April 10, 2024 9:05 a.m Past tense
“My mother-in-law says: “Géza, do you see how stupid you are? It’s a wonder you haven’t been appointed anywhere yet.” He said what others were thinking. He might say what others might not say. He was much more than a comedian: a voluntary “ventilator” of society. Géza Hofi, who died 22 years ago today, on April 10, 2002, breathed life into the people who became gray during the Kádár era and became disillusioned with the system.
THE BÚÉK 1979! (Source: Fortepan / Zoltán Szalay)
The uncrowned king of Hungarian cabaret was born on July 2, 1936 under the name Géza Hoffman. His mother was a foreman in a cannery and his father was a team leader in a tobacco factory. He was already attracted to acting in his high school years, but he did not forget his duties: during the summer holidays, he worked at the Kőbánya Brick Factory and practiced in the Drasche acting group, where András Jászai, a relative of the unforgettable actress Mari Jászai, prepared him for amateur roles.
After graduation, his path instead of the acting profession – he was admitted to the Academy of Dramatic Arts three times, but he was always asked to recite – led to the porcelain factory. He did not give up on his dreams, he enrolled in Kálmán Rózsahegyi’s acting school, and following 5 years of factory work, he received a contract from the Csokonai Theater in Debrecen in 1960 – at that time under the name Géza Hofi. He didn’t feel like the world of the theater, he mightn’t develop with his parodies, so he decided to leave following three years.
He toured the country with the programs of the National Director’s Office, writing and putting together his performances himself. In 1964, he also presented himself on television, in 1965 he visited the Soviet Union, but despite his successes, the big breakthrough did not occur.
The legendary couple: Géza Hofi and János Koós in 1974 (Image source: Fortepan / Zoltán Szalay)
Like many, the Dance Festival brought him the expected miracle – well, not exactly like the majority: Hofi’s talent was noticed by the Hungarian (Kossuth) Radio, and he performed in the New Year’s Eve program, where he entertained the viewers with a parody of the Dance Festival. After that, it was a straight road to recognition, he appeared more and more on the Mikróskóp Színpad, was also invited to foreign performances, and was irresistibly conquered by the Hofi & Koós duo. Nothing better exemplifies the familiarity and genius of the duo than the 1979 Compromising cats their musical parody entitled, which can be viewed below.
And the system tolerated him: in 1972 he was already able to perform a Kádár parody (which was also broadcast on television following a long delay), and the system even rewarded him with the Jászai Mari award for his achievements in the genre of cabaret, and in 1979 he was presented with a gift from the board of the Hungarian Radio and with a Karinthy ring. In 1982, he left Mikróskóp Színpad, became a senior employee of Hungarian Television, and in 1983 he was already a member of the Madách Theater, where he held independent evenings until his last performance on April 7, 2002.
Géza Hofi and János Sediánszky in the Hungarian Radio studio (Image source: Fortepan / Zoltán Szalay)
In 1983, he presented the highly successful Hofélia with which he performed 500 times in just a few years. In the same year (1987), when he concluded his jubilee show, he presented it Food wages production, with which he performed more than 1,500 times. You can listen to the audio of his performance below.
Although by the 1990s the system, which he criticized in such a comical yet human voice, had already ceased to exist, Hofi’s humor has not worn off. During his two-month tour, he was received with an ovation in Australia, on the occasion of his 60th birthday he was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic, and in 1997 he was elected one of the hereditary members of Hungarian theater.
In recognition of his life’s work, he was awarded the Kossuth Prize and the Pro Cultura Urbis Prize in his last years. He entertained the audience until his death on April 10, 2002, and his performance on March 3 was recorded on Hungaroton. After his death, his show is worthy of the artist’s life journey and sense of humor, Sunny goodnight was published under the title
“If you have observed, a cursed system always comes here. Someday, a smooth one would come!” – Hofi saw the evils of the regime change, and he stood by the disillusioned masses with his humor even when the politician let them down. He grew into an icon and then an institution, radio cabaret might not run without him, and there was no other way to describe him: he was Hofi. The most striking sentences – although they are worth listening to – can be read by humor lovers in the book published in 2018 Hofi will tell you in the volume entitled
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