Davids and an imitation of the clown Johan Buziau, Toon performed at the Leidsepleintheater. There, in 1946, he also met his great love Rietje Weijtboer, a beautician whom he married that same year. Their marriage lasted until Rietje's death in November 1990.

Full-length Show

In 1947, Toon recorded his first record featuring the songs 'Ik Ben Jansen' and 'Trammen'. The record became a success. Subsequently, he wrote a number of songs for the famous radio program *De Bonte Dinsdagavondtrein* on the AVRO. In addition, Toon performed in various revues, before becoming the first Dutch singer/cabaret artist to debut in 1955 with a full-length One Man Show. With a combination of lighthearted songs and hilarious monologues unprecedented in the Netherlands, Toon wins the hearts of his audience. When his second One Man Show is broadcast on television on April 12, 1958, Toon becomes a national celebrity.

The Big Three

It doesn't take long before Toon, along with Wim Kan and Wim Sonneveld, is counted among the so-called Big Three, the three greatest post-war singers/cabaret performers in the Netherlands. Clownish monologues such as *High Society* (‘Put down that ball!’), *De Auditie* (‘The pigeon is dead’), and *Snieklaas* (‘An annoying man’) cause his popularity to skyrocket. As a singer-songwriter, Toon shines in both the carnival repertoire ('Mien Waar Is Mijn Feestneus') and the unpretentious song of life and love ('Ballonnetje', '24 Rozen', 'Appels Op De Tafelsprei'). Furthermore, Toon writes hundreds of short poems, which he good-naturedly calls ‘verses’. They are released in book form and as wall tiles and are a great success. He also proves himself to be a gifted painter.

Death

After the passing of his wife Rietje—who died in November 1990 as a result of a debilitating illness—an intensely saddened Toon bids a final farewell to the theater in 1997. A year later, the Vara broadcasts his final One Man Show on television. He releases two more beautiful albums of songs, the last of which, *Als De Liefde*, is released posthumously. When Toon dies unexpectedly on April 22, 2000, in a hospital in Nieuwegein, the entire Netherlands mourns the loss of a great singer, cabaret artist, clown, poet, and master of the art of living. Toon made millions of Dutch people laugh uncontrollably or drift away in thought to one of his wondrous songs.

Memorial Year

The ‘little man from Limburg’ is still admired and appreciated by a large audience. For instance, the annual award for the best Dutch theater program is named after his Poelifinario: an exotic, non-existent bird, as featured in Toon's zany creation De Ornitholoog from 1979. In 2010, ten years after his passing, various radio and television broadcasters devoted extensive attention to the phenomenon of Toon Hermans. The municipality of Sittard declared 2010 the Toon Year, and TNT Post released a booklet containing nine different Toon stamps. Furthermore, a beautiful box set, Toon Hermans: Herinneringen Aan, was released, and Albert Verlinde ensured that Toon De Musical premiered in the theater.

“Heaven gives, whoever catches it has it,
today is the day and tomorrow is still far away.
Maybe we will see each other again someday
in the theater or in the afterlife.”

(Toon Hermans)

TOON HERMANS

On May 7, 2026, I was invited to exhibit my photodrawing of Toon Hermans during a major event about the cabaret artist Toon Hermans. The man who had asked me for my large photodrawing was the main character of the evening and did most of the talking.

I would like to show a small impression of a few closing videos.

24 roses

16 light women in a meeting
2 huge burps of an infant
14 MPs on the toilet
7 monkeys on a scooter
And 12 Santas in the cold

And 24 roses, 24 roses for you
24 roses, 24 roses, 24 roses for you

This world is so beautiful

With its sky, its water, and its greeting
This world is so beautiful
Far too beautiful, far too beautiful to throw away
This world is so beautiful
Leave it alone, you aren't allowed to change anything about it anymore
Look around you, we only have one
And you won't just get another one

Little balloon

Like a balloon a balloon a little balloon
A little balloon that dances in the wind
On a string to the sun
Goes such a nice thick red beautiful hot air balloon
Like a balloon a balloon a little balloon
A little balloon that dances in the wind
On a string to the sun
Goes such a nice thick beautiful
Nice thick red
B'lon b'lon b'lon

Little bird, why do you sing so early

Little bird, why do you sing so early
Isn't the night long enough
No, the night is always much too short
Because it is around four
Around four in the morning
Because that's when it really gets cozy

The closing was a sensation for me and I wanted to film a short clip of it. The older people all know the song, of course!