Jürgen Strack: British by heart, German by nature
Published: Wednesday 9th March 2016
UK-based Jürgen Strack is a German-born comedian, actor, salesperson, husband and father of three. He has been performing stand-up as himself in Britain since 2005, and - more recently - as the characters 'Herman the genial German' and 'Foreign Man'. Here he explains how he came to perform in England, and love it...
Hallo, I'm pleased to meet you! I'm Herman the German. My motto is "let bygones be bygones".
I'd like to settle your minds concerning the ridiculous notion the Germans are, erm, obsessed with mathematical uniformity. This is a total fabrication. "Now, ... Joke Number 1!"
One of seven children, I moved to Leicester for love in 1989 (the year the Berlin Wall came down). Aged 21, I remember sitting in my bedsit feeling homesick and suffering initial 'Kulturschock'. I turned on the TV and a programme called Only Fools And Horses was on. It did something to me; it had a profound effect on me. I loved the Del Boy character and his younger brother Rodney. It felt warm, like a piece of home giving me hope, making me feel I will be ok in this country.
There was plenty to laugh at and love on German television too. Comedy from Britain came in the shape of Benny Hill, Mr Bean and Fawlty Towers. But, growing up in a small 'coma town' called Letmathe, I was light-years away from stand-up. American slapstick style movies were my favourite.
My biggest influence was Jerry Lewis so, when I was 15, I decided to perform The Typewriter routine at my high school graduation. After some difficult persuading, my teacher to let me do it; keeping it a secret from everyone what it was I was going to do. The result was rapturous applause, and I ended up having to perform it twice on the night. It was at this time I discovered a penchant for wanting to make people laugh.
Sixteen years after setting foot on British shores, I took my first step into stand-up by enrolling on to a course in 2005. I saw an advert in the local newspaper for So You Think You're Funny?. Nine weeks later, I had 10 minutes of material. Trouble was, this was just before I decided to move my family back to Germany for good, so I missed the showcase! For 'good' turned out to last only 10 weeks though, and we were soon back in Leicester. I was still eager to perform, and luckily a job came through with a company car, giving me the means to get to gigs...
My first gig was at The Stand comedy club in Glasgow on their Red Raw beginners' night. A lovely venue with a supportive atmosphere. Inexperienced, I missed my cue though. I was sat at the back of the room when my name was called out... startled, I tore off my jumper and ran to the stage-side curtains. They called my name out for a second time and I finally took to the stage heart pounding and improvising, saying "er... so much for German punctuality." It got me my first laugh, phew! I recall still feeling elated the next morning, thinking 'I did it' - this made me want to do more. Eight years later, I was a finalist at Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival stand-up competition - no shortcut to success.
As a nation, Germans - by and large - admire the British but sort of suffer from unrequited love. I feel a German comedian is still perceived as a freak show, so I revel in the personal challenge to disprove this notion, operating in a small pool of people. What drives me is that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you come off stage to a room full of people laughing. It is like a drug, like balm on your soul, making you want to repeat it as often as possible.
Doing stand-up you learn things about yourself, often the hard way, by trial and error. It is not always "WUNDERBAR!", though I find one good gig makes up for ten not so good ones. At competitions over the years I have known fear and experienced 'fight or flight'... although, always choosing the 'fight' option does not always have the desired outcome for me. As a result of the gigs I've done though I have learned I have a resilient, voracious and intrepid side.
In 2014, an advert for a public audition of 'Allo 'Allo! caught my eye, and I secured the part of Officer Crabtree. It had good chemistry and ingredients right from the start, being a German, who is an Englishman who is trying to speak French. It was 5 sell-out shows turning a profit, so I tried to bring the production to Leicester Comedy Festival in 2015, but the logistics and costs proved too difficult.
For 2016, I am in touch with an artist management agency selecting some gigs. The Edinburgh Fringe and a debut show at Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival 2017 are in the pipeline. English speaking comedy can take you abroad, and I have the opportunity to gig in Berlin and NYC too. One must find ways to keep hope alive, and so have I...
Hoping to see you at a future gig. Danke schön und Auf Wiedersehen!
Jürgen
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