For the comic strip, see The Katzenjammer Kids Katzenjammer are a British piano musical comedy duo comprising Steven Worbey and Kevin Farrell. The word katzenjammer is German, meaning or "discordant sound" and is also sometimes used to indicate a general state of depression or bewilderment. It's sometimes used in reference to a hangover. The literal translation is "cat's wail."

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History

Katzenjammer was conceived in Summer 2003 over several bottles of Chardonnay ^[1] by Royal College of Music graduates Worbey and Farrell. Their unique performance twist of both playing the same piano at the same time was, in part, due to the simple financial constraints of student life. The luxury of two pianos (and even two piano stools) being beyond their means. ^[1]

The Katzenjammer act has been compared to Victor Borge ^[3], as the pair often use their own comic compositions as well as parody a wide range of musical styles from The Spice Girls to Ragtime. A key part of their live show is a projected close-up image of the piano keyboard so the audience can see the tangle of hands and arms during their performance.

Their first recorded performance as Katzenjammer was in 2004 at St John's Chapel, London ^[4], an old church near the Houses of Parliament now used as a venue for classical music. From these modest beginnings, the duo have played the Royal Opera House, the Royal Festival Hall and Blackpool Grand Theatre and also appear regularly on the QE2 and Queen Mary 2 ^[1]. They have also twice appeared to critical acclaim ^{[3] [7]} at the world-famous Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Kevin Farrell

After graduating from the Royal College of Music in 1992, Farrell went on to work on the Emmy award winning show Concerto with Dudley Moore. He toured with the English National Ballet and was then commissioned to write the music for the Jiving Lindy Hoppers' jazz ballet, Jungles of the Cities . As a composer he has written a children's ballet The Water Babies and the music for the notorious play The Dead Monkey starring David Soul ^[8]. He has also written music for over 80 documentaries and 4 feature films including Death of a Son starring Lynn Redgrave and Never Play with the Dead . He has regularly appeared on Liberty Radio, LBC radio and BBC London.

Steven Worbey

Worbey studied piano performance at the Royal College of Music between 1990 and 1995 with Phyllis Sellick and Yonty Solomon. During this time he won a scholarship to study at Post-graduate level with the pianist Peter Katin (with whom he performed in a series of piano duet concerts at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon). Since graduating, Steven toured extensively throughout the UK giving piano recitals and chamber music concerts. Having always been interested in theatre, Steven has appeared in various theatre and television roles, including When Pigs Fly (Arts Theatre) and You Couldn't Make it Up ^[9] (2002 Edinburgh Festival Fringe). He is also the voice of Pod in the children's cartoon Pod's Mission for the BBC.

Trivia

• Farrell & Worbey have a pet dog named Margaret, who featured in a silent-movie parody called Margaret come home ^[10] shown during some of their theatre performances in 2006.
• Katzenjammer is the surname of Tamsin Greig's character "Fran" in the British sitcom Black Books that ran on Channel 4 in the UK for three seasons between 2000 and 2004.
• Californian Stoner rock band Kyuss were originally called Katzenjammer before changing their name to Sons of Kyuss and then again to Kyuss. The band also have a song named Katzenjammer.
• Katzenjammer is also the name of a Norwegian pop/rock/folk group, formed in 2006.

References

1. Wiltshire Times & Chippenham News, ''Four hands on a piano''. URL last accessed on 2007-04-08.
2. Wiltshire Times & Chippenham News, ''Four hands on a piano''. URL last accessed on 2007-04-08.
3. Broadway Baby, ''Katzenjammer are Bitter and Sweet''. URL last accessed on 2007-04-08.
4. Broadway Baby, ''Steven Worbey Profile''. URL last accessed on 2007-04-08.
5. Wiltshire Times & Chippenham News, ''Four hands on a piano''. URL last accessed on 2007-04-08.
6. Broadway Baby, ''Katzenjammer are Bitter and Sweet''. URL last accessed on 2007-04-08.
7. Broadway Baby, ''Entertainment that has real talent''. URL last accessed on 2007-04-08.
8. Broadway Baby, ''Kevin Farrell Profile''. URL last accessed on 2007-04-08.
9. Fringe Report, ''Verdict: Powerful exposure of insincerity and truth''. URL last accessed on 2007-04-08.
10. You Tube, ''Margaret come home''. URL last accessed on 2007-04-08.