A show entitled 5 Steps To Being German screams of being packed with old stereotypes and heard-it-all-before jokes of Nazis and efficient trains. So I was very pleasantly surprised to find Paco Erhard full of insightful and hysterical observations on Germany as it is today, skilfully taking the old clichés and turning them on their heads.The fact that a lot of his jokes were based on the Holocaust, delicate material in anyone’s hands, put them in danger of falling very flat but Erhard handled them excellently. Rather than the crude Hitler humour I have often (strangely) found in other shows, Erhard focused instead on the endless guilt German’s are inflicted with: 'I've been taught so much about the Holocaust I could organise one, and that can’t be the point!' With his sharp satirical eye he came up with endless original jokes about German paranoia, my personal favourite being not wanting to wave flags at football games in case they come across as overly patriotic ('patriotism: we really f**ked that one up').Although assisted by flashcards and diagrams, try as he might Erhard readily admits that there is no way one nation could be defined in five steps. He nicely proves his point with some hysterical comments on Brits abroad and the rather strange British reception German's find in England. Although some of his points are shamefully true, he acknowledges that these too are mere stereotypes.A thought-provoking, incredibly witty show and unbelievably it's free. Get along early to secure a seat; you'll be filled with German regret.
