Starting from December 1st 1980, André van Duin, calling himself 'Flip Fluitketel' hosted a monthly comedy variety show for TROS television from a set build around a Poffertjes Kraam (a stand where small hot pancakes are baked and sold). This meant that every time the show was in production, people working on other programs would wander over from other studios for a traditional Dutch snack. There were sketches (some of them translated Benny Hill and Tommy Cooper material) performed by Van Duin and his usual straight man Frans van Dusschoten and female foil Corry van Gorp. In the first episode Van Dusschoten appeared as roving reporter 'Karel Enkelblaar', who wore a deerstalker and went out to interview interesting people (all of whom were played by André and Corry). However this character was dropped by the second show and Frans ended up playing various parts in the show's comedy sketches. Also featured were a bickering couple called Meneer & Mevrouw De Bok (André & Corrie), though I don't believe this pair originated on this show. In these sketches, Mr. De Bok would smack his poor Mrs. around so much (or repeatedly push her into the water) that it's no wonder poor old Corry eventually retired at an early age.
Each installment was a mixture of comedy and musical guests (André opens the show with a song and a sketch, then there's a musical guest, another sketch, another guest, etc, etc). These include such early eighties acts as Luv', Babe, BZN, Lee Towers, Guys and Dolls and even Engelbert Humperdinck. Here's one anecdote recently revealed by Van Duin on one of those popular "let's look back at TV shows of the past programs": Humperdinck was so vain he spend over three hours having his hair done by his personal hairdresser. After performing his big number, Van Duin, as Flip, went over to Engelbert for the customary short interview, removed the tea kettle from his head and unceremoniously dumped it on Humperdinck's precious hairdo. Naturaly the sale of these novelty tea kettle-hats (they whistled if you moved them up and down manually) went up immediately.
The theme tune was a modest hit too, released around the time of Carnaval as a double A-side with " Er Staat Een Paard In De Gang". Note that in the premiere episode, André performed the song live, but by the second go-around the single had been recorded and he could lip-sync as he came in. The more popular the kettle-hats became, the less André was prone to wear them himself, and at the end of show 2 he also began performing a new closing song: "Lach Om Het Leven". Another recurring part of the show was a competition in which viewers at home were asked to keep track of how many times Frans the baker would burn his hands (actually it was a prerecorded yell performed by Van Duin that sounded a lot like the Goofy Holler). The lucky winner pulled out of the sack would get a visit from Flip/André himself, some tickets to his stage show and a brand new and at the time very expensive video cassette recorder.
André van Duin has created many memorable characters (or 'types' as he likes to call them) over the years, but he always made sure people new the name of the man behind the silly disguises. However, Flip Fluitketel wasn't much of a character, more like himself wearing a funny hat. By the late seventies he was releasing albums of 'serious' music as 'the other André' and he never played a character for more than one season. Flip Fluitketel was only on during 1980 and 1981 and the shows have never been repeated or made available in any form. Meneer & Mevrouw De Bok managed to hold on a few more years in other series and their own specials (and Carnaval records). Still, Flip is somehow still regarded one of Van Duin's signature creations, and in his brand 40th anniversary stage show, he revisited all of his old types, including the guy with the Fluitketel on his head.
8 out of 10
