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17/02/2011Inclusive fun and laughter at East Side Comedy Club Berlin

Inclusive fun and laughter at East Side Comedy Club Berlin East Side Comedy Club in Berlin showcases international comedy stars who rustle up laugher using more than English language words. Stephanie Frick checks it out.

A recent discussion on LinkedIn entitled 'Is there an international kind of humour?' had mixed views on whether humour could be 'international’ and someone demanded an example of a 'universal joke'.  Here you go: Two planets meet in a cybercafé on the Milky Way.  Says one: "Wow...you look awful today!" Says the other:"Right you are...I suffer from Homo Sapiens!" "Oh!" answers the first one: "Do not worry....they will disappear all by themselves after a short while!"

Aaaargh.  Laugh? Smile anyhow?

Lois Bromfield (United States/CA-Germany-Canada) What is generally understood by the term ‘comedy’ in the English-speaking world is the act or the discourse to entertain people and make them laugh - as in stand-up comedy. It's a tough business! Rehearsing too hard in this field will most probably ruin the spontaneity of your show as well as the interaction with the audience. Some say comedy cannot be learnt - you either have comic talent or you don't. The fostering of such talents is exactly what filmmaker Didier Chabi had in mind when he started ESC Berlin in 2010, located just a stone's throw away from the famous Eastside Gallery. This homely yet trendy arch right under the local tramline provides a platform for both local English-speaking comics as well as special guests such as the New Yorker Colin Kane and Jeffrey Ross, a.k.a. "The Roastmaster General", (both January 22) and Lois Bromfield who had her comeback on stage at ESC, 29 January.

"When I founded East Side Comedy Club last spring, it was an English-language stand-up comedy showcase featuring the best of local English-speaking stand-up comics in the Berlin underground comedy scene. Ever since I have been watching the growing process of the club translated through some line-ups of Hollywood stand-up comics such as Jeff Ross, Colin Kane and Lois Bromfield. However the aim isn't to provide big names but fun and laughter to all 'English-language-Lovers' in this town."



Didier says that one of the first things comedian Jeff Ross asked him before a show was the difference between the Berlin and US club audience just before his show which is, of course, vital for a stand-up  Comic Lois Bromfield experiences the biggest difference between US clubs and performing in Berlin, to be "the people being very polite, and paying attention.

However, according to Didier, there is "no such thing as a 'typical audience' at ESC which includes students, tourists, expats and Berliners alike." One woman attending the show last Saturday told me she had brought a friend along who she described as “always so serious," rather than saying he needed English-language comedy! Let's hope the club had the desired effect...

 Didier Chabi's East Side Comedy Club Berlin Germany

But does humour actually work cross-culturally in multi-culti Berlin?

"Yes, it does!" says Didier, "Probably in part due to the fact that interaction with the audience here is both friendly and easy to understand, also for non-native speakers. We have a very inclusive audience, for fun and laughter are universal."  The latter statement poses a very interesting and also important question, especially nowadays, the world having become one “global village”. Can we really experience anything such as “an international sense of humour”? Isn’t humour rather tied to a specific culture? – Just think of the English and their use of irony and sarcasm!

Surely there are many factors involved, i.e. is the comedian familiar with his audience? What types of jokes is the comedian into?

“International laughter” very much depends on the kind of jokes you’re cracking, as a Frenchman reports from his relationship with an Indian colleague: “Totally illogical work situations (of examples based on misunderstandings), stupid challenges (I bet you cannot...), illogical behaviours/reactions of colleagues we have in common. I tell about the habits I have in my country and that can make them laugh: 'I eat frogs and snails daily'!).”


There definitely are international phenomena people can laugh about across different cultures. Anne Egros, Global Executive Coach, underlines this on LinkedIn: “Making universal jokes might be mission impossible but on the other hand, millions of people laugh or find the same things funny on UTube or other social media. Plus, third culture Kids (TCKs), children raised in more than one country, have their own brand of humour shared by other international kids .”

Multi-culti Berlin would seem like the perfect place to try out international brands of humour, and Lois Bromfield is extremely positive about the ESC's future.

"I feel like ESC has the potential to be one of the great comedy clubs. Didier is a very warm guy, who really wants to please the comics and his audience, this is key to the success of a comedy club, along with bringing in good, strong talent. The way to grow for sure. This is my first time performing in Germany and frankly, I cannot imagine it gets better than Berlin. I look forward to many more performances at ESC as it grows."

 

 

Find out about the East Side Comedy Berlin and upcoming shows:

www.eastsidecomedy.net/comedians.php

http://forum.expatica.com/index.php?showtopic=129127

 

Stephanie Frick




1 reaction to this article

Lois Bromfield posted: 2011-02-18 17:38:26

Great article Stephanie, ESCC is going to be a break through comedy club in Berlin and I cannot wait to come back and be part of this

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1 reaction to this article

Lois Bromfield posted: 2011-02-18 17:38:26

Great article Stephanie, ESCC is going to be a break through comedy club in Berlin and I cannot wait to come back and be part of this

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