Oliver Polak: Germany’s Only Living Jewish Comedian

Text by Daniel Killy

“Imagine an amusement park with fun rides, colorful lights, music and high spirits. Great! Now take away the fun rides. And then deduct the colorful lights—and the music—and especially the high spirits. Now switch off the light—and you have Papenburg at noon.” That’s how Oliver Polak describes his hometown, a godforsaken place of only 35,000 residents in north-west Germany. Growing up, Polak’s was the only Jewish family on the block—an ostracizing state of affairs for any young kid—but for Polak, his status as a lone Jew helped transform him into one of the most creative comedians on the modern German circuit, and one of the most controversial.

“For years and years I’ve been on stupid German TV sitcoms, and the humorless editors almost drove me nuts, so I thought I’d better try something of my own,” says the 32-year-old actor, television anchor and stand-up comedian. “But I didn’t have a clue about what exactly to do. So I asked a friend and she told me, ‘Your name is Oliver Polak, you’re from Papenburg and you’re Jewish.’ And I realized that’s my act.” And this act has earned Polak his fair share of attention—comedy tours, appearances on popular German talk shows like Die Johannes B. Kerner Show and the accolades of Henryk M. Broder (a famously sharp German-Jewish writer) in Der Spiegel.

Although Polak has since left his hometown for the more eclectic climes of Berlin, Papenburg and his solitary religious identity remain a touchstone in the act of Germany’s only living Jewish comedian. While Polak bristles at the religiously specific label, he knows that it is intrinsically part of his routine. “Whenever I say I’m Jewish, I feel a certain discomfort in the audience. Like, ‘Oh, are they allowed to perform again?'” Polak says. “So basically people feel uncomfortable with the fact that there’s a Jew confronting them with humor. And, of course, I’d be rather stupid not to exploit that.” Because there are so few Jews living in Germany, most of the country’s residents are not used such topics integrated into humor. Political correctness has established an attitude that if you joke about the Holocaust, you’re either a neo-Nazi or you’re crazy—or you’re Jewish.

One of Polak’s most popular stunts is the “Who’s Jewish and Who’s Not” game (“Das Judenspiel”). “I yell some names of German celebs and the audience has to decide spontaneously and shout ‘Normal,’ or ‘Jewish,'” Polak says. “With some names they’re pretty sure, others trouble them, like ALF.” The game always ends the same way. “I say ‘Oliver Polak’—the crowd answers, ‘Jew!’ Then I reply, ‘No, I’m normal, I’m just doing it for money.'”

But sometimes the audience just doesn’t get it. During a recent show, half the audience left and the other half accused the comedian of either fueling anti-Semitism or having a superiority complex about his Judaism. “I tell you, that was real comedy!” Polak says.

Despite Polak’s readiness to tackle heavy topics with humor, he doesn’t endorse non-Jews making light of the Holocaust. “Sometimes people really don’t get it,” Polak says. “When you tell them, ‘My father was in a concentration camp,'”—Polak’s own father survived the camps in Riga— “They think it’s funny to answer: ‘Well, mine was too. He was drunk and fell off the watchtower.’ That’s something no Jew can possibly laugh about. That’s the borderline you should never cross.”

According to the comedian, Jews are allowed to make jokes about the Shoah or other Nazi-related horrors because such subject matter is a part of their culture. Polak addresses this culture in his first book, I Dare to, I’m Jewish (Ich darf das, ich bin Jude), which came out last autumn. The book deals with the life and troubles of an adolescent Jew who lives in the middle of nowhere. “It’s the whole truth—and the rest”, says Polak, who is currently busy with the book’s sequel, a volume that details his Berlin years (working title: Torah Reloaded).

Although the comedian found more relative freedom in Berlin than in Papenburg, Polak—who learned English at an Orthodox boarding school in England—dreams of touring the U.S. one day. “After all, Judenspiel would be much easier over there. Here in Germany, I run out of names after 5 minutes. In America, I could fill a whole program with that.”

Pick up Polak’s book, I Dare to, I’m Jewish.

What do you think?

About The Author

15 Responses

  1. Anonymous

    one day i went shopping outside,and in an ed hardy store,I found some kinds of ed hardy i love most they are Your website is really good Thank you for the information ed hardy ed hardy

    Reply
  2. Anonymous

    Long before that nighttime soap brought him international tag heuer fame, Forsythe worked steadily in both film and TV, earning an Emmy nod back in 1953. Forsythe also tag heuer contended at the

    Reply
  3. Anonymous

    Prior to airing the two-hour series finale, there will be a replica watches one-hour recap of all six seasons of this 2005 Emmy winner for best drama replica watches series. Then after the replica watches show, Jimmy Kimmel Reply

  4. Anonymous

    Dylan won the Oscar in 2000 for his replica breitling watches original song Things Have breitling watches Changed for the film Wonder Boys. Bennett Marcus attended the wrap breitling watches party for Ugly Betty and details the highs and lows

    Reply
  5. Anonymous

    But he’s dug himself a partisan hole with this big bill, and it’ll be interesting to breitling watches see him try to dig his way out. On the one hand, an Academy Award is nothing to sneeze at. Bullock has Reply

  6. Anonymous

    It’s almost as bad when you ask tag heuer watches voters how the law will affect them personally. There is lots of doubt and some considerable belief or hope that the new law won’t affect them

    Reply
  7. Anonymous

    Since the iPhone first launched in 2007, AT&T has had tag heuer watch he exclusive contract to offer it in the U.S. Details of the agreement have never been made public. But AT&T has hinted in recent months that it is preparing for

    Reply
  8. Anonymous

    There has been no confirmation from Apple or Verizon about the launch of this device. That said, there was never a question that AT&T’s exclusivity deal with Apple would end replica watches o

    Reply
  9. Anonymous

    Customers will expect it to be in parity with what is offered breitling watches by AT&T and other GSM carriers. That said, the Journal story said the upgraded breitling watches GSM iPhone is being made by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision

    Reply
  10. Anonymous

    Engadget pegs the date of the fourth-generation rolex watches iPhone announcement for June 22. Engadget also reports that the fourth-generation GSM iPhone will have rolex watches an enhanced screen that will be made for HD video with double the resolution

    Reply
  11. Anonymous

    Make that a long, deep breath. It could be at cartier watches least five months to nearly a year before a Verizon version of the iPhone is available. The original Journal cartier watches article reported that production of a CDMA version of the iPhone wou

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This will close in 0 seconds