Urbanus
| Urbain Servranckx | |
|---|---|
|
Urbain Servranckx, (2004) | |
| Born |
7 June 1949 Dilbeek, Belgium |
| Other names | Urbain, Urbanus van Anus |
| Occupation | actor, comedian, singer |
Urbain Servranckx (born 7 June 1949), better known as Urbanus, is a Belgian stand-up comedian, actor, singer and comic book writer.
Career
Urbanus, artist's name of Urbain Joseph Servranckx (Dilbeek, June 7, 1949) is a Belgian comedian, singer, guitarist, author of comic books and actor. Originally he used the artist name: Urbanus van Anus. Anus was the name of his former backing group.
In Flanders and the Netherlands Urbanus is well-known and very popular since 1974. Although he's most famous as comedian, some of his songs became famous and were massively played. Such as Bakske vol met stro (1979), Madammen met een bontjas (1980) and Hittentit (1982).
Until 2008 there were three films in which he played the leading role, Hector (1987), Koko Flanel (1990) and Seventh Heaven (1993). The two first films were the leaders in the Flemish box offices for many years. His first movie Hector (directed by Stijn Coninx) won the 1988 international comedy film festival in Chamrousse, France. He also was named best actor by Radio France and Dauphiné Libéré. Seventh Heaven was a box office bomb.
More recently, Urbanus lend his voice for the Flemish versions of the Pixar movies, Cars and Cars 2, where he was the voice of the character Mater.
In 1982, Urbanus and Willy Linthout began writing a comic book series about Urbanus: Urbanus, with an adolescent version of himself as the main character. As of 2007, more than 121 such comic books have been published. He's also the productive scenarist of the series De Geverniste Vernepelingskes, Plankgas en Plastronneke and Mieleke Melleke Mol.
For his political comments during the 2007 Belgian government formation crisis, he received the Prize of Liberty, an annual award delivered by the think tank Nova Civitas, in January 2008.
His humoristic style can be described as absurd, folksy, subversive, anarchic, childish, morbid, sometimes vulgar and populist.
Comics career
Urbanus is script writer of a comics series about a childlike version of himself, Urbanus, which debuted in 1982. The series is drawn by Willy Linthout and from the third story on, Urbanus started providing the scenarios.[1] Contrary to popular thought this comic strip based on a local Flemish celebrity managed to become the longest-running series in its genre and new albums are still published to this day. Due to Urbanus' fame in The Netherlands the comics sell well in that country too.
Urbanus also writes the gags for the satirical comic De Geverniste Vernepelingskes (1998), which pokes fun at several Flemish celebrities. It was first drawn by Jan Bosschaert, then Dirk Stallaert and finally Steven Dupré. Urbanus also writes gags for the children's comics Plankgas en Plastronneke (2004-2008) and Mieleke Melleke Mol (since 2003), both drawn by Dirk Stallaert.[1]
It's not widely known that Urbanus has also drawn some gag comics itself, most of them only published exclusively in certain magazines. He also illustrated many of his own album covers.[1]
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | Peak positions | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL-FL Ultratop 50 [2] |
NED Album Top 100 | |||
| 1974 | Urbanus van Anus leevend | – | – | |
| 1975 | Urbanus van anus in de weide / op de vijver | – | – | |
| 1977 | Drie sprookjes | – | – | |
| 1978 | Volle maan | – | – | |
| 1979 | Is er toevallig een Urbanus in de zaal? | – | 24 | Live album |
| 1982 | Urbanus VI | – | 20 | Live album |
| 1983 | Tien jaar live | – | 26 | Live album / Compilation album |
| 1985 | Urbanus' plezantste | – | 10 | Live album / Compilation album |
| Donders en bliksems | – | – | ||
| 1986 | In 't echt! | – | 31 | Live album |
| 1995 | Iedereen beroemd | – | – | |
| 2007 | Urbanus Vobiscum | – | – | Tribute album |
| 2010 | Wie dit leest is zot! | 7 | – | |
| 2011 | Goe poeier! | 2 | – | |
| 2013 | Wan troe tie! | 4 | – | |
| 2016 | Urbanus zelf! – Theatertoer 2013–2015 | 54 | – | |
Singles
| Year | Album | Peak positions | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL-FL Ultratop 50 [2] |
BEL-FL Ultratip [2] |
NED Dutch Top 40 |
NED Single Top 100 | |||
| 1979 | "Bakske vol met stro" | 1 | – | – | – | |
| 1980 | "Quand les zosiaux chantent dans le bois" | 3 | – | – | – | |
| 1982 | "Kodazuur" | 39 | – | – | 50 | |
| 1982 | "Hittentit" | 24 | – | – | 50 | |
| 1983 | "Awel Mercie" | 27 | – | – | – | |
| 1984 | "Scratchin' zwaantjes" | 10 | – | – | – | |
| 1994 | "Poesje stoei" | 8 | – | 15 | 12 | |
| 1995 | "De paashaas" | 12 | – | – | – | |
| 2007 | "CO2 prostituee" | – | 16 | – | – | |
| 2013 | "Zetpilcar" | – | 2 | – | – | with Isolde Lasoen |
Films
Urbanus produced and appeared in several movies:
- Hector (1988)
- Koko Flanel (1990)
- Les Sept péchés capitaux (1992)
- De Zevende Hemel (1993)
- Max (1994)
- Suske en Wiske: De duistere diamant (2004)
- K3 en het IJsprinsesje (2007)
Urbanus did voices for the following movies:
- March of the Penguins (2005) - narration for the Dutch version
- Cars (2006) - voice of Mater for the Flemish version
References
- 1 2 3 https://www.lambiek.net/artists/u/urbanus.htm
- 1 2 3 "Urbanus discography". ultratop.be/nl/. Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Urbain Servranckx. |
- Official website
- urbanusstrips.blogspot.com Urbanus comic books