Arjen Lubach gets a firm tap on the fingers because of his failed promotion tour in the run-up to his RTL 4 debut. “And why did he wear such an incredibly ugly sweater in the show of Eva Jinek?”
It is really striking how little remains of Arjen Lubach and his humor if there is no autocue ready. In the run-up to his RTL 4 debut, he gave two major interviews tonight: one to Mischa Blok on NPO Radio 1 and one to Eva Jinek on NPO 1. And both conversations were really deadly boring. Sleeping.
Incredibly boring
TV critic Victor Vlam thinks it is incredible that Arjen has not put any more energy into it. “I found both interviews that I thought of: dear, couldn’t have it been prepared better? It was really boring. Really incredibly boring. It wasn’t interesting. And I think: Arjen Lubach is a comedian, it’s a joking maker.”
He continues in the podcast The Communicado’s: “What you do when you prepare such an interview: you ensure that you have three nice jokes or stories, and you are going to tell them. You can simply prepare that. You can simply give that to the editors, so that Eva Jinek asks the right questions, and then everyone has to laugh loudly.”
Not enthusiastic
Arjen really doesn’t seem enthusiastic at all, says Victor. “If you were busy with the preparation of this new program, you could tell some nice things about what you are going to do? You have to make people enthusiastic. What are you enthusiastic about? What do you like that you are going to do differently?”
That was not there. “There is just a lot at stake. The moment the first episode of Lubach at RTL simply does not meet the viewing figures, then you immediately have a negative news cycle, then all kinds of people will talk about the Jack Spijkerman effect again and that can have a self-strengthening effect.”
Ugly sweater
Victor also finds it ridiculous that Arjen was sitting at the table at Eva in such a standard jersey. “Then I think to myself: Arjen, it’s a very well -viewed talk show, it’s television, put on a neat sweater! I am not saying that he has to appear there in a three -part suit, but put something different than where you walked around all day.”
Now he looks very much like a slangy satirist, says the Mediasloopkogel. “It was a sweater that I put on if I don’t get out of the house all day. (…) I think at least: this should simply be prepared better. And the whole impression that woke everything was that it was not well prepared.”