Good for a laugh

The term Germany comedy was once an oxymoron, laughed off in the English-speaking world as a little joke in itself.

But over the past few years, a change has taken place. A brave new German generation has taken up the gauntlet of poking fun at the stereotype of their countrymen - that of the serious, humorless German. And for comics such as Henning Wehn and Christian Schulte-Loh it seems to be working, as their popularity rockets.

A glimpse at this year's line-up for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the world's largest arts festival held annually in Scotland, highlights the fact that the Germans are coming. And that also happens to be the title of one of the German acts, along with the Five-Step Guide to Being German and Henning Wehn and Otto Kuhnle: Das Very Best of German Humour.

There is even one act pretending to be from Bavaria - Ze Hoff Und Me - which reveals the kudos of the fast-emerging genre.

Wehn, the most famous of the new wave of comedians and self-styled "German comedy ambassador," has risen to prominence in the British comedy world with a routine that plays upon British stereotypes of Germans. He has one word for the reason for the new comedy phenomenon: easyJet.

"People just travel more," explained Wehn. "And it must be down to curiosity too." Wehn describes his shows as "Teutonic jolliness at its best."

Eroding the stereotype

Berlin comic Paco Erhard is behind the Five-Step Guide to Being German and aims to deconstruct the cliché that Germans don't have a sense of humor.

"Half my life I ran from being German but the show is the most German thing I could do," said Erhard. "It is about the five core driving forces of the German psyche. It is a personal journey - realizing how German I really am."

In his show, he takes well-known German behaviors and either dispels the myth or looks at the background. "I do have issues with Germany and Britain and I will look at both," added Erhard.

John Cleese's infamous character Basil Fawlty screamed, "Don't mention the war!" as he entertained a group of German tourists in a famous scene in the 1970s British comedy series Fawlty Towers. It highlighted the absurdity of the stereotypes heaped on the Germans in a way never seen before on television.

Now, more than 30 years on, the tables have turned; the Germans are leading the laughs and audiences are flocking to see them.

New wave of comedy

Ed Chappel is the host and organizer of the cabaret show The Germans Are Coming, featuring comics Bodo Wartke and Jens Heinrich Claassen.

"I organize the Musical Comedy Awards, an annual competition to promote the best up-and-coming musical comedians," said Chappel. "Having done a German degree and lived in Berlin for the last year, it was a no-brainer to do the same in Germany."

So, he set up a German version of the competition, called the Gods of Musikcomedy, and both Wartke and Claassen will be headlining the final in Berlin on August 28.

In the meantime, their performance in Edinburgh will bin in English. "It will be great to see how their songs go down with the British public," Chappel said.

As the arts editor at Scottish daily newspaper The Herald for the past 17 years, Keith Bruce has witnessed an increasing number of German comedians at the Fringe in recent years.

"In 1981, Elvis Costello could still make a jibe about 'a German sense of humor' in his song Man Out Of Time. Thirty years later, the comedy section of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe brochure is full of German comics. Who'd have thought?" Bruce said.

Over the past five years, the usual influx of stand-ups from North America, Australia and the UK has been accompanied by more comedians from Europe, notably from Scandinavia and the Netherlands as well as Germany, observed the arts editor.

"The more surreal edge they often bring to the Fringe has been a very welcome breath of fresh air," said Bruce.

A shift in attitudes

As to the popularity of the German acts, cabaret host Chappel believes it has been down to something of a re-introduction of Germany to Britain.

"I definitely think that attitudes towards Germany have changed a great deal - the [soccer] World Cup in 2006 was a real eye-opener for Britain, to see what an open, friendly, forward-looking place Germany is," said Chappel.

"Slowly but surely, Germany is beginning to be seen as übercool."

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival runs from August 5 -29.

Author: Lillian McDowall

Editor: Kate Bowen