Review – 5-Step Guide to Being German
Germans can manufacture a mean washing machine but do not have a reputation for a cracking sense of humour. German-born Paco Erhard may change that. Sticklers for the rules (that is, any Germans in our readership) be aware: this is not really a 5-step guide. It is a comedic eye turned to all things German, underscored by a surprisingly sympathetic insight into the German psyche.
Paco Erhard knows his topic well, something he proves straight away by spotting a real-life practicing German in the audience. The time Paco has spent living in other countries (he now resides in London) has left him with a sharpened perspective on the contrasts between his countrymen and other nationalities. As a bonus, it’s also given him plenty of dirt on the Brits!
The set starts off with sweeping, less original jokes (did you hear the one about the country that came runner-up in two World Wars?) but moves onto stronger ground with observations of Germans today at home and abroad. I found Paco’s observations spot-on; for example, the two German travellers insisting on speaking English to each other in an attempt to seem ‘less German’. Paco had a cheeky, self-referential style of humour that kept the audience almost constantly laughing.
At one point a map is pulled out and the show delves into stereotypes of different German states, a level of detail that may be too much for local audience members. Thankfully, Paco is not the type who peers nervously at the crowd waiting for approval – no time for that if you’re an efficient German comedian; it’s time to bang out the next punch line! By the end of the show, non-Germans may have learned a thing or two about the great country – if nothing else, that there is at least one funny German out there.
