Funny

Satire has become the most influential art form of our time: sold-out halls, Netflix comedy specials in constant rotation, comedians like Jan Böhmermann or Jon Stewart who shape public debate - or enter politics directly. At the same time, the political orientation of the scene is shifting. Cabaret was long considered a left-liberal domain; today, satire stars like Dieter Nuhr or Lisa Eckhart are seen by many as belonging to the right, while populists like Donald Trump or Argentina's President Javier Milei mobilize their followers through grotesque exaggeration. Wasn't breaking taboos once the hallmark of left-wing art?

In the microcosm of satire, cabaret, and comedy, the central phenomena of our time are reflected. Jens-Christian Rabe and Oliver Polak attempt to unravel the riddles connected to this - and to show why the rise of comedy reveals more about the glory and misery of our age than we might wish. Samira El Ouassil moderates the evening.

Jens-Christian Rabe (born 1977) studied political philosophy, sociology, and literary studies in Munich and has been a feuilleton editor at Süddeutscher Zeitung since 2007. Samira El Ouassil, author, publicist, and actress, writes columns for SPIEGEL and Deutschlandfunk Kultur, among others, and hosts the podcast "Piratensender Powerplay"; her book "Erzählende Affen" (Ullstein) was nominated for the German Non-Fiction Book Prize in 2022. Oliver Polak, comedian, columnist, actor, and author, is a recipient of the German Television Prize and the Grimme Award; his bestsellers "Ich darf das, ich bin Jude" and "Der jüdische Patient" were published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch.