1000 Years of German Humour DVD

So, I’m finally getting around to reviewing the third of four stand up DVDs that I bought in December.  There is a good reason why I don’t buy many of them.

1000 Years of German Humour is the latest DVD from German Comedy Ambassador, Henning Wehn and Otto Kuhnle (the funniest man from Düsseldorf).  I bought it on the strength of their previous effort, Four World Cups and One World Pope!, which I bought a couple of years ago.    In that, the duo performed separately, but in 1000 Years, they’re both on stage together, as they take us through the last millennium of Teutonic comedy.

It’s frankly a deeply odd show.  Henning does solo stand up, while Otto sits and watches; and then Otto does his stuff, while Henning watches.  Otto’s material is not that easy to describe, but it generally consists of doing something extremely silly while playing a musical instrument.  It sounds like it shouldn’t be funny and yet it somehow really is.  The pair do combine at some points, such as a shambolic recreation of Grimm’s fairy tales.  There’s a slightly amateurish feel to the whole thing, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The DVD itself is self-produced, so the camera and sound quality varies wildly.  Personally, that’s something that I can easily live with; it’s good that less well known comedians are able to make their shows available for us to enjoy.  It’s not the most polished show that you’re going to ever see, but it’s enjoyable and is refreshingly different.

1000 Years of German Humour is available from Henning Wehn’s website for £8 + £2 p&p.  The link to it is here.