Reaction To Volker Pispers History of USA (5 of 5)
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 16 ноя 2024
- Reaction To Volker Pispers History of USA (5 of 5)
This is my reaction to Volker Pispers History of USA (5 of 5)
In this video I react to part 5 of 5 of Volker Pispers History of USA. This focused more on German domestic politics than the middle east but it was expertly analysed by German kabarett and satire artist Volker Pispers.
Original Video - • Volker Pispers history...
Volker Pispers once said: "Laughter is the best medicine. And as you know, medicine that tastes good doesn't help. Medicine has to be bitter. So in order for the laughter to be bitter the cabaret has to be distasteful."
Such a legend!
You asked for other German satirist's like him and there are definitely good ones (go look into Die Anstalt), but Volker Pispers was one of a kind
I really have to bow my head Sir! You are one of the few "foreigners" that REALLY understood and reacted the according way to that satirical masterpiece of Volker Pispers! During the last months a couple of american and british youtubers have reacted to this video, and most of them did not even understand what he was talking about, because they have zero knowledge about the past 20 years of american or middle european history! Most of them were looking for simple jokes and were not able to grasp the connections, meanings and "lessons" that Volker tried to teach and communicate during this event! Thank you sooo much for uploading this entertaining, informative and insightful video! as long as there are persons like you on youtube, there is still hope for "social media" to inform and enlighten people onstead of dumbing them down!👍
👍
👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Amen brother
hear hear
I'm German, 62 years old and the bad thing is that we used to have a number of first-class political comedians in Germany. Unfortunately, that time is long gone. Many people, especially young people, are completely unaware that the contents of the head can also be used for thinking.
Pisper was the best...not one of the best, but THE best. Very sad that he retired.
He's so on point and that hurts so deep, that people sometimes stop laughing. This is so intelligent and true.
And then his audience went home saying: „This was a funny evening.“ Nothing changes.
...yet I think its that specific, german understanding of social and political dependencies that is needed to keep someone like Pispers successful and prosperous. I am quite sure Volker would die quite harsh, unpredicted and poor if he would do such a think in America.
@micwin2
In America they cancel anyone who comes near the truth now.
Americans do not want to look at themselves and the government and it sinister agencies don’t want the people waking up. I remember a comedian of long ago who was a political satirist he ended up on the Met enemies list of Richard Nixon.
@@globalman prob the us needs some hitler or so by themselves, who goes around and wants to conquer the world, does that very brutally and efficiently, does frighten everybody so everybody joins an alliance, bombs the us to the middle ages and then people start to think again...
...ooh, wait a second, already happened, didnt turn out that way and now the US is too big to fail. Weŕe screwed, so lets go to Mars! Start the whole sh*t over again. Elon to the rescue...
@@flockemithund exactly! That's why he stopped! 😞
I believe this program is Pisper's best if you consider the international context.
He has created other great stuff, but it may be a little hard to grasp for foreigners due to it being more about domestic politics. Great reaction series 👍
And because it's now 15+ years old, a lot is not good to understand for germans anymore.
@@llothar68 Only if it gets very specific with the politic people from that time period. The rest, for example his takes on the Greek and their tax issues or the general takes on how capitalism works and its intrinsic problems for regular people are great pieces to watch.
@@llothar68 Well, the names of the politicians may be different, however the sad part is that the problems he addresses are still just as present or even worse 15 years later.
He is a legend. Unfortunatelly, he does not do standup any more. 😢
Also more often than not the subtitles are not good what makes this especially hard to understand. I realize that this is pretty hard to translate at times, but for example the "Verfassungsschutz" (3:38) is not the "constitutional police". It would probably be better translated as "domestic intelligence services" with a little explanation that this is essentially like the MI5 in the UK or the HSI in the US.
Volker Pispers ability to speak like reading from a printed in a book without any flaws for an up to 3 hours program time is simply a class of its own. For gathering and bringing facts to the point - which is the main substance for a political cabaret - Volker Pispers is the gold if not titanium standard in my humble opinion. It is very sad he's no longer actively pursuing his unmatched abilities.
Following Mert's reactions was very interesting and satisfying because it looks like language does not prevent understanding Volker Pispers genius.
This was the standard programm of Volker for about 20 years (from the 90s until about 2010). The framework never really changed, because during those 20 years times and politics rarely changed. Pispers just updated it frequently, like in this very video, when he took 9/11 for the hook of american foreign politics since the cold war started.
Edit: This was a public program. Volker played it on public stages all over Germany.
...and was aired on public television. on the channel "arte".... i'll never forget first seeing this show of him :-)
The program was called „bis neulich“ (something along the lines of „see you lately (not „later“ ) - if anybody has a better translation I would be happy to learn pls). And I saw it three times live within like his last three years of touring with it… he indeed kept the structure of the build (but as you said - it was a masterpiece, perfectly on point in so many ways, so why change it?? - especially if the idiots in the world which is „us“ keep making the same mistakes over and over and keeping the truth of the stories fresh) but I DID change and he varied every time according to actual political circumstances of that particular time (equally on point I want to add…). So it really was worth it every time we went and watched it and I was quite sad when he anounced that he would stop touring. I’m not sure if he’s still performing anything nowadays. I believe he „retired“…
… quite sure though a mind like his can not rest and will privately still be creating (master-)pieces of political satire on everything that’s going on - even if it’s just for himself!
arte is the best
In the last part, Pisper refers to the astonishing transformation of Otto Schilly, the interior minister of Germany at the time. His political career, very edgy left-wing orientated, began as a lawyer and defense attorney for the RAF terrorists First Generation Ulrike Meinhof/Andreas Bader. A short time later he founded the party "Die Grünen" together with Petra Kelly. He later left the Greens and joined the SPD. All these parties are politically on left-wing but SPD is more and in the middle than left-left wing. He became Minister of the Interior and advocated increasingly very conservative and restrictive measures by the state, e.g. taking fingerprints on ID cards, which was very hotly debated in Germany and, above all, contradicted Schilly's own political views from earlier years.
I wouldn't say that he became increasingly conservative, he got progressively more and more fascistic, and sadly, all the ID cards in Sweden has your fingerprints on them, and each time you're asking for a renewal, they take your fingerprints as well... sooner or later they'll probably take DNA samples or something, we're developing into a totalitarian fascist police state, and that's why I personally wish for less regulations, and I wish we left the EU, because I'd prefer to have a nation, in which people need a fucking passport and a Visa to enter. So that we can have Border Control again, and then we could relax internal restrictions, and keep the internal tensions low, because a nation needs unity, and I'm not speaking of some race purity bs, I'd be on the don't pass go list then as well, no, but the nation needs to be unified in culture again, preferably not Swedish Culture, Dane Culture would be better, more alcohol, and more openness and friendliness towards strangers, still strict laws at the border.
I just want people to be able to lead their lives in peace and quiet, without foreign or internal threats. And making tax cuts for people, like 25% cuts on income tax per child for a married woman up to 4 kids, and 25% income tax cut for a man with a wife and 2 children. Thus incentivizing the people to procreate more, and the money would be gained later on either way as we already have 25% Value Added Tax(Baked in Sales Tax for Americans).
I want more money to be spent on education and for teacher's to actually learn pedagogy in their education, because the teachers I had in school all sucked monkey butt.
And from an early age, English, German and French to be obligatory in School. And for our nation to actually develop a much better way to teach people math. Because sadly the current methods are worthless at teaching the kids math in the first place.
There's so much one could do, and yet we waste our tax money on useless crap like a sculpture for way too much money, that could've been used to help those in impoverished areas go to school and teach them how to become successful, and much more. There's way too much sadness in the world to care about it all, and thus we must focus the efforts on the homeground before anywhere else on the planet.
Understanding the extreme side of ideology of left and right or anything else, coming from a different approach, but ending in a repressive world of dogmas.
You could as well make a religion out of it. 😆
Schily was involved in two biometry companies, SAFE ID Solutions AG and Byometric Systems AG.
My wife and I have seen his performance twice and it was entertaining and educational both times. His view on things is as clear as water from a glacier, his tongue is sharp like a scalpel, but the way he delivers his deconstruction of politics and human behavior is like you listen to a very casual conversation.
He makes you think by making you laugh! An very talented fellow, who also tells his audience at the end of his show it should consider showing up to his young fellow artists shows to give them a chance to shine.
Incredible guy, love him so much.
In the end, he is referring to the Madrid bombings in Spain, with 193 dead and 2000 injured. Since this might be a recording from 2004, this was very recent and fueled the fear of terror attacks all over europe.
This. Most of us europeans have almost forgotten about these terror attacks.
@@tornoutlaw There was the perception, that it started with 9/11 and would never stop. That we live in a "new era of terror". The fact, that France and Germany did not join the "coalition of the willing" did not put them in the crosshairs of some terrorist organisations. The hysteria from those years is really hard to understand today.
Volker was just great. It was nice watching someone from another country reacting to his work.
I like your channel and the Scottish accent.
It's amazing how well you understand even the more difficult parts.
Keep up the good work, love from Germany
Yes Mert, I saw a lot of the Pispers reaction videos. I think You understood most of all.
This performance has been recorded about 2003, I think. Volker Pispers was on stage since the early 80s and guest in many TV shows in all this years. He was one of the pillars of political satire and retired a few years ago.
2:10 Yes, Angela Merkel grew up in East Germany and she wasn't exactly rebellious against the system, so to say...At the time of this show, she was opposition leader in the german parliament.
5:14 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_European_floods
7:00 Yes, it is good he is talking about this numbers, but the point is: Why are you afraid of dying in a terror attack when your chances of dying in a car accident are FAR higher?
11:30 That was a reference to the terror attack in Madrid at that time, meaning: a fingerprint in the ID card won't prevent any terror attacks.
I am a Bavarian and once watched this show of Volker Pispers with great pleasure. He is telling the truth and everything is very well researched. He is a top German intellectual and extremely entertaining. As far as I can tell, you interpreted everything correctly in your comments!
There are a few other comedy stars from Germany, but most of them are almost impossible to be translateted without losing the joke.
In my opinion, Georg Schramm, for example, should be mentioned, although he now appears less publicly due to his advanced age. He is also very political playing various characters on stage, sharing his political truths in a very comical way. Unfortunately, I can't find any of his videos with English subtitles.
It was a pleasure to hear your comments on the monologue. So I listened to all five parts again. I think it's great that there are Brits who find German humor funny or informative.
I have to mention that I am very sad that England voted for Brexit and allowed themselves to be taken for a ride by the liars in politics.
5:09 Yepp, the German government increased its already hefty tobacco taxes by another significant margin back then. As a non-smoker I only registered it as a side note.
The next comment was about the horrible floods in East Germany along the Elbe river after very strong constant rains over days. Whole neighborhoods were flooded to the rooftops and even above. It was a real disaster back then. "Trinker" in German are a colloquial term for alcoholics. In the aftermath of those floods many people who had already been economically disadvantaged by the reunification lost virtually everything, so they began drinking to drown their sorrow and misfortune. Very dark comment by Volker, as that was merely three years past at the time. Yepp, there actually had been discussions among the government of raising the alcohol tax as well to cover the rebuilding process.
Edit: guess how Germans who had seen this show reacted to Trump wanting to build a wall to Mexico? It was a somewhat nervous and hysterical laughter at the orange buffoon's antics. Because that's exactly what Volker Pispers had satirically joked about for Germany. Trump had wanted to actually implement it with his wall plus his immigration controls towards islamic people. We just sat there and couldn't do anything but sadly shake our heads. Volker being prophetic again.
Edit 2: nope, back then it wasn't ETA but an actual islamistic terrorist attack on the central station in Madrid. Yes, ETA was still around as well but they had been fairly dormant back then.
Great helpful comment!
No, they never raised the tobacco tax by a significant margin, only in small steps. Another "reason" for the high tobacco tax was so that less people smoke, but they avoided to rise the tax in large steps so that people dont quit smoking.
Tobacco tax is pretty high atm, but it doesn't keep ppl from smoking, rather instead keeping up the habit.
And now we have a party in Germany that currently stands at 20% that openly said that we should shoot at people that try to cross our borders. And the really funny thing is, those very same people that advocate for shooting people at the border, are the very same that wipe out Volker Pispers comments out of context to prove a point. They even forced Volker to come out of retirement to denounce those people abusing his old material out of context.
@@diesiadhil If the tax would be raise by a significant margin, a lot of people would stop smoking, thats why they cut one significant raise in serval small raises over one or two years, so the smoker get slowly used to higher prices. I dont make that up, the health minister said it when asked why the raise was in small increments instead of one huge raise.
You know, I could've watched the whole thing on youtube after your first video, but I wanted to wait for your vids :D
Great vids, good job, loved every second of it!
It was indeed aired at WDR (one of the public legal TV stations for what you are forced to pay GEZ-Fees in Germany). It's premiere was on the 23rd of June in 2007 on TV. But I think most Germans knows it because of DVD release and youtube. Another good reaction from you. Thanks Mert.
This Monologue was recorded in a famous „Kabarett“ Club in Bonn (Pantheon) and because Volker left the Show we all come back to RUclipss for remembering…sadly still up to date having still the same problems.
I hope for the „return of the Jedi“
Yeah !!! I am waiting with you!
The quality of these subtitles is rare and exceptionally good w/ the inclusion of these little side notes for various local terms or expressions. I believe the subs were not "official" but by whomever uploaded these tracks a few ears ago.
I've seen other subbed clips for different German shows (not just Volker's) and comedy acts that are really mediocre and at places utterly wrong and even misleading due to literal translation.
Satire and comedy are particularly hard to translate to make it work as the translator not only has to know and understand the original subject matters, subtle wordplays or double entendres, but also needs to know and understand the pop culture and politics known by speakers of that target language.
Anyhow, kudos to whomever created these subtitles.
Hello I am from Germany and I appreciate it very much, that you actually pay attention to us.
For me, Pispers was an absolute genius in exposing the failures of our government.
My favorite part is when he talks about „capitalism in its final state“ which is America for him.
A de-solidarized society.
It actually scares me because it’s so true, but our government nowadays is worse than ever 💀
People are too stupid to vote.
I agree with your opinion except for your last sentence…tell me who to vote for? They are ALL for the dumpster!!! Do let me know whenever you come across a current party which A. Isn’t an extension of US propaganda and/or B. Isn’t evidently tossing around fascist ideas be they wrapped up in climate/economic/eco- BS/migration issues!
Please be carerul with using "worse than ever"
Es wäre so ein Traum, wenn Pispers wieder Programm machen würde. Habe ihn mehrfach live gesehen. Beeindruckend.
The monologue was part of his program "Bis Neulich" from 2004 i think
I got it on CD, but it was also most likely aired on TV and put on DVD.
Hagen Rether is also a very competent one. Please continue with him!!!
References made that may need some inside knowledge on Germany:
1:54 Merkel grew up in East Germany which was a one-party dictatorship
2:30 Germans are notorious for critizing their football teams' trainers and performance in everyday small talk.
2:35 Pisper being a prophet here. In 2021every German on social media became a pandemic expert. In 2022 everyone a military weapons expert.
3:18 The "constitutional police" or Verfassungschutz in Germany has had some scandals that let many Germans question their competence.
4:13 Back in these times you only had to pay the GEZ if you actually owned a radio or television. Students were always trying to hide the fact that they owned one.
4:57 Yes it is true, but the tobacco tax increase wasn't legally purpose-bound.
9:50 East German border guards were ordered to shoot at any East German citizen trying to illegaly cross the border wall to escape the DDR.
11:32 Germans have digitally stored fingerprints in their IDs today. They were voluntary until 2021 and now have became mandatory by law.
And „constitutional police“ is a bad translation, the official name „German domestic intelligence services“ shows what it is: an intelligence service and it has the same problems as all of them: no transparency and weird operations. As Volker mentioned, they pay nazis to get informations, but it seems that these payments is funding nazi operations…
GEZ is free for students, at least for 5 years, then you have to pay.
@@PowerControl That’s not true, first, there is no GEZ anymore and the „Rundfunkbeitrag“ is not free for students.
@@dura2k For Bafög students it is free.
@@PowerControlYes, but this is about BAföG and not about beeing a student, there are enough students without BAföG. And people who receive a Schüler-BAföG are also not required to pay.
You often ask if it's true... ...everything that Volker Pispers said was absolutely factual and correct and is still valid today, even though he had his last gig in 2009
Yes, in his snide remark at Mrs. Merkel he refers to the one-party dictatorship in East Germany where Mrs. Merkel grew up.
grew up and started her political career :')
@@yeetyeet7070 She didn't start her political career until 1990 when the dictatorship had ended.
@@alicemilne1444 the fact that she studied in Moscow tell s her story. She was part of it, and not just a bystander.
@@vaxpak She didn't study in Moscow. She studied in Leipzig in the GDR. She was on a student exchange visiting Moscow and Leningrad in 1974. You're just trying to invent things.
Jep and the pinoeer's greeting (call and response) was "Seid bereit! - Immer bereit!", "be ready! - always ready!", that's what he referenced there -- she wasn't much connected to the regime, kinda born into opposition (daughter of a reverend), but she was a pioneer, you kinda had to be back then or studying physics would've become problematic. The "helmet away for prayer" thing is from the Großer Zapfenstreich, actually not outdated it's the Bundeswehr's most elevated honour ritual done for e.g. presidents, chancellors and defence ministers leaving office, but the whole thing is steeped in ancient Prussian tradition and peaceniks don't like it because torches or something and Nazis also marched with torches. And while I (and basically the rest of the republic) can't stand Guttenberg I have to admit that he has a proper taste in music, google "smoke on the water bundeswehr".
I think you got all the points he tried make correct.
Pispers mastered the art of saying brutally honest truth in a very casual, conversational style. Like the average 9 to 5 citizen having a conversation with the clerk at a shop in between buying some bread.
That s one reason why he can do it on national tv. Plus, there s a tradition of political cabaret in Germany. As long as his points are somewhat accurate, politicians accept it.
He would even do it with them in the audience and they know it s best for them to laugh and show a sense of humor.
His stuff was on national tv, but mostly late evening on the culture channel (3Sat). Sometimes on the prime channels with others, but never prime time.
Pispers had a fanbase, but i believe RUclips kinda took it to another level. I know many people that would never watch those shows on tv or care much about politics at all, that discovered Volker Pispers work much later on YT. It s always quite surprising to me, but quality is quality at the end of the day
P.S. i my opinion there aren‘t many that come close to Pispers apart from the legends Dieter Hildebrandt and Hans-Dieter Hüsch.
I ll probably miss out on someone, but many often try to hard to get the laugh. They overplay it. The „wait, did he really just say that ?“ quality isn‘t there.
Oh, i d strongly recommend Roger Willhemsen. He was a writer, intellectual, tv host and flat out brilliant person. Roger observed the german parliament for a year and wrote a book about the absurdities that were going on there. He did readings that are on YT.
Roger Willhemsen is definitely worth checking out !
If you are interested in other political satire, Urban Priol is a stable household name. He usually sums up the current year and the horrors and stupidity that happened in december of that very year. There are two versions: one is cut and shown on youtube, the original goes to DVD and will find it's way way later to YT anyway. Not sure about subtitles, tho.
Edit:
- Yes, the dictatorship he mentions in the beginning is the GDR times, which Merkel had the "suffer" through. - The flood he mentions must have been 2002, when the Elbe river rose to incredible width and hight, flooding historical cities like Magdeburg and Dresden (which just had restored the opera building to old glory, just to get it destroyed later after mere month?). There was another one in 2012, too.
- "Socially accepted mass murder". Germany, especially the east german parts, are subjected to wage dumping. Paying just the bare minimum wage and extracting as much labor as possible. 13-15hour shifts are nothing new for truck drivers. Constant supervision and pressure to keep in time do their toll on those workers, falling asleep at the steering wheel, crashing into the many traffic jams and therefore killing dozens at once.
- Doctors fail rate: Stressed out, overworked physicians doing surgery while sleep deprived... recepie for desaster.
- "Great wall of chi... germany": Well, the wet dream of the 'newly' growing movement of senile 'good old times' faschists and the newer 'we were left behind' youth without knowledge. Believing everything that's said on telegram and whatever their sources are. Right now, germany is heading back to the 'good old times' by strenghtening the AfD. Those idiots don't even see that they're the first to go, when the swastica returns.
I really wish for Volker to come back and to comment on the dystopian times ahead... but now it's too late. He would face death threats, diffamation and worse. Commenting on Covid, faschism, LGBTQ+ would stir up more shit storms than he could legally dodge. "Those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it"... *sigh*
Great and insightful comment. I am also a great admirer of Volker Pispers and loved to watch him on TV whenever I could. I must have learned a lot consciously and subconsciously! Since TV consumption had greatly changed in the past years I had lost sight of him. Only after searching for him to find out his opinion on Covid and Ukraine did I find out that he had retired! I also agree that in today’s hysterical opinion dictatorships he could not say what he said back then. He is an awesome example of how fast times have changed!!!
Thank you for spreading his excellent work!
Afaik he received countless death threats during his active times for being 'a liar, left-wing extremist', etc... obviously a proof that his words were a little too true for quite some people out there... 😪
I miss him dearly on stage and I'd also support him if he ever decided to become Chancellor (as quite some of my fellow Germans would do)
I've seen this on tv back in the day. it was and still is phenomenal. I remember it had quite an impact, multiple re-runs and was quoted, both in jest and in serious conversation, for some time after.
I'm happy to see that Pispers is getting recognition outside of Germany as he is one of my favorite satirists. His programs are classic thoroughly. However, I also very much enjoy Jonathan Pie, John Oliver, and John Steward and highly recommend watching them too.
All the comments are by germans , though, so apart from Mert nobody outside germany actually watches this
If you enjoy JO and JS, you have lost control over your life. SAD!
Volker Pispers hits like a truck
John Oliver is married to a republican veteran. Someone who voluntarily joined the US military in order to help that organisation terrorise the Middle East. And he says that European actually want the US to play world police.
Jon Stewart also sheds tears for cancer-stricken US veterans who voluntarily joined the US military. The same way he does for cancer-stricken 9/11 first responders. Those people have cancer for vastly different reasons. Jon Stewart als criticises even progressives (let alone leftists) almost as much a right-wingers. Even liberals He criticises. He says he wants free markets, claims they don't exist in the US. Why? Because he thinks free markets are good. And he sees US capitalism and thinks "This is not good. Therefore, it can't be a free market." He seriously thinks a free market is good for everyday people. He's always been a centrist, and he often doesn't know what he's talking about when he talks about serious issues.
Highly recommended are artists like Urban Priol, Christoph Sieber, Dieter Hildebrandt, Till Reiners, Hagen Rether, Sarah Bosetti.
You are courageous taking on Volker Pispers and German mentality on world issues. You are coming along just fine. Still loving it❤
This is EXACTLY what political cabaret is all about. It is very well known in the german language space and underlines the difference to "mere" commedians: packed to the fullest with sarcasm and cynism but - never the less - showing a part of the truth backed up with facts that lets one suffocate on your own laughter. Laughing untill/allthough it hurts. Absolutely priceless!
I am glad, I found your 5-part reaction to this eye-opening monologue. I enjoyed watching you. And my respect goes to the person that added the subtitles, so the information could spread.
Thank you very much, that you share with us this masterpiece 👏🏼
In the early 2000s in Germany was a lot of great Cabaret Stars like Urban Priol, Georg Schramm or Hagen Rether. Much better than today!
Volkers' monologs are incredible. They may be 20 years old but still very accurate in todays german political landscape
I felt the same way as you do when I first discovered Pispers on RUclips. I viewed all the videos with him available. His reasoning is so convincing and plausible. I wish we had more like him.
He was touring with this program on stages across Germany. I was lucky enough having seen this show in Berlin. It gives you shivers. As a German native speaker you understand the fine irony between the lines that was lost in translation. Because every fact was very well researched, and put into a new perspective, sometimes I was puzzled and my laughter got stuck in my throut.
Volker is speaking directly and honest. For a german it's still very straight forward and many people will think it's too much but it is indeed just the truth and as an entertainer he over does it surly but it's also his style many older germans have too. You must speak in this form directly as a german otherwise you won't get attention. He is saying how it is without any diplomatic impulse which is refreshing to us as all language is politicized and you can't solve problems if you can't go straight to the core problem and speak openly about it. It's a very german thing which is becoming less and gets suppressed by the society because solving things means effort. That's a bad sign if you think about it.
Thanks for your reaction video. It has been very pleasing to watch. Not too many interruptions, short, on point. First time checking out your channel, but I've had to watch all five parts.
He really is special. He delivers complex political topics in a very simple and objective manner. Thanks for pointing my attention towards him!
😊
I’ve watched a few reactions to Volker pispers… yours is by far the best one!
Pispers can do one thing like no other - putting the absurdity of our world into perspective in a simple and understandable way.
Thank you for the reacts.
the tax on smoking for fight against terror is a true story
Earlier in German History they invented the "Schaumweinsteuer" (=Sparkling wine tax) to build up the imperial war fleet. we still pay it to this day. Just a German fun fact 😂
Hab ich nichts von mitbekommen...never heard about it and i dont think this is true!
@@NicoleBlau-c2r de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabaksteuer_(Deutschland)
Unter dem Punkt „Steuererhöhungen 2002 bis 2015“.
Es gibt da ein Zitat von Westerwelle „Erst Rasen für die Rente, jetzt Rauchen für die Sicherheit. In Anbetracht der Unterfinanzierung der Bundeswehr warte ich stündlich auf den Vorschlag Saufen für die Truppe..“
@@JUK-Bavaria Zu einem gewissen Teil würde die Bundeswehr sich dann selbst finanzieren....
From his homepage:
"To all fans and longtime loyal visitors:
After a 5 year break from performing, it is now clear that I will not be returning to the stage.
Many will not understand this and will be very disappointed. I know that from the many emails that have reached me in recent years."
😭
i like how you explain what you read with your own words.. you got it all.
wow, thank you so much for this series.
Volker and you have really impressed me.
What you saw was - in essence - the exact same way Volker Pispers made political cabaret for several *decades*. No matter the topic, he would toss numbers in your face, make comparisons that you never thought about and he always called a horse a horse.
From my perspective, from the way you analyzed his routine, you are now hooked. The same way I was the instant I saw him for the first time. I binged him on youtube and wherever I could find footage of his radio and TV work. He is still unsurpassed, and when he retired he left a gaping hole.
Sadly, nothing ever changed, the madness simply kepts repeating itself.
To quote him from memory: "I've been making cabaret for 20 (or 30?) years, told all of this over and over and then some, and never ever has it really made any difference." .. "Keep your cabaret tickets, all of them, stow them away safely. When the day comes and people will finally revolt, you can get them out and say "I've been with the resistance"".
I just have to watch you and I get a great desire to get involved with a foreign language and culture. You are so positive. Thanks for that!
I miss Volker so much! Thank you for your reaction. It allows me re-enjoy (is this a even word?) his epic entertainment and it's interesting and a big joy to listen to your imprssions of german content. Take my Abo.
I watched all of your reactions to Volker and I finally remembered to leave a comment (sorry should've done that earlier)
You're really the first reactor that I watched that truly got it.
I understand it's due to the translation sometimes and some nuances are lost but you had so much knowledge going into it yourself that you could still appreciate and understand it correctly.
I remember growing up and watching Kabarett on late nicht tv in my room (when I was supposed to sleep, yes I had a tv in my bedroom - wouldn't recommend to any parents out there lol. but at least I got to appreciate some of the good stuff I'd have never seen otherwise).
Volker Pispers/ Bis neulich was always my favourite.
I was extremely sad when he retired.
And I was very happy when I saw him pop up on youtube at some point with those old recordings and people reacting to them.
And it's frightening how close to home the programs still hit today
If you liked Pispers i can recommend you Hagen Rether as well. He is also a very sophisticated cabaretist although you might have to rely on automated subtitles for him, because i dont think anyone has translated his work so far.
oooh, NICE recommendation
Jupp - Hagen Rether is another very good example of this kind of political cabaret.
Definitely +1 on Hagen - although I had the feeling that he was getting bitter even earlier than Volker.
I was thinking the same thing--if he liked Volker he would surely love Hagen Rether too. Just as astute, just as brutally honest. But as you said I'm not sure if there are any translated bits of his out there.
Yesssss, I also wanted to recommend Hagen Rether.
Pispers toured Germany for a number of years with various programmes. Many - including myself - were very sad when he decided to retire from the political satire stage.
So he did retire, a sad moment for sure.
He's the George Carlin of Germany.
@@rjung_ch Actually, better than Carlin.
@@catalyticcentaur5835 more global for sure.
Pispers' programs were recorded about every second year, sold on DVD and CD and every now and then an abbreviated version (the program went for about 2 1/2 hours) was shown on television. What you see here was the last part of his program up until about 2009. Then he changed the theme to criticize capitalism.
thanks for dipping into German satire and „Kabarett“ . A German Classic is certainly Scheibenwischer (a long running weekly satire programme on public TV) but it is very much focused on domestic policy and stopped airing in 2003. A person who started in Scheibenwischer and continued elsewhere is Georg Schramm in various stage personas. You might want to check him out as well.
I really enjoyed seeing you watching Pispers, and how curious you are about topics you do not know. I am looking forward to seeing more content from you :)
It‘s so cool, that Volker Pispers is translated in English and seen by UK, USA etc… I‘m sure that specially in the US, they can learn a lot.
Volker is a legend, always on point, speaking out loud what others wouldn't even dare to think.
But as you already mentioned a couple of times, German humour, comedy or satire is absolutely great and unique. There are so many good comedians and cabaret artists with amazing skills of finding the right words for almost every topic you can imagine.
One of my favourite cabaret artists is Dieter Nuhr and his annual review on the past year is one hour of pure irony, sarcasm and sometimes simple jokes. He is looking at things that happened in Germany (in society, politics and stuff) but also worldwide, and he nails it every year. You find his videos here on YT. He is also a great photographer and artist and his general knowledge is really outstanding, like Volker's.
Give it a try 🤗
This was originally live on stage and there were maybe 200-500 people in the audience. He was also in late-evening TV (a few thousand people). And at some point he realized that millions had watched him on RUclips …
Something problematic: disdain of Merkel almost drove a colleage of mine into the hands of right-wing extremists. Nuances get lost too easily when people not only drop the lies they told themselves but replace them with satirically exaggerated opinions.
Verfassungsschutz are those that should defend the constitution. One try to forbid a neonazi party in Germany failed, because the 17 constitutional protection agencies (one per county and one federal) had (taken together) so many undercover informants in that party that it wasn’t clear whether the party was actually able to act on its own accord.
We actually watched this in school when about 10 years ago. Good memories
you did the best reaction in all parts, well done.
You are really smart and knowledgeable, this is such a fresh wind. Tbh I don’t know if I ever saw someone smart reacting to stuff.
Thank you for making this content.
nice to see this. You got most of what Volker is referring quite well. But even for younger Germans its tough to get because of the context of historical facts he puts into.
thank you for bringing this to me
Nice to see you watch an interpreted version instead of a translated version of Pisper's act.
Huge diferrence. Greetings from Bavaria
His full career, Volker was using the same program he himself once mentioned and he were just changing the politicians names as the characters where nearly always the same more or less.
With Pispers and Loriot you are getting very deep into our culture, but it really is very compareable to the british and Scottish culture as well as I noticed trying to find out more about your culture across the channel and as I watched very much RUclips content and stuff from british telly and as I travelled to your country a lot, hanging around with people often for a long chat and several pints here and there.
(reason for me was my father's heritage to "somewhere in britain" as I was told. Never knew him until his death as I was being adopted.)
Having read until this point I have other less serious but very funny comedians for you mate and I hope you may find content with subtitles: Otto Waalkes!!!!!,
Atze Schröder,
Torsten Sträter,
Michael Mittermeier,
(just some very funny people that I guess you could enjoy.)
In Germany there is a phrase called "Aufklärung mit dem Vorschlaghammer", "Education with a Sledgehammer". That is what it feels like listening to Volker Pispers.
He was always spot on honest.
A lot of german ppl have watched especially that monologue, he did performance it public for a long time. Its besides one of his most famous. Meanwhile its even famous all over the world and its still actual. If you did like it, check out Hagen Rether also, he is very brave too. And same kind, makes you laugh and cry the same second.
Fantastic video, I look forward to seeing more!
Current estimates for deaths by smoking are at 127000 per year for Germany.
I just like your positive approach !
it was aired on german free tv... on ARD... i saw it back then live in the first decade...
Ich hatte das Original noch garnicht gesehen. Muß ich nachholen.
GEZ is the public television fee - Gebühreneinzugszentrale
Another great reaction video my brother! Its a bit funny to see how shocked you sometimes are by some of his comments. But remember: "Satire darf Alles" :) I can only recommend again Jan Böhmermann, investigative journalism paired with political satire.
Jan Böhmermann 😳? Ernsthaft jetzt???? Das ist ja wohl das Propaganda Zäpfchen Nummer eins!!!
Got me reacting to a reaction, never did that before. Your reaction and thoughts are exactly like mine, when I heard the first program of Pispers in the early 2000s as an advice from a friend. He actually borrowed me two Audio-CDs. Then I did a lot of research and started informing myself constantly, aged 16 or 17. Later I attended one of Pispers evenings in Hamburg and got to shake his hand afterwards. I thanked and told him, he made me a politically attentive and active person, so he had some influence (guess I am not the only one). At that time I was fighting against newly established study fees - and the students movement was succesful abolishing them!
Unfortunately he got frustrated nevertheless, because on the big scale so many things even worthened - and after all he blamed it all too much on the majority of the people, not the minority in power. My experience is: You are fighting 100 fights, doing 100 manifestations and discussions to change at least one little thing once in a while. But at least that! What would happen, if people like me would stop all their activities? What do all the people achieve, I maybe motivated to some extent like Volker did motivate me? What could we all achieve more and more motivating each other?
Best regards and wishes to beloved Scotland! Hope to return someday after two trips to this lovely piece of earth. I was there during one plebiscite for sovereignty. Loved, that you guys did argue for it wanting to stop financing british empire involvements in wars. That's the way!
One detail I didn't find mentioned here before: Volker Pispers amazed me in his live performance with his skill, to not only go through his for both him and the audience challenging programm nearly flawlessly and at the same time with passion, as you saw him here. He also impulsively referred to daily reported issues. Somehow inspired, but still a bit jealous here for his ability to multi-task that well..
One fun video without words from a german fun game magazine
"Eskalation an der Kaffeemaschine - Neulich bei Game Two"
Volker Pispers is the greatest!!!🎉
Volker Pispers is a hero, a humanist, a intellectual freedom fighter. Your problem is that you see everything divided, but Volker brings the dots together. He exposes the evil, the evil that runs the political and economic system and the hipocracy of humanity.
You should take a look at Hagen Rether, another great cabaret performer from Germany. I think quite a few of his videos are available with english subtitles, for example "Nothing Changes".
According to his GDR cricicism I guess he once told a joke about a man consulting psychological support and living in East Berlin at times of the GDR. He complains about climbing the wall. The therapist answers „...well, maybe a lot do.“ „But I climb from the west to the east side…“😀
I guess this was broadcasted in public german TV on a channel named 3sat (a program with many satire and comedy bits - i.e. every sunday evening prime time).
Volker Pispers is political education for the whole world 👍👌👍👌
No recommendations. Just hang on with pispers. He is unmatched by far.
We watched that in our politics class almost 10 years ago 😂
i have to admit that i usually don't watch reaction videos/channels because i generally feel they're quite fake/cheap. But the fact that you, as a Brit, are covering one of my favorite pieces by my absolute favorite cabaret artist, of all things, left me hugely impressed.
Volker Pispers was, is and always will be a national treasure from my pov. Thank you for giving him and his program the attention and appreciation he very much deserves.👏
This was really a brave program at the time, because anyone who didn't toot the 'America above all' horn was immediately anti-American, which was tantamount to being a muslim- terrorism sympathizer. Also, if you're interested in this kind of political cabaret from Germany, maybe check out old episodes of 'Neues aus der Anstalt' (2007-2013)..back in the day with Urban Priol and Georg Schramm. The newer episodes aren't so much my taste anymore... nowadays I rather watch the "heute-Show".😄
2004 there had happen islamic attacks in trains and stations in Spain, so despite having the fingerprint in their ID-Card it didn't prevent them from having to deal with that problem. That's what Pispers is refering to just moments before end (and was back then the most recent thing, he mentioned in his speech)
4:31 Yep, as Student you don‘t have to pay GEZ😂
You have to pay it
@@svenakg I never did... as a student.
🤭
@@jancleve9635 I think they changed a couple of years ago that everyone has to pay GEZ even without a TV, exception only for the people who receive Bafög
@@svenakg Students can typically get excempted from paying GEZ fees.
@@skub9416 I am student and I only don't have to pay if I receive Bafög or someone else already pay it
I suppose this show is from German TV, I would guess the WDR (regional sender "West German broadcast").
I can recommend "Die Anstalt". It's another great satire show in germany
Thanks for bringing these videos. You might also be interested in Wolfgang Krebs and Helmut Schleich from Bavaria.
Yeah, he used to be on TV a lot in the 1990s - especially in Cabaret-Festivals on 3rd Public TV programs like 3sat, but also on primary German Public TV Channels at Late-Night-Hours (which usually were the hours these kind of critical Entertainment Shows were shown - why some might have only seen them on "3rd" [meaning Regionally-focussed] Public TV Stations as repetition during different daytimes.
And yeah, he was referring to the 40 years of East-Germany-Dictatorship, where Angela Merkel was born - like me, too.
Students don't need to pay GEZ usually - why it was an "Anomaly".
All taxes (including the tobacco tax) end up eventually in the State-Budget for Public Services - which includes infrastructure, Administration, Legal Forces (including Police).
There were very severe Floods in Europe in 2002 - you can easily look a summary article up for them on Wikipedia looking for "2002 European floods".
The Problems with the Deaths from abuse of Alcohol, Smoking and driving without enough sleep (truck drivers being pushed to drive longer than they're allowed even falsifying their records at times - even though they have something like a "Black Box" on board, I know, where the police can check for how long the vehicle was driving and standing parked for resting)...I'm sure many of these problems are rather systemic for many countries and their Economies though - since you seem curious about it for Germany in this context, why not expand it to the countries you've been living at and are living at - some have better, some worse regulations, I'm sure. Yet, it's also depending on how well laws are implemented and can be enforced).
He also used that term "Socially Accepted Mass Murder" as a way to "dramatize" his point about the Deaths from drugs, drug-related accidents and the conditions of Truck-/Bus-Drivers among others...
Exactly what you pointed out afterwards - the numbers aren't known or much propagated in German Media sadly, too - at least never in comparison to what's happening in other contexts of the Country (why he's so awesome and informative to watch - much like "Georg Schramm" did, too - there's another suggestion for you ).
Cheers...Volker is an Icon of Political Cabaret, too...especially since the 1990s, too. Urban Priol is another one, who's really funny, but also points out "painful truths" like him, Georg Schramm (as mentioned above) - who even denied a price that was sponsored by some unethical Bank or Corporation not too long ago (maybe still a decade though, my time-perception is pretty crappy ;-) ) - and Anny Hartmann, who has also been praised by Volker.
Well, not sure how many of them are already available with English Subtitles though - maybe you'll need a German friend who has really good English skills (to also translate the references they all make to contemporary developments of the times when they were "commenting" in their Personas (like Georg Schramm) on the Events during those.
I guess most Germans 30+ know Volker and this bit. He was a regular guest on public television.
And now it's time to discover Hagen Rether. 😉
Volkers disdain with Merkel has a simple reason. Merkel voted hard for a german participation in the iraq war.
The masters from the other side of the pond have had their hand up that scum bag.
Swiss fan of Volker Pispers, show your presence!
At the very end he refers to the terror attacks on commuter trains in Madrid in 2004. Almost 200 people died.
I highly recommend Hagen Rether as one of the best cabaret artists, but sadly there is not much in English.
So sad that he retired some years ago. He‘s one of the great sarcastic but honest cabaret artists in a row with George Carlin, Ricky Gervais and others of their kind. Well informed, getting to the point and with a very well rhetorical skill set.
Hi Mert,
More Pispers:
"Bis Neulich 2016" (Last before retiring and IMHO the best), "Damit müssen Sie rechnen Update 2000", "Frisch gestrichen"...
All to find here but without any subtitles.
pispers on kapitalisem is a good material
The thing about GEZ fees and being a student is the obvious: in university cities, it's generally very hard to confirm exactly who lives where. People keep shuffling their residences, officially still living with their parents, and it's just generally an unorganized mess.
"socially accepted mass murder" - my criterion for when I’d start to worry less about covid is "when fewer people die of covid than in traffic". This was the case in July 2023 - before that more people died from covid every week than from traffic accidents.
That’s definitely influenced from watching Volker Pispers.