Jan Böhmermann hasn’t been funny for a long time, which not only most Germans see. He doesn’t want to be either. Or just enough to give your message the right drive. Harald Schmidt’s former gag writer wants to enlighten and make a difference with his “ZDF Magazin Royale”. In doing so, he also follows in the tradition of comedians such as John Oliver (“Last Week Tonight”), for whom dirty tricks are also a means to an end.
At the end of last week there was something to laugh about: Instead of the usual edition, the “new” show “Nuhr im Zweite” was shown in the well-known slot of “ZDF Magazin Royale”. A parody of the well-known format in the ARD, which is on the one hand a platform for the cabaret artist Dieter Nuhr, but on the other hand also a kind of playing field for up-and-coming or established comedians.
“Nuhr im Zweite”: Cabaret in quotation marks
Nuhr was imitated by actor Sebastian Rüger, who actually clearly resembles the satirist and imitated his role model almost 1:1 from facial expressions to voice pitch and body dynamics. But why is Böhmermann making fun of his colleague Nuhr? Is he just a cabaret actor who lustfully opposes the liberal zeitgeist and who, in addition to harsh criticism in the social networks, should also be shown it on television? No, it’s about something else, because it’s also necessary to make fun of those who often try to put the world in a light that’s no longer quite so pale with humor.
Also making guest appearances was a certain Falk MacAllister (played by actor Phillip Lind), an obvious troll of Luke Mockridge – including a nod to his difficult handling of allegations of sexual harassment. In addition, a peppery satire on the controversial cabaret artist Lisa Eckhart (quite convincing: Sophie Berger). Of course, one can argue about the success of the re-enactment of these television jugglers. Also about the fact that Böhmermann primarily chose joke producers for his meta-comedy who want to reap laughter from older audiences because of jokes about what they call the Woke generation, or who make a name for themselves with their private lives, which are sometimes surrounded by the tabloids.
The Böhmermann, who appears in the filmed audience as an amused recipient tapping his thighs, has a perspective ready that is often forgotten: humorists have not eaten wisdom with spoons, they are not necessarily good as honest brokers of a truth that is too hot for others, to put it bluntly, they do not form the spearhead of a new journalism, but they often only copy its means to generate relevance – and ultimately they often hide behind the so-called artistic freedom with the somewhat silvery shimmering term of satire, although it is it is only a question of joining forces with moods in favor or against certain social groups.
Because this must of course also apply to Jan Böhmermann, it is only logical that the director of this reflective theater of irony, this lesson in entertainment distortion, is not on stage, but sits on a plastic chair and claps and moans about nasty remarks like all the other viewers also.