This Bulletin is from October 26th, 2008

November 2008

Dear Friends of German Comedy,

Now we know one thing more overrated than sliced bread – the effect of the credit crunch.

Tickets for the Germany – England friendly sold out in no time. If there’s such a demand for a friendly then the economy must be in better health than the media would have us believe.

One business model that is certainly going from strength to strength is that of German-themed enterprises in London.

Between the lack of quality competitors and the low-key regulations (certainly compared to Germany), is it any wonder Germans are bringing their successful nationally-themed business model to the UK?

Prior to every theatre run I dash round town and supply all German shops with posters and flyers. That trip gets more elaborate each time due to the constant increase in the number of Bäckereien (bakeries), Wurstbuden (sausage-stalls) and Gastwirtschaften (pubs and restaurants).

But more conducive than anything else to this invasion has been the positive image that the German people have had of themselves and their country since World Cup 2006. And the sentiment has spread!

Now it’s down to the British media to bring an end to this feel-good attitude and perpetuate the old stereotypes that have served them and me so well. The last thing I want is a normalisation of Anglo-German relations. It took me long enough to write the comedy act I have. I don’t want to start from scratch again!

A great example of the inaccurate reporting I have come to expect from the British papers when reporting about the Fatherland, and in particular its humour, was the Daily Telegraph’s front page story about Frankfurt’s Caricatura Museum, home to drawings from the artists of satirical magazine Titanic.

The highlight of the at best ill-informed and at worst outright xenophobic piece was the apparently well-liked German joke “Help, help, we are sinking.” The coast guard replies: “Das ist very interesting. Vot exactly are you sinking?”

10 quid to anyone who can make the wordplay work in German.

If you want to find out what really constitutes German humour you could do worse than attend ‘1000 Years of German Humour’ at The Questors Theatre Ealing this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. (how seamless was this?)

Tickets are available on http://questors.org.uk/event.aspx?id=126
and the opening night is only £9!

And if you want to read the Telegraph’s smug, half-baked drivel click here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3140612/Germany-celebrates-its-sense-of-humour.html

Have a great month!

Auf Wiedersehen


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