Suddenly the woman with whom you had big plans is gone, and suddenly everything is completely different; it can feel like your bottom is being ripped off. “I just rattled straight into a depression”: Frank Astor describes so bluntly and nonchalantly a few years later what may be the biggest crisis in his life and its effects. And there is a lot to tell: the burglary back then, the professional restart and the fourth book that has just been published. The 63-year-old actor, cabaret artist and solo entertainer from Dießen was completely slowed down at the time, almost unable to act. He pulled himself out of it and turned the crisis into an opportunity. Pulled himself out of the swamp by his own bootstraps. Expressed figuratively. That would probably no longer work in practice today. But more on that later.
When Frank asks Astor to chat about his CV on the sofa, light piano music is playing in the background on Spotify. There are white terry slippers so the pebbles from outside don’t scratch the floor. A fire burns in the fireplace. The large, bright living room is decorated with accessories that can be found cozy. There are candles everywhere, a wooden Buddha is sitting on the floor next to the terrace door, a singing bowl in front of him and a Santa Claus hat on his head. In a niche there is a figure of Mary with baby Jesus. According to the foreword to Astor’s current book, he developed an interest in spirituality early on.
Frank Astor private: The traveling lecturer can draw strength in his house on the outskirts of Dießen. His new book will be out in January.
(Photo: Nila Thiel)
There is a grand piano in the music corner and a guitar is leaning on the shelf. The walls are painted in warm pastel colors. But the view outside is great: unobstructed, wide fields, a clear view of the church tower a few hundred meters away. His riding horse is standing nearby. The house is in a quiet location on the outskirts of Dießen. “I feel good here on this island,” says the host. He goes on tour from his home base, accompanied by his wife Christine, who mainly takes care of the technology at the performances.
The workforces of many large companies have already seen it. “The companies have the money.”
Frank Astor, grew up in the Hunsrück, drama school in Hamburg, has been on stage for decades. First of all as a cabaret artist with programs with names like “Men come differently”. Until the crisis that changed a few things for him professionally. Astor thought a lot back then, coached himself and readjusted himself. This resulted in the program “20 ways to waste your life”. The title is of course meant ironically, the opposite is the goal. After all, promises of happiness, success and self-realization are what count in the industry. For Astor it was “the hammer” – a term he likes to use. “It went through the roof,” he says. Companies noticed him and hired him. From then on he no longer had to play every evening, but only three times a month. “The money sits with the companies,” he says. He doesn’t like to name exact sums, but several thousand can be earned – in just one evening.
Wife Christine Astor is usually there, she takes care of the technology.
(Photo: Nineveh Astor)
Now he’s often hired as a sort of all-purpose entertainer for corporate events. Could he name a few big names where he has already performed? “Better tell me a company I haven’t been to before,” says Astor. A good atmosphere and the best entertainment are guaranteed, he promises on his homepage. 4,000 live performances and more than a million enthusiastic spectators testified to this. This can be in company premises, on a ship on the Danube in Regensburg or in a beer tent, in front of 30 listeners or in front of 2000.
The staff of the most important companies in Munich must have had the opportunity to see him on stage. He quotes the former Bavarian Economics Minister Martin Zeil from Gauting as saying: “The way Frank Astor combines company-related topics with entertainment is brilliant.” In any case, Astor is not overly modest. After a forced break due to the Corona crisis, business is now starting to flourish again. In January he speaks about media competence in a Montessori school in Rohrdorf near Rosenheim, and he shows his program “Future now” in a company near Singen. Further inquiries are pending.
In front of a large audience, Frank Astor gives lectures on his current favorite topic: artificial intelligence.
(Photo: Nineveh Astor)
In his programs and lectures he deals with topics such as artificial intelligence, money and happiness, time and self-management. When he talks about his performances, he says he “acts” – like he used to do as an actor or cabaret artist. These are precisely rehearsed and choreographed pieces: “They are written to the point, you can’t leave anything to chance. After all, we’re professionals”. When developing new pieces, he has already worked together with Michi Marchner from the Herrschingen music cabaret group “Les Derhosen”.
He also works as a trainer and coach, and he wants to set up an academy at Lake Ammer. Astor sees himself as a “jack of all trades” who prefers to have several projects running so that he doesn’t get bored. The Dießen coach also has ambitions for the film: he got the supporting role of a lifeguard in the Ludwigshafen crime scene, and four years ago he wanted to use crowdfunding to finance the production of a cinema comedy. “Unique locations have already been found around Augsburg, Starnberg and on Lake Ammer,” he said confidently when the project was presented; the actress and filmmaker Laura Thies was chosen as the director. In the end, however, nothing came of it because not enough money came in.
Astor doesn’t believe in false modesty: his new book “is awesome”
There’s a new book for that. “Coach me up!” it says, and Astor says: “That’s awesome”. It is intended for therapists, trainers, coaches and consultants. The author promises you “the 13 excellence coaching diamonds”: methods that he has found himself. The first edition with a thousand copies has just been published and will be on the market in January. Although the author has only just shipped the first books, a gold-colored star with the inscription “My bestseller” already shines on the cover.
Frank Astor salutes on the cover with a black cap. Underneath a bald head. What happened to his hair? In pictures that are less than five years old, he can still be seen with an almost tousled hairstyle. But then his thick hair suddenly fell out. Maybe that had something to do with another change in his private life, he suspects, but also sees an advantage in it: “I couldn’t have chosen better,” he says. “Now I’m a brand, a cool face. And my yellow glasses look so much better”. These eye-catching brightly colored glasses have become something of a trademark. This is how you deal with twists and turns in life.