Show: 27
Title: 5-Step Guide to Being German
Category: COMEDY / SOLO SHOW / HISTORICAL CONTENT / POLITICAL CONTENT
By: Paco Erhard
Created by: Paco Erhard
Location: Rarig Thrust
Summary: German comedian Paco Erhard talks about what it's like to be German in today's world.
Highlights: I grew up believing that my ancestry was 7/8 German and 1/8 Polish, but after an Ancestry DNA test I learned that it was a little more complicated than that. Current results indicate I'm 32% "Germanic Europe" and 45% "England and Northwestern Europe," but that's close enough (and my obsession with these precise numbers probably indicates just how German I am). So I found this show to be very funny and relatable, as I recognize the characteristics of Germanness in myself and my family. Paco (if you're thinking that's not a very German name, you're correct, it's a nickname he picked up while living in Spain) joked that he thought Minnesota was the Scandinavian part of America, but instead found it to be more like the German part of Canada. He doesn't actually give us five steps to being German, but tells stories and jokes about growing up in Germany and being German out in the world (he's lived abroad much of his life). His usual 80-minute show was cut down to 60 minutes (so much for American freedom), and he makes fun of Germans, Americans, and others throughout his show. He debunks some stereotypes of Germans, and confirms some too - stern, obsessed with order, unfunny. That last one is proven untrue, as Paco is very funny and personable as he makes us laugh about what it is to be German, and what it is to be humans living on this planet together.