With the documentary film “Typique Emil”, the most popular Swiss comedian takes a look in the rearview mirror. From his meteoric rise to his moments of doubt, from his childhood cracks to his love story born late in New York, he opens up about his exceptional journey. Encounter.
At 92, Emil Steinberger has his film!
With the documentary film “Typique Emil”, the most popular Swiss comedian takes a look in the rearview mirror.
21.01.2025
Everyone loves Emil. It’s a fact: his poetic humor, never malicious but always well observed, has conquered the hearts of all of Switzerland, blithely crossing the barrier of röstis. How does he explain it? blue News asked him the question: “It’s because I speak to people’s hearts. And if you touch people’s souls from the stage, it’s automatic that people love you too,” he replies.
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Emil Steinberger
“Typical Emil” depicts the successful journey of a dreamer in a narrow Swiss society. We discover a precise, observant, gently prickly artist, who knew how to follow his instincts and who worked hard all his life in the service of the public. An audience that is won over to him, wherever he goes. But one of the strengths of this documentary is also to lift a corner of the veil on the price to pay when one is successful: loneliness. In his dazzling race, Emil did not escape it. However, by taking off, he found a way to return to himself and find serenity. A rich film, about a man who is part of our Swiss heritage. Notre note: 8/10
In “Typique Emil”, we (re-)discover the journey of this former Post Office employee, who one day decided to leave his counter to pursue an artistic career. Well, it was a success: success was quickly achieved. From the 1970s, Emil Steinberger’s rise was meteoric.
Whether at the cabaret, the circus or at the cinema in the legendary film “The Swiss Makers”, wherever Emil went, success was there. And he knew how to export his universe: the French people adore him, with his little Swiss-German accent, as do the Germans, for whom the artist “translated” his shows from “Switzerdütsch” to the language of Goethe.
“Not serious”
But despite all the success in the world, a wound remains in the heart of this workaholic: his parents believed that what he was doing was “not serious”. The film notably recounts an episode where Emil invited his mother to come see him at the circus: she made no comment on her son’s performance. At most, she noted the presence of Rolf Knie, during his act with the horses.
At 92, Emil devotes himself to promoting his film, “before thinking about other projects”.
Emil believes that participating in this film about his journey allowed him to open up even more.
In “Typique Emil”, we discover how his first sketches were born.
At the Knie circus, the comedian attracted crowds.
Inseparable, Emil and his wife Niccel share everything.
-If he had chosen to say goodbye to his character, Emil Steinberger ended up returning to the stage to replay his sketches at the age of 80.
At 92, Emil devotes himself to promoting his film, “before thinking about other projects”.
Emil believes that participating in this film about his journey allowed him to open up even more.
In “Typique Emil”, we discover how his first sketches were born.
At the Knie circus, the comedian attracted crowds.
Inseparable, Emil and his wife Niccel share everything.
If he had chosen to say goodbye to his character, Emil Steinberger ended up returning to the stage to replay his sketches at the age of 80.
He remembers: “My parents would have wanted me to never leave the Post Office. My brother and my sister had serious jobs, that suited them well. I was the only one who did ‘stupid things’ on stage. But even when I was successful, they still said to me: ‘why didn’t you stay at the Post Office?’”.
If he could speak to them today, Emil would not blame them for anything. He prefers to look to the future: “Perhaps this is a message for today’s parents. If your children are not doing what you want them to do, but prefer to choose something a little offbeat, think about how you might behave!”
Redevenir «Mr.Nobody»
While he was at the peak of his career, Emil Steinberger nevertheless surprised everyone: he chose to stop his Emil shows on stage and quickly decided to move to New York, to become a “Mr. Nobody”.
It was there that his love story with Niccel was born, with whom he had been in correspondence for around ten years. The lovers, whose age difference is 32 years, have not left each other since.
Niccel says: “What I learned from my husband while preparing this film is that he always stopped things when he was at the top, to devote himself to something new. I heard young people say: ‘now I have to think about my life’ after seeing the film. I think it can give them the courage to change things if they feel that something no longer suits them.”
Considering his journey, Emil remains modest: “I’m not proud, but I’m happy. Everything went well, I had an extraordinary life,” he concludes.
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