Interculturality: German Humour

Henning Wehn
German Comedy Ambassador in London

Who says that Germans have no humour?!? Well, most parts of the world would probably agree to that. But is this really the case? After all, not only with the arrival of several trans-regional comedians in the last years, Germans have proven over time that laughing is part of their culture.

With the clear mission to fight the unjustified prejudice of the lack of German humour, Henning Wehn, self-proclaimed “German Comedy Ambassador” has set out to the United Kingdom. There, he follows a highly determined undertaking: convincing the British of the fact that Germans in fact do have a sense of humour, and a good one. And who would not believe that Henning Wehn is serious when looking at the promotion picture of him and his buddy Otto Kuhnle?

Good Germans: Otto Kuhnle (left) and Henning Wehn

The Guardian put it frankly: »Who said Germans have no sense of humour? Gloriously unreconstructed comedy«. So the British seem to be prone to the sense of humour that Wehn and Kuhnle are putting on stage. A masterpiece of this intercultural showdown between the “Poms” and the “Krauts” is the 9 minutes and 34 seconds Tourism Guide to (West) Germany – not be missed!

Henning Wehn: Tourism Guide to (West) Germany

Too bad the two do not play anywhere in their Fatherland, but remain on the island to entertain their British audience with their sarcastic yet very pointy view of things: the war, football, current political affairs etc. All the while, they are playing around with beautiful stereotypes on both sides – and that brings them success!

Henning Wehn: “Not least thanks to the ludicrous stereotype of Germans not having a sense of humour I generated a considerable amount of media interest, both in Britain and back home in the Fatherland.”

Link to Performance Reviews

But even in Germany, there is an opportunity to cherish the efforts of the German Comedy Ambassador. Two DVDs have been published so far, both of them worth a try of getting into the specific rhythm of German humour at work:

DVD: Four World Cups and One World Pope

DVD: 1000 Years of German Humour

Both are recordings from live performances in the UK, and they can be acquired for the unbeatable price of only £ 10 (both together) – with Christmas right around the corner, this might be an altogether different present for Grandma or the Father in Law. Here is the link:

Henning Wehn's DVDs

And for those still not convinced of the quality by which our fellow countrymen promote the Germanic way of laughing abroad, here is also an article in DEUTSCH by the well-known newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung:

Henning Wehn in the SZ

In my personal opinion, this is a marvellous piece of art that truly shows the thoroughness and perseverance of German humour – and after all (and to put it with the words of Henning Wehn):

“Nobody says that humour needs to be funny!”

WWW.HENNINGWEHN.DE

Andreas Hauser