GERMAN HUMOR
By Jacqueline (Zelda) Edwards
Warum überquerte das Huhn die Straße?
Um zum Flughafen für einen Flug nach Deutschland!
The basics


German sentence
structure can be
translated into English
differently.
So if you tried to tell an
English joke in German,
the punchline could come
first and would get lost
in translation.
The sentence above is intended to
mean: “This area is video-observed
by the police to prevent crimes” but
can also be understood as “This
area is video-observed to prevent
crimes committed by the police.”
Who likes what


Parody, Irony, Sarcasm, Puns, Black Humor, and
Slapstick make up most of what America views as funny.
Black humor, Satires, Parodies and Irony are nowadays
relevant in Germany today. In their past, primarily the
Fasching Parade was their most beloved event, but with
technology expanding so fast today, younger Germans
are developing a more Americanized sense of humor
than the past generations. Fasching has now become
dull and something “your parents like.”
English lols vs. German lols



German people distinguish between "Comedy"
(using the English word) and "Komödie" (the
German word of the same origin).
"Comedy" refers to post-90s TV-comedy, much more
modern and includes adaptations of foreign
comedy concepts, and the airing of foreign shows.
"Komödie” refers to plays and skits that are more
visually and ascetically pleasing than being
humorous, and this includes the traditional parade
“Fasching”.



The popular German cartoon
character "Werner" is virtually
unknown outside the German market.
While German-speakers can
somehow appreciate the
American/Hollywood or British
Monty Python flavor of humor, it
rarely seems to work the other way
around.
German film comedies—"Werner" or
"Der Schuh des Manitu" (a German
satire of Karl May Westerns)—never
seem to achieve success outside the
German-speaking market, but
"Chicken Run" (Hennen rennen) and
South Park were major box office
hits in German Kinos.
The sausage nosed Werner
Comedy Back Then…
Comedy has to have a purpose in Germany, whereas in America it can be
totally irrelevant. Comedy in Germany developed rules.
The best-known form of live German comedy, the kabarett, not to be confused
with the cabaret, had very clear parameters: performers commented on
politicians—only politicians—and performers must have a point, a political
perspective on the left or the right. The audience understands these rules.
Sonja Kling attempted to play with the rules last year—instead of politics,
her troupe talked about social events. Once this experiment became
apparent, half the audience walked up and left. Such restraints are stifling
for German comedians—exposed to the liberties of their American and
British counterparts.
“They say that you’re not supposed to hit below the belt,” said Harald
Schmidt, a late-night talk show host and perhaps Germany’s best-known
modern comedian. “That’s fine. But in Germany,” he said, pointing to his
neck, “the belt is up here. ”
Matthias Buchinger
Matthias Buchinger was born in Ansbach, Germany
in1674 and was one of the most well known
performers of his day. He played over a dozen
instruments (some of which he’d invented himself)
sang, danced, read minds, did magic tricks, drew
portraits and landscapes, mastered calligraphy,
built magnificent ships in bottles and was a stunning
marksman with a pistol.
And, oh yeah, he didn’t have any arms or legs.
“Little Man from Nuremberg”
Nowadays, we can determine
that he suffered from Phocomelia.
He had fin-like appendages
instead of hands, and “stood”
only 28 inches tall. In addition to
conjuring, Buchinger enjoyed a
great reputation as an engraver
and an artist. Buchinger was
married four times and had at
least fourteen children (by eight
different women). He died in
Cork, Ireland in 1732 at the age
of 65.
Self portrait by Buchinger.
Upon closer examination…

Despite being disabled,
his engravings were
incredibly detailed. One
such engraving, a self
portrait, was so
painstakingly detailed
that the curls of his hair
revealed that they were
in fact several biblical
passages and the Lord's
Prayer, inscribed in
teeny tiny letters!
Karl Valentin

Karl Valentin (born
Valentin Ludwig Fey, 4
June 1882, Munich) was a
Bavarian comedian,
cabaret performer, clown,
author and film producer.
He started in multiple silent
films and was known as
Germany’s Charlie Chaplin.
He invented his own 20
piece One-Man-Band skit.
Karl II


His comedy would often begin
with a simple
misunderstanding, on which he
would insist as the sketch
progressed. Valentin gave
advice to a fellow actor who
wanted to know what soldiers
looked like in battle. Karl
answered, “Extremely pale.
Scared ****less.” This
exchange became historical
since this sparked the trend of
using white face chalk in “epic
theatre.”
He passed away in his sleep
on February 9th,1948.
Karl Valentin as the Barber in Mysteries
of a Barber Shop, 1923, holding the
head of a patron he has accidentally
shaved too close. The movie became
apart of the 100 most important films
in Germany’s history.
Lou Jacobs

Johann Ludwig Jacob
(Nicknamed Lou Jacobs)
was born in Bremerhaven,
Germany on January 1st,
1903, and realized quite
young that he was a
contortionist and a natural
comedian. He immigrated
to America and was 22
when he first joined
Ringling Bros. and Barnum
& Bailey Circus where he
eventually became known
as the most famous clown in
the world.
Lou Jacobs II

While he worked, he invented his own skits that
have become clown clichés all over the world. Even
though his satires and comedy sketches were top
bill, he enjoyed making props and acting more. He
had a faithful sidekick for over 14 years during his
shows who always performed well under the stress
and physical effort (his dog Knucklehead.) He is
credited with popularizing the red rubber clown
nose. After four years of tinkering and many painful
crashes, he finally perfected and also invented…
the infamous clown car.
Lou Jacobs III


He knew the healing power of laugher, and in 1948 he
performed for 37 children who survived the Nazi
concentration camps. In 1966 he was honored by being the
only living American featured on a German postage stamp.
The mid 70’s were a new beginning for him as he left
Barnum to pursue teaching other young men and women
how to perform and became a professor at Master Clown
College, which he believed was more full-filling job for him
at his age.
In 1988, after 62 years, he retired entirely from
performing, but continued teaching. And in April 23, 1989,
he was one of the first six clowns to be inducted into the
newlyborn Clown Hall of Fame. He passed away in 1992.
Hitler Humor?


The history of Hitler humor in Germany is brief. Karl Valentin was
somehow permitted to get away with a playful stunt in which he
raised an arm in a Nazi salute, said “Heil,” and then added, “I
forgot his name.” but received disapproval for it for the rest of this
life.
After the war, as Germany rebuilt itself, in a period which is
reffered to as “The Comedy Gap,” there was little comedy in
Germany, and what humor did exist didn’t touch controversial issues,
let alone Hitler or the Third Reich. Even in the 90s, for instance, a
cheeky member of the Berlin Philharmonic signed his name “Adolf
Hitler” on a hotel receipt in Israel; he was promptly fired and
excoriated in the German press. German’s reactions to the their past
and America’s reactions to our past are very different comedy-wise.
Serdar Somuncu
Somuncu performing one of his
skits.

Serdar Somuncu (who was born
in Turkey but now lives in
Germany) was thrown into the
spotlight in 1996 with his
controversial idea to read
comedic-dramatic skits from
Adolf Hitler’sautobiography Mein
Kampf. His parodies of the book
(which had been banned for over
50 years and still is) earned him
the title Man of the Year and in
total he performed over 1,500
performances in front of over
250,000 people.
Serdar II
But this success was not given without
serious risk to himself. At a few of his
live shows, he was advised to wear a
bulletproof vest and was escorted by
police to venues. Venues received
bomb threats. During one of his acts, an
enraged neo Nazi stormed on stage
and unfurled a pro Hitler banner and
proclaimed Somuncu to be “ridiculing
the greatest man alive”. In response,
Serdar stopped his show and
proceeded to question the man for 45
minutes about Hitler. He even
performed on Hitler’s birthday. After
that skit he left the venue without
incident, but when he got to his hotel,
the clerk wasn’t there and there was an
anonymous message saying, “We’ll be
watching you.”
Serdar III


Through all of this, Serdar was energized to keep going
because he knew he was doing something no one had
done before and was sending a spark through people,
both good and bad. He never cancel a single
performance even with death threats against him.
In order to perform his skits, he had to basically
challenge the German government to make an
exception for him and only him. And what made him
different to the government was that he WASN’T
German. Being born in Turkey, he was except from the
politically correct attitude people gave him. Other
comedians had tried this Hitler act before, but only
Serdar succeeded.
The Last Laugh :D



In conclusion. What sparked my interest in this subject
was hearing personal accounts from my brother who’d
traveled to Germany. I love the differences in humor. I
love hearing laughter and what it can do for a person.
It’s amazing to me that in different countries everyone
has different ways of finding humor in something. And it
saddens me that most humor is getting really lazy and
monotone all over the world.
Final words:
Wer zuletzt lacht, denkt am langsamsten!
Works Sited




http://www.loujacobs.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Valentin
http://www.phreeque.com/matthew_buchinger.html
http://otium.uchicago.edu/articles/hitler_humorist.ht
ml