Claudius Pläging, born in 1975, is a screenwriter and a novelist. He began his career as an editor at ZDF and then worked for many years as a writer for "TV Total" and "Schlag den Raab". In addition to his novels, he has also written gags and sketches for famous German comedians like Anke Engelke and Olli Dittrich. He has been awardes the German Comedy Prize several times and has been nominated for the Grimme Preis. Pläging lives in Cologne.