"Paco Erhard: 5-Step Guide to Being German" at the Adler Theatre -- March 29.
Paco Erhard is intimately familiar with misconceptions about Germans – they're stern, humorless, etc. Well, the 49-year-old comedian has long been on a mission to bust those assumptions up, and will make his Iowa debut in his standup show 5-Step Guide to Being German, taking place on Saturday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Davenport’s Adler Theatre (136 East Third Street).
Hard-hitting and hilarious, Erhard shows you the real (democratic, diverse) Germany behind the scenes. You will experience hysterical dilemmas on the Autobahn, learn the truth about lederhosen, find out how the “no sense of humor” stereotype is both true and not true at all, and come to see that Germans are not blunt or rude, revealing from experience that we all have much more in common than we may think.
A January 2023 Orlando Weekly review called Erhard's 2022 Orlando Fringe act “a fast-paced hour of international humor," and said his follow-up Paco Erhard: Worst. German. Ever. "focuses his politically incorrect wit on his newly adopted home of America, and the results are even more chaotically hilarious, provided you fall left of center on the political spectrum.
"Like a dirty-mouthed DeTocqueville dressed in a Mickey Mouse-meets-Misfits T-shirt,” the review continued, “Erhard shares incisively absurd observations generated by his journeys across the USA, taking merciless aim at our health care, gun laws, xenophobia and general geographic ignorance. If jokes lampooning fascists, poop pornography, or organized religion disturb your sensibilities, skip this show; anyone with a liberal sense of humor (or stiff libation) will likely be laughing too loud to take offense."
"I like connecting cultures and speaking truth to power," Erhard said in a recent interview. "I'm a fierce internationalist.
"Whatever America has done or will do, we Germans have done worse," he said. "We're not on the moral high horse here, but I have some ideas. We've done some product testing for you guys. Fascism, I wouldn't recommend."
The March 29 comedy event is co-sponsored by Davenport’s German American Heritage Center and Museum, whose executive director Brian Allen said by e-mail, “The German American Heritage Center and Museum is looking forward to hosting comedian Paco Erhard at the Adler Theatre based on his acclaimed solo shows, particularly 5-Step Guide to Being German. This selection reflects a desire to engage the community in a dialogue about cultural identity and understanding through humor.
“The significance of Erhard’s performance lies in his ability to address themes of German identity and intercultural differences while promoting empathy – all while turning the stereotype of the humorless German on its head,” Allen said. “His comedy, grounded in personal stories from his experiences in multiple countries, not only entertains but also fosters cross-cultural communication. This performance will connect with the Quad-City community, which has a strong history rooted in German culture.”
Experiencing a Variety of Cultures
A native of Munich, Erhard grew up in eight different regions of Germany, experiencing his country's vast variety of regional cultures from an early age. He is the great-grandson of the first Minister-President of the German State of Saxony-Anhalt – post-war, thank goodness, appointed by the Americans.
Erhard spent his senior year of high school as an exchange student in Salisbury, North Carolina, and said he loved it. He still stays in touch with his American host family, and returned once for Thanksgiving. "We're super close," Erhard said. "It was a half-black, half-white high school, which was invaluable for me to see different parts of American culture. I'm really glad I did that."
In 2001, Erhard hitchhiked out of his native Germany, traveled the world for 14 years, and started doing comedy in English, Spanish, and German.
After moving to London in 2009 to pursue comedy full-time, Paco quickly shot to success with his first solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe in Scotland. Titled 5-Step Guide to Being German, Erhard wrote it in reaction to the unhelpful stereotypes about Germany he encountered on his travels. His goal: to write a show about the real Germany, a show that both Germans and non-Germans find "so true" and utterly hilarious.
"I needed to be elsewhere and see other places," he said. "If I ruled the world, every person would live in a different country for at least a year. I think we'd have no more wars, or way fewer wars … . What we do as normal is just one way of doing things. I really wanted to travel and be in situations where I had no experience.
"A lot of my stand-up is, I explain Germany and how we are, behind the stereotypes and why," Erhard said. "Beyond that, a lot of my show is social commentary, definitely informed by my travels. Because of traveling, I really started to understand my own culture. But also, wherever I go, it teaches you how we're all the same. At the same time, we can all learn from each other. Anybody who says, 'America is the greatest country in the world,' dude, have you ever been anywhere else? I love this country. It's amazing. But boy, not everything is perfect. When you say, 'We're the greatest,' you stop learning and you stop developing."
Erhard said he talks about people he’s met around the world, including a racist British lady, and about how traveling broadens your mind and gives you an understanding of other people. He's been able to reduce others' stereotypes about Germans along the way.
"I hate the reputation of being unfunny, or not having a sense of humor," Erhard said of his native country. "I feel it's pretty dehumanizing. I really hate it."
That's partly what propelled him to become a comedian, along with his love for writing. He said writing can be really lonely, though, and he was disheartened after trying his hand at a novel, which he called terrible.
Humor is a great way for people from different cultures to understand each other and make connections, Erhard said. "It can dispel prejudice and communicate things in a way – helping Germans and Americans understand each other better. Humor can also address conflict in a way that you couldn't if you were serious, with a white board.
"I love being on stage, and this is a way to combine the writing with the stage," he said, noting he started working in standup in London. He had been writing for seven years before that, and has consequently performed in Fringe festivals in several cities, including in Scotland and Australia.
Ways to Impose Order
In his act, Erhard reflects the German urge to impose order out of chaos. "A core value is order and stability," he said. A comedian also aims to create rational sense out of an often irrational, messy world. People's prejudices stem from misconceptions and ignorance about different cultures – thinking all immigrants are criminals, for example.
"Immigration is an issue because it's not easily fixed," Erhard said. "You call them criminals and rapists to vilify the people."
Germany has come to terms with the fact that it's also a nation built on immigrants (like America), he said, and has welcomed a wide variety of refugees, including those displaced from the civil war in Syria. "I have admired that about America,” Erhard said, “and am very sad they're going in the opposite direction.”
He added that there are many benefits to being German, among them the country's universal single-payer healthcare, subsidized college, and state support for the arts. Meanwhile, the reunification of East and West Germany into a single nation in 1991 was "a huge celebration, so joyful," Erhard recalled. "We really didn't think this could happen. It was an insane party, it was so great."
Germany, he said, has also taken admirable steps to atone for its wartime atrocities – a marked change from decades past. “I know for a fact that my mom, having been born in 1949, when she was growing up, in her history textbooks in school, history conveniently ended in 1918. Nothing happened after that. It wasn't much talked about."
After student revolutions in 1968, however, public schools did a better job educating kids about World War II and the postwar period, Erhard said. "I was born in '75, and was one of the first generations where they started addressing this.
"I felt so guilty, learning about the Nazis. It's like, 'I'm 10, dude, what do you want me to do about it?'" he recalled. "It's important to teach it – not guilt for the past, but responsibility for the future."
Tickets for the March 29 performance of Paco Erhard: 5-Step Guide to Being German start at $25, and are available by calling (800)745-3000 and visiting DavenportLive.com/the-adler-theatre.
