Mirco Nontschew was known for his grimaces and made millions laugh. Now the comedian from “RTL Saturday Night”, “7 Zwerge” and most recently “LOL” died surprisingly at the age of 52.
Millions could laugh at Mirco Nonchev. With his grimaces and noises he was a feared opponent among colleagues and yet never an alpha figure in the comedy industry, but rather a team player.
At the age of only 52, the comedian, who became known as a member of the ensemble of “RTL Saturday Night” in the 1990s, died unexpectedly in Berlin. The circumstances of death initially remained unclear.
At the weekend, fans and colleagues mourned the comedian who played the dwarf Tschakko in movie comedies in the noughties – alongside Otto Waalkes or Ralf Schmitz (“7 dwarfs – men alone in the forest”, “7 dwarfs – the forest is not enough”).
He was part of “LOL – Last One Laughing”
Later he also played in the “Otto’s Eleven” outfit and most recently took part in the “LOL – Last One Laughing” format presented by Michael “Bully” Herbig on the Prime Video streaming service. The Amazon show is about comedy celebs being locked in for hours and supposed to make themselves laugh, but not allowed to laugh themselves. If you twist your face twice, you’re kicked out. The winner is whoever refrains from laughing the longest.
«You made people happy. We shed so many tears of laughter because of you, ”wrote Bully Herbig on Instagram. Now the tears are painful. «The show must go on … for you Mirco!»
Only recently did Nontschew, who was a father of two and last lived in Berlin-Steglitz according to «Bild», on the side of Anke Engelke, Carolin Kebekus and Christoph Maria Herbst on the new season. So far, it should be broadcast in early 2022. According to “Bild”, the streaming service wants to publish the episodes despite everything – maybe even earlier.
In the first “LOL” season published on April 1st, Nontschew inspired his colleagues with respect: “Everyone was afraid of that. The background noise of Mirco Nontschew », it was said at the time.
In the end, Nontschew was thrown out because he himself couldn’t resist the infamous Kinski parody by his colleague Max Giermann seriously enough. “Klaus Kinski is just the killer,” said Nontschew dryly at the time. “You can’t do it better.”
“RTL Saturday Night” made him known
Nonchev’s discoverer Hugo Egon Balder, who brought the comedian in as a producer for “Saturday Night” in the early 90s, expressed his grief on Instagram: “I’m stunned, infinitely sad and now just mute.” “Saturday night” companions were, for example, Wigald Boning, Olli Dittrich, Tanja Schumann and Stefan Jürgens. Boning tweeted: “Real geniuses are rare. Mirco was one of them, and a particularly lovable one on top of that. I am terribly sad. “
Torsten Sträter, who won the first “LOL” season, in which Nontschew landed in sixth place, called Nontschew on Twitter a “genius of absurd comedy”: “unique in the abundance of what he was and could do”. “This man was 100 comedians in one, a crazy good luck bag of humor, a star. It’s so unjust. “
The Berlin comedian Mario Barth wrote of his “friend Mirco” that he was “paralyzed and full of deep sorrow”: “There are no words for this insane loss.”
The “Bild” reported the surprising death on Saturday lunchtime and quoted manager and friend Bertram Riedel: “We confirm the death of our friend and family member. The family asks for consideration during this difficult time. ” The police in Berlin only announced on Saturday that a 52-year-old man was found dead in an apartment building in Berlin on Friday afternoon. Investigations into the cause of death have therefore been started, but so far there has been nothing to indicate a third-party fault.
Nontschew was born in Berlin (East) in 1969. His father was from Bulgaria. At the end of the 80s, the agile Nontschew was on the road as a break dancer and beatboxer (noise, especially drums imitator). Balder noticed him. From 1993, “RTL Saturday Night” set new standards on television with silly sketches (“Kentucky screams fucking” and so on).
In 2001, Nontschew received his own program “Mircomania” on Sat.1, but it was not a great success. He later appeared in the group-driven improvisation comedy “Frei Schnauze” on RTL, and then also in the Sat.1 comedy format “The brazen three”.
In 2010, Nontschew told the German Press Agency that he once had to get used to being recognized on the street. “It was really new to me back then and sometimes very exhausting. Sometimes I would like to have this anonymity again, which I have lost, »said Nontschew at the time.
RTL changes its program
He didn’t think much of the Internet opportunities in terms of friendship. He “belongs to the generation that likes to call or meet people,” he emphasized at the time. “I don’t have 20,000 friends either, I have three. And that’s enough for me too. “
In memory of the comedian, RTL changed its program on Sunday. On Monday night there should be a 40-minute special broadcast (“In Liebe an Mirco Nontschew”) and then several “Best of RTL Saturday Night” episodes by early morning.