“I can’t do that, I don’t want to,” explains the comedian in the MDR format “Riverboat”.
On December 1st, Mario Barth was a guest at the MDR talk show “Riverboat” – and once again stood out for his comments on gender language and gender identities. As soon as he entered the studio, he made his point clear through his choice of outfit. The saying “I don’t have a gender, I have a high school diploma” adorned the comedian’s shirt Garment from his current merchandise collection.
Better to use clichés instead of inclusive language
Moderator Wolfgang Lippert asked the 51-year-old about his design, the audience was amused and the action earned laughter and applause. Mario Barth stood by his opinion: “I can’t do it, I don’t want to do it. I’m in the minority of 85 percent who don’t like it. I just don’t gender.” The show’s visitors seemed to support his Stone Age views.
For the Berliner, there is only one possible scenario in which he would adapt gender for himself: “If women earn the same as men, then I will start gendering.” The constant comparison of clichés regarding men and women has been a feature since the beginning became the standard repertoire throughout his career and Barth obviously sees no reason to change this.
“Monday man, Tuesday woman, Wednesday street sign”
Not only does the comedian seem to dislike gender, he also can’t get used to the current debates about gender identities – quite the opposite. “In Berlin you are a man on Monday, a woman on Tuesday, a street sign on Wednesday,” he explained, visibly amused by his own statement. Also a guest was Laura Karasek, who seemed to be at a loss for words at the moment. She looked around in disbelief with her mouth open.
Mario Barth on the “Riverboat” talk show
It’s not the first time that the humorist has received harsh criticism for his old-fashioned jokes. It wasn’t until 2022 that he caused a scandal for his Parody of a homosexual flight attendant, which he presented on a tour. However, there is no reason for Barth to change anything in his program. He is currently sticking to his scenarios with conviction and continues to report “typical” communication problems with his girlfriend à la “women talk a lot, men don’t listen”. He also seems to remain true to this line in his current program “Men are women, sometimes but also… maybe”, with which he has been touring through Germany since November.