Dear Friends of German Comedy,
I hope you’ve all had a good and enjoyable first three and a bit months of the year. Admittedly this is unlikely to be the case if you are a kid, a student, working from home, on furlough, unemployed, self-employed, single or in a relationship.
But fret not, a handful of pubs are reopening from Monday! (This is true for England, not sure what the score is in other parts of the UK. News footage from Northern Ireland suggests they probably shouldn’t be served alcohol at the moment.) And we are allowed in even without the jab for now! (When I say ‘in’ what I mean is outside in four degrees and rain. But it’s all in our best interest and don’t you question it.)
On the vaccination issue: the German government might give the impression of being disorganised with hardly anyone getting vaccinated. Wrong! It’s a very cunning ruse indeed as while there remain questions about potential side effects Frau Merkel and her cabinet want to see how it works first. Don’t tell anyone but the British public IS the medical trial.
My mother, 84, (rubbish name, I know – boom-tish) got a letter to see her GP for a consultation on potentially having the jab. She’s very firm she doesn’t want anything that might knock her sideways and certainly nothing that needs to be repeated on an annual basis but reckons if it’s a one-off and works she might go for it.
She asked me what she should do and we had a good laugh when I said “Look, you’re 84, whatever you decide is the right decision, because you’ll be in a box before long anyway” reminding me of the quip that Germans are too honest to be polite whereas Brits are too polite to be honest.
The latest update is: she’s decided to wait until she can get the Sputnik vaccine. It might sound surprising but you can’t fault her rationale. “Putin poisons people, no-one finds out about it, he dopes people, no-one finds out about it, the Russians are just good at that kind of thing.”
And on this cheery note…see you on the pavement in the drizzle, pint in hand and handkerchief at the ready
Henning
Please find below a list of upcoming tour shows later in the year. I’d say there’s a decent chance they are going to happen. Please note more dates are constantly being added. I’m also quite hopeful the Edinburgh Fringe in August might go ahead in some shape or form.
