German language podcasts

[Deleted]

Hope it's OK to post this - we've talked about Walter Presents on here before, so I'm crossing my fingers that it is...

I'm heading to Vienna on holiday soon and want to brush up my German, because my understanding of the language is pretty decent, but my ability to speak it confidently has ebbed drastically over the last 20 years!

Can any of you native speakers recommend any German language iTunes  podcasts/vlogs/shows on YouTube I could use to get my head back in that space? I'm not looking for 'learn to speak German' because I'm past that level; it's more the ebb and flow of language I need.

Theatre related is good, obviously, but otherwise anything relatively light and using everyday vocabulary (to give you an idea of language level, I can understand about 85-90% of old Kommissar Rex episodes on YouTube without subtitles, but struggle with specialist vocabulary like legal terms in court-room scenes in dubbed movies).

PS I've already done Deutschland 83 and I'm starting on Cenk Batu soon...

[Coated]

For a soundbite of Vienna (the slightly surreal 80s version) you could try a few snippets of 'Kottan Ermittelt'

[Michael]

Unfortunately, I'm not much of a help here. If anything, I watch English podcasts. However, I do think that Coated's proposal of watching Viennese(/Austrian) videos is a very good one, so why not look on Youtube for Viennese/Austrian dialect podcasts?

You could also watch Autrian news broadcasts, e.g. ZIB (Zeit im Bild) on ORF (Österreichischer Rundfunk, their public service broadcast channel(s)).
Here's their media centre: tvthek.orf.at/genre/ZIB/2703825

Maybe you could even expand it to Bavarian, which is somewhat similar. How about Martina Schwarzmann, a Bavarian comedian?

[Deleted]

Thanks all - I have plenty to get my teeth into now!

Ah, German comedy... I love Henning Wehn and have vague memories of listening to a guy called Otto years ago, so it will be interesting to see how Schwarzmann compares.

And yes...definitely need to get tuned into the regional accent. I have (not so) fond memories of trying to discuss a broken oven with a handyman on the first day of a family holiday in southern Germany when I was in my teens - the phrase "please speak more slowly" has never been more useful! ;-)

[Michael]

Apr 21, 2016 21:52:08 GMT @jeanhunt said:

Ah, German comedy... I love Henning Wehn and have vague memories of listening to a guy called Otto years ago, so it will be interesting to see how Schwarzmann compares.

If you asked 100 Germans, exactly 0 will know Henning Wehn. He's completely unknown in Germany, and I only know him because I once saw him in QI and watched a few videos on Youtube afterwards.

Otto used to be big, but I haven't heard of him in quite a while, so I guess he ended his career. He is however the German voice of Ice Age's Sid.

I'm not really into Comedy, but I do love Cabaret (or Kabarett, as it's called in Germany). More often than not it's political, but there's a huge variety, e.g. a cabaret artist rooming with a kangaroo that is a Communist.

Just a few of my favourites (let's see what my countrymen and -women say...):

Marc-Uwe Kling (the one with the kangaroo):


Max Uthoff:


Claus von Wagner:


Django Asül:


Volker Pispers:


And, my personal favourite, Bodo Wartke:


known for his multilingual love song, here's an English version:

[Deleted]

Michael - I've always been curious whether Henning did any shows in Germany; he always jokes he wouldn't be good enough to be a comic there, but our standards are lower in the UK, so he's OK here!

Whenever he goes into German to speak to audience members, though, his style of comedy seems much the same, so perhaps our senses of humour are becoming more alike :-)

[viserys]

I know of Henning Wehn because a Welsh friend brought him up a couple of times. There are interviews with him from time to time, but he's mostly seen as "A German in Britain" and doesn't do shows here.

And PLEASE don't think your standards are lower - British humour is famous world-wide and for a reason. If you want truly low standard, google German "comedians" like Mario Barth who for some unfeasible reason sell-out entire football stadiums.

[Michael]

Apr 22, 2016 17:02:44 GMT viserys said:

If you want truly low standard, google German "comedians" like Mario Barth who for some unfeasible reason sell-out entire football stadiums.

Not only incomprehensible to you. And Mario Barth isn't the only one, there are so many bad and completely unfunny German comedians (Ilka Bessin aka Cindy aus Marzahn as another example).

Purely out of interest: Who are your favourite comedians / cabaret artists? Maybe I'll discover some I hadn't known before.

[viserys]

Oh comedy / cabaret isn't really my thing. I liked Harald Schmidt in his heydays, but that's all I can think of and I only read his books, didn't stay up for the Late Show. Right now though, Je Suis Jan Böhmermann. BECAUSE.

I love British sitcoms, right now I'm working my way through Peep Show on Channel 4 and are enjoying the new season of Plebs on ITV and I also have a fondness for the true classics like Only Fools and Horses. And the Icelandic "Nightwatch" with Jon Gnarr who went on to become an utterly amazing Mayor of Reykjavik.