December 2009

Dear Friends of German Comedy,

As I am writing this I have just come back from a gig in Shepherd’s Bush and I am still upset about a terrible piece of collective anti-social behaviour on the way there.

When I got off the tube at Shepherd’s Bush a station assistant was helping a blind lady and her guide dog on a crowded but not over-crowded Central Line train. When her carriage drove past me on my way down the platform the frail, blind woman was still standing. No one had given up their seat and none of the other passengers organized her one.

British sociologists frequently blame such incidents on the Thatcher years. I wasn’t in the country at that time and hence don’t know what life was like under the Iron Lady. I know she said ‘there is no such thing as society’ but there must be basic human empathy in all of us.

And before anyone points out that ordinary Germans lacked empathy during the Third Reich – that’s true but unlike hiding Jews in the attic, giving up your seat on the tube won’t lead to you being put on a death train.

On this merry note – enjoy your Christmas and have a great 2010 – have you made your New Year’s resolutions yet? – Mine are: ‘make the monthly bulletin sound less self-righteous’ and ‘grow a mullet’.

Henning

Please find below a list of my upcoming gigs. It would be great to see you at one of those. I particularly recommend the German Christmas Do at the Betsey Trotwood. Dec 9th is sold out but there are still a few tickets available for Monday 7th. Tickets at www.henningwehn.de

Another show I can highly recommend is the DVD recording of my Australian housemate Wayne Deakin at the Kings Head in Crouch End on Dec 15th. As warm-up he got Ava Vidal, who you might have seen on Michael McIntyre’s Roadshow on BBC1. You can even get in FOR FREE if you email him via his website: www.waynedeakin.com – what a fool!