While Addie Compen, as part of the party act the Avalancheboys, normally fills party halls with his song ‘Sex Met Die Kale’, his head will be decorated with feathers in the near future. The party singer has been able to call himself Prince Carnival in his village Budel since Saturday evening. The carnival fanatic remains part of a duo, because his adjutant is none other than top talker Boy Jansen. “These days I see him more than my wife,” the new Prince laughs.
With songs like ‘Sex met die bald’, ‘Joost’ and ‘Sweet Caroline’, Addie and his fellow Avalancheboy Koen have become an indispensable part of the party rooms in the province. But as is not unusual for some during carnival, Addie will cheat next year.
He exchanges his Avalancheboy Koen for a few days for top talker Boy Jansen as his adjutant. “I see Boy more than my wife these days,” the Prince laughs. It is not the first collaboration between the two. They travel throughout the province with their cabaret performances.
“I’m normally the controller of the bunch, because Boy can be quite chaotic. As adjutant, he now has to ensure that I don’t miss anything. We’ll see how that goes,” Addie says expectantly.
“Just like a marriage, but hopefully less fighting.”
Despite the three feathers on his sting, the Prince happily shares the stage with his party friend. “We’re really going to do it together. Just like a marriage, but hopefully we’ll have less arguments,” he jokes.
In the neighboring village of Budel-Schoot, Boy has been a Prince Carnival in the past. So Addie has been prepared by a true party veteran. “He mainly gave me advice that I should enjoy the moment and take things as they come.”
Letting things take their course is something that Addie is normally less able to do during carnival when he is performing. “Then you can leave less late and start the drinks less early, although a drunk Prince is not a good Prince,” he says.
The few performances he will have this coming carnival as Avalancheboy will keep him on his toes. “I’m just going to combine it. We haven’t performed on Tuesday in recent years, because it is the day of the parade in Budel. Next year Saturday will also be excluded,” he says.
“On my bucket list from an early age.”
The party singer normally has about seventeen performances during Carnival and expects about three to four with his role as Prince. He does not rule out that the next carnival will be supplementary, because Prince Carnival is not the cheapest task. “But for a true carnival lover, this is the greatest honor you can receive. It has been on my bucket list from an early age,” he beams with pride.
Together with Boy, Addie embarks on the search for what a real Prince Carnival is in the series ‘The road to three feathers’, which can be seen on Omroep Brabant from January 7. “I thought people had the image that Prince Carnival is a drunkard who spends a lot of money, but you will see that it is really about connecting people,” he gives a hint of the veil.
‘The Road to Three Feathers’ can be seen on TV from January 7 on Omroep Brabant and on the streaming platform Brabant+.