Dolf Jansen
Cabaret performer, writer, marathon runner and moderator
Dolf Jansen has been performing on stage for over 35 years. In 1989, he won the Leiden Cabaret Festival with Hans Sibbel, created sold-out shows and New Year's Eve conferences as Lebbis and Jansen for many years, and has been touring Dutch theaters solo since 2006. He is also a writer, columnist, and one of the most recognizable voices on radio, heard every week on Spijkers met Koppen. And he is a marathon runner, with a personal record that most amateurs can only dream of. Theater, radio, television, and running have one thing in common: it's all about timing. This common thread brings Dolf to corporate stages, in his lecture Take Your Time and as a chairperson who always finishes precisely on schedule.
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Biography
From Rights to the Leiden Cabaret Festival
Dolf Jansen (1963) studied Dutch law and criminology at the Free University before stepping into the spotlight. In 1989, together with Hans Sibbel, he won both the jury prize and the audience award at the Leiden Cabaret Festival. As Lebbis and Jansen, they created sold-out programmes until 2006, including annual New Year's Eve conferences.
Solo and on the radio
Since 2006, Dolf has been touring solo through Dutch theaters. On television, he has presented shows including Loods 6, Kunstbende, Vara Laat and Deze week in de Reclame. On radio, he has been a familiar voice for decades: first with Leuk Is Anders on 3FM, then with Afslag Thunder Road, and currently weekly with Spijkers met Koppen on NPO Radio 2.
Writer and columnist
Dolf writes approximately ten columns per month, plus poems, song lyrics, travel stories and interviews. He published, among others, Streep op de weg about running, and worked with his brother Jim Jansen on Sterrenkunde, Seks en Serendipiteit and 2025 in 26 oplossingen. Books in which scientific insights and his columns come together.
The Runner
Running is not a hobby but a way of life. Dolf ran countless marathons with a personal best of 2:28.22, achieved in 1994. Long distances require rhythm, pacing and recognizing the right moment to accelerate or to take rest. These principles form the core of what he shares on business stages. Additionally, he is an ambassador for Oxfam Novib and is committed to War Child and KWF.
Expertise
Timing as a Profession
Radio asks you to respond to the moment, television demands sharpness within a tight format and theater requires direct contact with the audience. Dolf worked in all three for decades, and each craft taught him something different about when to accelerate, when to hold back and when to let silence fall. This skill is rare among speakers on time management: he doesn't just explain what timing is, he demonstrates it for an hour.
What the marathon teaches about the working week
You don't win a marathon by starting hard. You win it with rhythm, pacing, and the ability to recognize when you can accelerate and when you need to recover. Dolf translates those principles to agendas, deadlines, and expectations, making concrete what usually remains vague advice in the office: that rest is not lost time but a prerequisite for pace.
Making serious topics light
Work pressure, stress and a packed schedule are topics people prefer not to dwell on. Dolf uses humor to lower that threshold: he brings up funny subjects and uses them to make painful themes more bearable. This way, an audience hears things they wouldn't accept in a regular session.
Improvising on what happens
Playing a fixed text is something different than responding to what's happening in the room that day. Dolf deviates from the ideal line when current events or the program call for it, and then makes jokes about it. That makes him reliable as a chairperson and closing speaker precisely at those moments when a script falls short.
Themes
Time and timing
How time works, how to use it better and how to get more done without burning yourself out.
Focus and efficiency
Why efficiency isn't about working harder, but about consciously switching between speed and rest.
Work pressure and stress
Full calendars, growing to-do lists and the feeling of always falling behind. Made relatable and kept light.
Effort and Recovery
What long-distance running teaches about dosing, rhythm, and the right moment to accelerate — translated to the working week.
Work Happiness
Making room for what truly matters, instead of for everything that comes your way.
Current affairs and satire
As a cabaret artist and columnist, Dolf dissects topical societal issues at a brisk pace and with sharp observation.
Why Dolf
35 years of stage experience
Theater, radio, television and hundreds of halls. Few speakers have logged as many hours, and you can tell from his timing and the ease with which he reads an audience.
Humor as an Accelerator
Dolf makes heavy topics light without diminishing them. Workload and stress are subjects that audiences normally shut down to. Not with Dolf.
Content beneath the joke
He weaves together scientific insights, practical examples and personal anecdotes. Not a cabaret performer who merely touches on a business topic, but someone who has truly thought the subject through.
Always on time
A chairperson who speaks about timing himself cannot afford to run over. Dolf keeps the schedule tight while simultaneously bringing the energy a program needs.
Legendary wrap-ups
His closings are improvisations based on the day itself: highlights magnified, distilled and returned to the audience with satire. People talk about it for a long time afterwards.
Three places in one program
Keynote, day chairman or closing act. Dolf fits multiple moments of your event, and often in combination.
Talks
Take your time (Keynote)
60 - 90 minutesWhere does the time go?
Your to-do list keeps growing while the hours disappear, and others seem to effortlessly get everything done. Dolf dives into the art of efficiency, multitasking, and the balance between speed and rest.
Lessons from Four Worlds
Theater, television, radio and running. Timing and deadlines are decisive everywhere. Dolf shows how to work with time more intelligently without overextending yourself, using scientific insights, interaction and poetic discoveries.
Shift with Awareness
Participants leave with ideas for a better distribution of effort and rest, practical techniques against busyness, and the value of taking breaks. Dynamic, humorous, and at a pace that's just right.
Moderation / Chairman
Half day to full daySharp, fast and on time
Dolf connects the segments of your program with humor, speed and sharp observation. He switches effortlessly between serious themes and light interludes.
Energy and engagement
He brings structure and dynamism, ensures interaction and keeps both speakers and audience sharp. A touch of satire is part of the mix.
Timing monitored
A congress rarely runs on schedule by itself. Dolf keeps an eye on the clock without it feeling rushed and catches what goes wrong without the audience noticing.
Closing wrap-up
15 - 30 minutesThe Day Returned
After a program full of presentations and discussions, Dolf summarizes everything: the highlights touched upon, distilled and magnified.
Improvisation on what happened that day
He works with what he has seen and heard in the room, not with a prepared text. This way, the audience recognizes themselves and their own day in it.
A lock that keeps haunting
Breakneck pace, sharp timing and a hefty dose of satire. Stimulating, relaxing and a conversation topic for long afterwards. Perfect timing.
Reviews
“Dolf Jansen as master of ceremonies was an unparalleled surprise. Dolf offers sharpness, humor and, despite being less familiar with the content, knows how to ask the right questions.”
“Dolf Jansen's energy and agility made for an excellent closing to an otherwise substantive legal conference. Participants greatly appreciated that Dolf Jansen had taken the time to engage with his audience. Half an hour of hearty laughter proved to be a wonderful finale and a pleasant prelude to the reception and dinner.”
“As very pleasant, quick response time, clear and well-organized. And moreover, all friendly staff members, which unfortunately is not a given either.”
