SEBASTIAN "EL HOTZO" HOTZ

In the organizer's words:

Show & reading in the HALLE

Sebastian Hotz, born in 1996, grew up in Franconia, completed a dual degree in economics in Erlangen/Nuremberg before the twists and turns of the internet led him first to Bielefeld and finally to Berlin. So far so good. But Sebastian Hotz is also El Hotzo, gag writer for Böhmermann's Magazin Royale (and - at least for a while - co-host of a show on Radio Fritz with Ilona Hartmann). Above all, however, he is someone whose socially critical and usually extra accurate posts on Instagram and X are read by 1.5 million people or more every day. What's more, and we're slowly getting to the point of today's event, he is an author. His debut novel "Mindset", published in spring 2023, was a bestseller that was also adapted for the stage. His new book "Sidekick", from which he will read tonight, will be published in April 2026; a skillful play on "cult" TV characters and the cultural struggles of our present day. All of this is told from the perspective of the eternal loser Boris, the sidekick, the always inferior sparring partner and jerk on duty for his boss, the legendary show host Falk Anders, who has now announced his retirement. This is the starting point of the novel, from which a roundelay of intrigues, dreams and crazy twists and turns unfolds in such a way that it's just a kind of story. In short: a media satire about the end of German television - staged as an entertaining road movie. Any similarities with real people are of course purely coincidental.