Jochen Malmsheimer - "Flieg Fisch, lies und gesunde! oder: Glück, wo ist Dein Stachel?!"

"Flieg Fisch, lies und gesunde! oder: Glück, wo ist Dein Stachel?!"

We are only guests here. But we were invited! That, too, is an insight from Bochum-based cabaret artist Jochen Malmsheimer - one that, incidentally, plays absolutely no role in his cabaret programme with its decidedly epic-sounding title: "Flieg Fisch, lies und gesunde! oder: Glück, wo ist Dein Stachel?!"

The parallels between a good old Gruyere and Jochen Malmsheimer are becoming ever harder to ignore: Malmsheimer, too, is maturing, sharpening and growing grumpier. Neither a trip into the unknown nor a walk in the countryside helps - zoo visits lost their calming effect long ago, ever since many zoo managements decided, for reasons best left unexplained, to do away with cages entirely. Radio offers no comfort either; everyone does as they please. But what if you're not everyone? What will become of us when even men grow old?

Only science provides solace. Malmsheimer makes this abundantly clear by tracing the striking connection between Egyptian and Lower Saxon cultural history. Until finally - in a breathless finale - a global conspiracy of books, discovered by chance, lifts the veil on the secret behind the motto "Flieg Fisch, lies und gesunde...".

It's not just literature that is unleashed here - it's Malmsheimer himself. Yet he knows that all of us, especially in uncertain times, long for a little happiness. And so a furious evening closes with a short poem about love. And about happiness. And about a little fish.

In the end, there is hope after all. For love. For happiness. And for fish.

Bio:
Jochen Malmsheimer, born in 1961 in Essen, is a multiple award-winning cabaret artist (including the Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis and Deutscher Kabarettpreis). Across numerous stage programmes he has developed a wholly distinctive art form: epic cabaret.