Henning Wehn – Eins Zwei DIY – a review

Henning Wehn has carved himself a curious niche – as an oxymoronic German comedian in a country that prides itself on the quality of its stand up. Nicely riffing off the absurdity of such a proposition, he takes great delight in mocking British stereotypes with just enough truth to be funny, and just enough offence to make you question your own prejudices.

The show is presented as a foreigner’s eye view of the Brits, but Wehn is smart enough to make his telling observations resonate with the audience he purports to knock. He makes some insightful observations – his splenetic fury at a culture built on poverty and debt is the strongest part of his show – but his set is mostly about revealing what we secretly already know about ourselves. And he’s not adverse to straightforward silliness either, as evidenced by his silly hat and comedy props.

Some of his material sailed close to the xenophobia he purported to condemn, but was performed with such avuncular charm that the capacity crowd not only laughed, they cheered. By the end of the evening, with Teutonic efficiency, Wehn not only had the encore scheduled in, he had the audience chanting for it in German.
By David Vass