June 2011

Dear Friends of German Comedy,
Hopefully you’re all still with us and didn’t stuff your face with poisonous beans, yoghurt or whatever it is scientists are blaming today. To be on the safe side stick with the Full English fry-up.

Don’t get it why German authorities at first wrongly blamed Spanish cucumbers. What a missed opportunity to damage the Dutch fruit & vegetable trade! Not least as I have it on good account that their stuff really does spread HIV and cholera.

On a far more positive note: Uwe Rösler has been appointed as new manager of Brentford FC! That’s correct, a German manager in the English Football League! How exciting! And how incredibly daunting! The stuff he’ll get to hear at some away grounds will make for a fantastic documentary. He might as well start performing at Jongleurs!

But thanks to Rösler’s appointment I can recycle some old comedy material about Man City supporters’ Uwe’s-Grandad-bombed-Old-Trafford-T-shirts. Wunderbar!

The great news from West London made me almost forget the stupid PR storm created by the ‘survey’, and I use the term in the loosest sense of the word, claiming Germans had the worst sense of humour in the world.

How anyone can claim that the country that gave the world Herr Flick, Colonel von Strohm, General von Klinkerhoffen and Lieutenant Gruber has the worst sense of humour is beyond me.

Even more laughable: Americans, French, Spanish, and Brazilians are the top four. Of course they are….if you equate a great sense of humour with being incredibly arrogant (the French) or loud (the others).

Don’t get me wrong. I like the idea of something that is based entirely on prejudice rather than facts but I am surprised how much space media give to such made-up nonsense. 35,000 people being polled by a website no-one’s ever heard of? As if! Ridiculous!

If you need any proof that there was humour, admittedly a lot in quite poor taste, even during the darkest days of Nazi Germany I highly recommend Rudolph Herzog’s new book “Dead Funny”.

You can even go and meet the author today (14th) at 6.30pm at Waterstones in Islington.

And if that’s too short notice come down Griffin Park in the new season and let’s cheer on ze Bienen! (…as I’m sure Bees’ supporters will start calling themselves from now on!)

Henning