Reinhold Seyfriedsberger

The prehistory of maschek began in the mid-1990s, when Peter Hörmanseder (*1970 in Wels), Ulrich Salamun (*1971 in Cologne) and Robert Stachel (*1972 in Wiener Neustadt) developed their first joint ideas while studying at the University of Vienna and worked together on a satirical website under the name "die maschek.seite". (more on the origin of the name "maschek").
Stage debut in December 1998 in the Viennese living room club Hobbythek. From March 1999 to May 2000, maschek performed regularly as a midnight interlude at Drehli Robnik's Soft Egg Café in Vienna's Flex and experimented with live TV dubbing for the first time while presenting an evening on the 1999 national elections, which soon became the dominant element of maschek's performances. The found-footage short film Der graue Star 2 - die Wehrmacht (1999) is shown at numerous festivals and is nominated for the ZKM International Media/Art Prize in 2002.
In 2002, maschek settled down at the Rabenhof Theater in Vienna and created a monthly review of television events for two years under the title maschek.redet.drüber. The series is also shown at Graz's Theater im Bahnhof, and maschek also participate in its production Acconci an der Mur as part of the European Capital of Culture Graz 2003.
In 2004/05, maschek produced the play The Great Television Swindle with director Ed Hauswirth (Theater im Bahnhof). The Rabenhof Theater receives the Nestroy Prize for best off-theatre for this and two other productions of the season. In the fall of 2005, the section maschek.redet.drüber becomes an integral part of the ORF program Dorfers Donnerstalk.
In 2006, under the direction of Rabenhof director Thomas Gratzer, maschek collaborates with the original Viennese Praterkasperl and caricaturist Gerhard Haderer for the cabaret puppet theater Bei Schüssels. The great public success is continued the following year with Beim Gusenbauer. For this play, maschek received the Austrian Cabaret Prize 2007 and was nominated for the Nestroy Special Prize.
In November 2007, Das maschek.Patent - Eine Weltidee premieres at the Rabenhof Theater, again under the direction of Ed Hauswirth. In the fall of 2009, Bei Faymann is performed as the third edition of the puppet series in two months in front of 60 sold-out houses.
From 2008 onwards, maschek increasingly opened up to German-speaking countries, regular appearances on German television followed ("Alfons und Gäste" on SR, "Schmidt und Pocher" and "Harald Schmidt" on ARD, later "Ringlstetter" on BR), the BKA Theater in Berlin and the Lustspielhaus München became further permanent venues.
From 2009 to 2014, maschek. performed the three-part program series Fernsehtage (TV Days), each time using TV footage from a single day as raw material for a full-length fictional story: 090909 - a catastrophic TV day, 101010 - a revolutionary TV day and 111111 - a phenomenal TV day.
Since the beginning of 2012, maschek (Peter Hörmanseder and Robert Stachel) have been a weekly feature on the ORF late-night show Willkommen Österreich with Dirk Stermann and Christoph Grissemann. To date, around 300 clips on current topics have been produced, some of which achieved record ratings on YouTube and in the ORF TVThek and had more views within a week than the show had viewers on ORF.
In the 2013/14 season, Bye-Bye, Austria! will be another edition of the puppet series, with over 100 sold-out shows. As Maschek's Puppenkiste, all 4 editions of the series are also released in a DVD box set for the first time. In spring 2016, Maschek's "FAKE! In Wahrheit falsch", Maschek will explore the question: What does satire do when reality catches up with it? And which news can still be trusted?
Maschek were also honored for their work as "Journalists of the Year" and received the Austrian Cabaret Prize in the "Special Prize" category in 2019.
Every New Year's Eve since 2008, maschek have performed a review of the year entitled Das war 20xx - maschek.redet.drüber. Over the years, a single date in Vienna has turned into a larger tour through all the federal states, which has lasted from the end of November to the beginning of February every year since 2014 (with the exception of 2020, when the review ran as "Das war Corona" in spring).
In 2018, Maschek will play a major anniversary tour entitled "XX - 20 Jahre Drüberreden", and in 2019 "MASCHEK MACHT MERKEL" will also be added to the repertoire as a best-of program with international themes.
In 2021, at the invitation of Musicbanda Franui, a trip to the concert halls will follow. The silent film "Fräulein Else" based on Arthur Schnitzler will be newly synchronized by Maschek and set to music by Franui. The production will be performed at venues including the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and the Bregenz Festival.
In 2023, Maschek will be presenting "SPIN! Wie man dreht und wendet!", Maschek will once again take a close look at the staging of politics, business and society.