5-Step Guide to Being German 2.0
Lara Rae | CBC News | Posted: July 16, 2016 6:25 PM | Last Updated: July 16, 2016
THREE STARS | Paco Erhard is charming enough, but his show is dull, predictable and repetitious
Rating: ★★★
Company: Paco Erhard, Berlin
Genre: Comedy — Stand-up
Venue: 1 — John Hirsch Theatre (MTC Mainstage)
Germans, we are told by Paco Erhard, have no sense of humour and are very orderly.
We are then told this again. And again. We are also reminded of the Third Reich. There's goose-stepping, Nazi salutes, and then some more jokes about Germans being orderly and the trains running on time.
Then it's Spain's turn. They are disorganized. Then we find out the only thing Italians can organize is crime.
It's broad, cheap ethnic humour. It's not utterly offensive — Erhard is charming enough — it's just dull, predictable and repetitious.
There is so much fascinating stuff going on in Europe right now but all the jokes in Erhard's show wind back to hoary stereotypes.