Hazel Brugger
Allison Hazel Brugger (1993– ) is a Swiss-American slam poet, comedian, cabaret artist, and television presenter. She was born on December 9, 1993, in San Diego, California, and grew up near Zurich, Switzerland. She is known for her dry, sharp wit and her satirical commentary on social issues. Brugger first gained attention performing at poetry slams before establishing herself in the German-speaking comedy and cabaret scene.
Her artistic career began early: in 2013, she won the Swiss Poetry Slam Championship. Starting in 2015, she toured with her first solo program Hazel Brugger passiert, followed by Tropical (2019), which was released as a Netflix special in 2020. Beyond the stage, she has written columns for Das Magazin, Hochparterre, and TagesWoche, where she explored social and personal topics with humor and keen observation.
On television, Hazel Brugger became widely known as a correspondent for the German satirical news show heute-show on ZDF. She also appeared on programs such as Die Anstalt, Neo Magazin Royale, and Dittsche. Her work has earned her numerous awards, including the Salzburger Stier (2017, as the youngest recipient), the Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis (2024), the Swiss Comedy Award, and the Deutscher Comedypreis (Best Newcomer 2017 and Best Comedian 2020).
A recent highlight of her career was hosting the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel alongside Sandra Studer and Michelle Hunziker. She also performed in the interval act Made in Switzerland, which was later released as a single. Today, Hazel Brugger lives in Cologne and continues to work successfully across stage, television, and digital media, often collaborating with her husband, Thomas Spitzer.
That Hazel Brugger is left-handed is something she has mentioned several times in her stage programs. In 2025, before a performance in Erfurt, she visited the Krämerbrücke and—at the time unnoticed—stopped by our left-handers’ shop. She also talked about this experience during her performance at the Alte Oper. Later, she even posted videos from that show on Instagram and TikTok.
Her artistic career began early: in 2013, she won the Swiss Poetry Slam Championship. Starting in 2015, she toured with her first solo program Hazel Brugger passiert, followed by Tropical (2019), which was released as a Netflix special in 2020. Beyond the stage, she has written columns for Das Magazin, Hochparterre, and TagesWoche, where she explored social and personal topics with humor and keen observation.
On television, Hazel Brugger became widely known as a correspondent for the German satirical news show heute-show on ZDF. She also appeared on programs such as Die Anstalt, Neo Magazin Royale, and Dittsche. Her work has earned her numerous awards, including the Salzburger Stier (2017, as the youngest recipient), the Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis (2024), the Swiss Comedy Award, and the Deutscher Comedypreis (Best Newcomer 2017 and Best Comedian 2020).
A recent highlight of her career was hosting the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel alongside Sandra Studer and Michelle Hunziker. She also performed in the interval act Made in Switzerland, which was later released as a single. Today, Hazel Brugger lives in Cologne and continues to work successfully across stage, television, and digital media, often collaborating with her husband, Thomas Spitzer.
That Hazel Brugger is left-handed is something she has mentioned several times in her stage programs. In 2025, before a performance in Erfurt, she visited the Krämerbrücke and—at the time unnoticed—stopped by our left-handers’ shop. She also talked about this experience during her performance at the Alte Oper. Later, she even posted videos from that show on Instagram and TikTok.