Hans Klok lashes out at the boys, girls, gentlemen and ladies who work at Efteling. According to the illusionist, these are quite strange types. “It really is like a cult.”
You can say a lot about Hans Klok, but not that he is not a hard worker. He hoped to one day break through internationally, but his Las Vegas adventure was one big misery. Now, just like before, it is in the smaller rooms. Years ago he even spent months at the Efteling for an entire season.
Inhuman
It was hell, says Hans in the New Revu. “I did four shows a day in the Efteling, and five in the high season. Seven days a week. On April 1 you know that your first day off is in October. That is inhumane, then you really become a machine. Also because that show was completely computer controlled.”
There was no room for spontaneity, he continues. “When I saw a nice boy with Down syndrome at the front with whom I had a moment, the light just went on and I had to run after the light.”
A sect
The worst thing about performing at Efteling is mainly the local residents with an annual pass, says Hans. “You had children from the neighborhood, from Kaatsheuvel or Bergen op Zoom, who went to the show three times a day and then recited the text. That really took my concentration away.”
And what about Efteling itself? “That really is a fantastic park. But it’s also a cult, just like Disney. There are people working there whose big dream is to work in the Efteling.”
Fanatic
In other words: very fanatical types, according to Hans. And according to him, that doesn’t make you a nice person. “When they work there, they are immediately the lifeguard with whistle in hand. I always parked my car behind the theater, and the second day I already had a wheel clamp. An Efteling wheel clamp.”
Hans thinks all those park employees are terrible. “After a few weeks I was really able to knock over those Efteling gnomes. But hey, I got through it.”