Growing up, Jasper van Kuijk never wanted to become an artist. In fact, his high school guidance counselor told
him that he had technical strengths. But he always wrote songs and liked being in the spotlight.
Luckily, as an assistant professor by day and cabaret artist by night, it seems he has found the best of both worlds.
Van Kuijk studied Industrial Design Engineering (IDE) at TU Delft and now teaches and conducts research in this faculty. His work focuses on user-centred design and innovation in practice. His research focuses on making products more usable. One of his most impactful projects to date has been working to improve the OV-chipkaart.
During his studies, van Kuijk took a course in theatre at the TU Delft Culture Centre. It was there that he learned to combine songs, stories and jokes and his love of cabaret was born. He started performing with an ensemble that toured the Netherlands for three years. After taking a break during his PhD, towards the end he decided to participate as a solo performer in a Dutch comedy festival. Two weeks before defending his thesis van Kuijk unexpectedly won the top prize, and suddenly his professional comedy future began to take shape.
Now performing around 50 shows per season around the country, including the Theatre de Veste in Delft, van Kuijk writes all of his own material and plays the piano. There is a big difference between performing and Van Kuijk’s academic life. “Industrial design is about making stuff, which is very rational,” he said. It involves dealing with complex problems, ripping them apart and finding solutions, he explained. “With theatre I voice opinions and I can be as radical as I want.”
Passionate about both academia and performing, van Kuijk is clearly mindful about his life. “You’re not the person you were at 18,” he said. “Having a plan is good, but then you have to learn to roll with it and change the plan.”
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