Géza Hofi

His death created an enormous vacuum in Hungarian comedy, and it is a common consensus among the people who witnessed his performances that there probably never would be another comedian like him.

There are no current comedians in Hungary who would try to emulate his style—his legacy on Hungarian humour is somewhat analogous to that of Beethoven's on German music in the 1800s.

Hofi was walking on thin ice as he never passed up an opportunity to ridicule the obvious absurdities of the communist government.

Hofi's historical significance — beyond his obvious merits as a comedian — was that he maintained his identity and dignity in a totalitarian regime in situations where most others would have been afraid to cross the line.

He signed up to the theatrical school directed by Kálmán Rózsahegyi, where among others he met József Sas and István Sztankay, who later became both his colleagues and good friends.

As he made great progress with his parodies; in 1963, he decided to move back to his native Budapest, and the National Directing Agency gave him the permission to perform his shows under his stage name Hofi.

Hofi continued his career even after the end of socialism; his style, provocative humour, and the tone of his performances remained unchanged.

In the Hungarian People's Republic, Géza Hofi was closely monitored in large part due to his criticisms of the political system.

He alluded to it several times during his performances, jokingly addressing members of the party, secret agents and government snitches that sat in the audience.

Even though he was critical of the government, and János Kádár, who was then the head of state/government was often subject of his parodies, he received accolades on the state level as well.