I am basically quite enthusiastic about cabaret and comedians. When I was 15, I hung on every word Dieter Hildebrandt said at the Lach&Schieß-Gesellschaft on New Year’s Eve. He, Sammy Drechsel, Jörg Hube (who, incidentally, was an actor “as a side-line”) and Gerhard Polt were and still are my idols. I admired Georg Schramm, the Priol, Pelzig and Sigi, Hagen Rether, Pigor, Buchholz, Mrs. Gruber and many more.
Consequently, I always enjoyed and frequented cabaret performances of all kinds, giving myself quite a few exciting evenings in the process.
A short time ago, matters changed. After having attended the Vienna PM Camp (#pmcamp12vie), I immediately went to see Vince Ebert (Holger Ebert), directly going there from Munich railway station after four hours on the train. And basically, the cabaret performance by “Vince” was exactly as I always enjoy them.
(At least during the first half), It was a hell of a call for freedom. It was humorous, eloquent, very critical, profoundly intelligent on the high level of a scientist. A courageous program which, basically, voiced what my heart desired. The punch-lines, too, were great. For instance when he drew a rather misshapen head onto the flipchart and then asked if there was anybody among the audience who was courageous enough to write the title “Mohammed“ underneath. Of course, nobody volunteered. We were all too scared.
To be sure, there were also some platitudes – and some of the punch-lines were predictable. But with such a long program, you cannot really avoid it, can you? And besides, I certainly can stomach a coarse joke once in a while.
Consequently, the reason why I did not feel I could enjoy the program and left at the half-time break had nothing to do with the program. Also, I did not really know why I wanted to leave by all accounts. Because, basically, the program promised to be good enough to look forward to the second half. But there was no way I wanted to stay. And I had to think long and hard to find out why that had been so.
And then the scales fell from my eyes. I was fed up with sitting in a hall as a consumer and having others tell me things. Even if more or less all that is being said is rather to my liking. Although it was quite humorous and there was lots of laughter.
The contrast to the PM Camp (which is a very interactive Barcamp) was just too much. I had been allowed to listen whenever I wished to. And to say something whenever I wished to. Now I simply was no longer in the mood to do what the market criers told me to do. Even if I rather liked what they said. I no longer want to just sit there passively and listen. I want to be active. The time for becoming a producer, instead of just a consumer, has finally arrived for me.
That was also when I realized why I no longer like watching TV. The only way I can still tolerate a TV that is switched on is as background noise. Also, I realize this is why I no longer feel very much like going to watch a movie in the cinema. If at all, I only go to watch a movie if it has been specially recommended to me and if I am in the company of a bunch of good friends.
I am “zero motivated“ to get entertainment served on a silver plate!
And I get the impression that more and more people – especially young people – feel the same about it as I do.
The only type of entertainment consumption that still fascinates me is the theatre. It is where people passionately play for me. A good production is an entity as a piece of art. And the dialectics inherent in a good piece enlivens both my consuming and my production-eager soul.
Consequently, I very much recommend the Volkstheater and the Kammerspiele to all those living in Munich who feel as I do.
RMD
(Translated by EG)
Loading ...