Ah, those Germans – known throughout the world as the natural masters of comedy, right? Stereotypically, no, Germans are not known for their whimsy. It’s this crude stereotype that Jurgen Strack hopes to satirise and combat in the second coming of his show all about German comedy and stereotypes. Strack saunters out in full Lederhosen and draws much of his humour from that very German curtness and dry wit. Or would draw, if there was much comedy to be had.
Some of his material works, and there’s some playful subversion of German tropes and interesting observations, but there’s something off-kilter and discordant about his delivery. So a witty aside about a German receiving a letter addressed to “the occupier”, and a segment about the wonderfully literal nature of the German language don’t land with the punch that they are intended to. It’s obviously a deliberate attempt to incorporate an offbeat cadence, but there’s something that just does not click about it. “Jokemeister” Strack plainly fails to strike up enough momentum or rapport with the audience.
You wonder whether the show’s stuttering start will begin to gain some traction, but it doesn’t, really. It’s not helped by the intervention of a man dressed as a giraffe on a quest to paint the ceiling yellow; it’s almost funny in just how strange and off-kilter it is, but it’s absolutely impossible to make out what the joke is supposed to be. You then have another interlude with “punmeister” Kevin O’Brien who tells some intelligently dry puns, and Strack introduces a fairly whimsical “towel man” character, but it’s not enough to save a stuttering, malfunctioning show.
Achtung!! The Germans Are Coming! Second Coming, 13:25, PBH’s Free Fringe, Brewdog Doghouse Hotel, until August 25.
