While Sonneveld became known for more serious, more searching kinds of cabaret as well as expansion into other areas of amusement such as musicals, and while Kan focused more and more on purely political satire, Toon Hermans remained true to his one lifetime love: simple home-grown humor, the ability to make people laugh.

His one-man shows usually consisted of stories he would tell, often based on the life of his youth in a small town in Limburg, with a typical panoply of family members, neighbours, friends (some enemies), cats and dogs, which he presented in an irresistibly hilarious manner; and interspersed with simple, charming, crystal clear songs about life, love, and happiness.

After the death of his wife and lifelong companion Rita Weijtboer in 1990 it appeared that his career had ended, but in 1992 he surprised friends and foes by starting a new tour with a whole new show, different in nature from any he had done before.

These collections started with simple poems, or rather, rhymes, that were humorous but sometimes contained a more serious note; but later it appeared that Hermans may have tried to create more serious poetry, which was not altogether successful (and perhaps it was not he, but his publishers, who tried to put this spin on things).

Among his many memorable contributions, perhaps none are as widely recognized as the song "Vierentwintig rozen" – "Twenty-four roses", included in many of his one-man shows over the decades.