Johannes Millius ‘Lively on the finish’

Between Netflix and Nietzsche, between depth and madness. An evening of spoken word filled with heart, mischief, poetry, madness and an urn.

“I was brought into this world on 28 March 1990 – without my express consent – and am my parents’ youngest child to date,” says Johannes Millius of himself. Consequently, in his first solo show, he abruptly turns his attention to his own demise. Somewhere between a love story and a pre-printed condolence card, he takes the audience on a journey past the southern slopes of La Rioja, the Zähringer Pharmacy in Bern and crates full of Lego bricks. Where memories suddenly speak louder than words, he finds humour in the dust of transience. An evening that offers comfort without becoming kitsch, and makes you laugh when you least expect it.

Johannes R. Millius is, after Sina, Tschugger and various FIFA presidents, the canton of Valais’s latest desperate attempt to come across as somehow likeable to the rest of Switzerland. Far removed from all the clichés, he nevertheless sounds like holidays on the Bettmeralp and ski camps in Fiesch. And, of course, he knows everyone you know from Valais – probably even through family connections. Somewhere between Valais humour and quiet melancholy, he shows that even death sounds a little warmer in the local dialect.

The play ‘Im Abgang lebhaft’ has been nominated for the 2026 Jungsegler Promotion Prize (supporting young talent in cabaret)!

External perspective: Nicole Knuth

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