The list of things that Jan Böhmermann does, has done and perhaps will continue to do is long. The term satirist probably sums it up best. From autumn he can be seen again weekly as the presenter of Neo Magazine on ZDFneo. He will also soon be releasing his second radio play together with Klaas Heufer-Umlauf and has been on tour with his live program since mid-March.
UNIGLOBALE: Your live program is called 'Worse than Jan Böhmermann', which gives us a lot of hope. What does your live show look like?
Jan: It took a relatively long time for the event organization and I to agree on a name. Finally, we agreed that we had to choose a program title that we could stick to. Because the only thing worse than Jan Böhmermann, and that's a promise, is Jan Böhmermann's live program. All in all, it is a full-length stage program, somewhere between comedy, Holiday on Ice and Apassionata – the horse show. So you could say Apassionata on Ice with musical songs. No, let's be honest: it's a mixture of cabaret and comedy. People who aren't ambitious enough for cabaret but are a little too smart for comedy might get their money's worth from my program.
UNIGLOBALE: You've been seen in many embarrassing situations, such as wearing a turquoise leotard while performing 'Prism is a dancer'. How old were you when you lost your sense of shame?
Jan: No, I'm a very shameful person. I just don't allow it to happen properly.
UNIGLOBALE: You've been successful for quite a while now. How did that happen?
Jan: It was a series of unfortunate circumstances. According to Hildegard Knef, it started with an internship at Radio Bremen in 1999 and then things went steeply downhill. There was never a moment when I said, “This is what I want as a career.” I wanted to become a doctor very early on and then I came to it gradually and quite organically. It's not like everything was building up to this. What I learned from my short time studying was that it was best to live the day like that. Just no goals, we don't need goals. When you grow up in Germany, your mentality is geared towards achievement anyway, so you don't need any additional goals yourself.
UNIGLOBALE: Is there anything else you would like to do?
Jan: My goal in life is 'Bet that...?' to moderate. For two and a half years, I have been perfectly prepared every Saturday when Markus Lanz hosts the show. I'm basically a self-proclaimed backup moderator. If ZDF calls and says: "Markus Lanz isn't feeling so well, he has diarrhea, Jan can you step in?" I could immediately. The helicopter is always in the garden with the engines running.
UNIGLOBALE: How important is it to you to have a say in the conception of programs?
Jan: Well, a musician who is on stage wants to decide for himself what he sings. What's the point if the audience sees that the presenter isn't in the mood. Of course, I and my team only do things that we believe are good.
UNIGLOBALE: Your show Neo Magazine deals a lot with the Internet, social media, etc. What would you have to offer so that you would voluntarily go offline yourself?
Jan: But why? That's like saying: "I don't want to talk to people." The Internet is a means of communication, it's like reading the newspaper back in the day. Or make a phone call. You used to get the information once a day and all the gentlemen and women who were interested in it were in their newspapers. Today you always have the information in the moment and everywhere, no matter where you are. And if you're keen on it and an information junkie like me, then you do it.
UNIGLOBALE: So for you, the Internet is not the same as Facebook?
Jan: No, I'm just on Facebook to see which idiot has nudged me again. I mainly use Twitter, where I constantly get interesting information. For example, I don't play quiz duels either, I find that rather uninteresting. Then I'm more likely to play flight simulator on the iPad.
Article image (C) Tom Wagner
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The list of things that Jan Böhmermann does, has done and perhaps will continue to do is long. The term satirist probably sums it up best. From autumn he can be seen again weekly as the presenter of Neo Magazine on ZDFneo. He will also soon be publishing his second radio play together with Klaas Heufer-Umlauf and
