It was a full house on a Tuesday evening, and an especially riotous one at that. As German stand-up comic Christian Schulte-Loh worked through his signature line of humour that references everything from World War II blunders to living in the UK, the Dunes at Grand Hyatt Doha rumbled with the laughter of an audience of well over 100.
An international stand-up act who has performed in more than 20 countries, and is a regular at the biggest clubs in the UK, Germany and Europe, Schulte-Loh seemed to fit right in at Laughter Factory’s gig that featured him and two British stand-up comics Tom Wrigglesworth and Marlon Davis, on a whirlwind Doha-Dubai tour. What’s immediately apparent, apart from his ridiculously imposing height, is Schulte-Loh’s disarming disposition that makes his clever, incisive jokes easy to take in.
“I love America,” he declared, upon finding an American guy in the crowd, “What a great country. What a beautiful flag it has … 50 little stars on your flag and as we all know each star representing one major conflict you started.” As the audience bursts out laughing, he pauses momentarily, then says, “And that’s coming from a German guy.”
It’s a classic joke that he must have cracked a 100 times in various shows by now, and it certainly works. Perhaps the biggest and most effective weapon in Schulte-Loh’s humour armour is his identity as a ‘German comedian’, which he knows just how well to exploit. He routinely skirts dangerous territories by asking the audience to follow him on Facebook “because following a German has never gone wrong”, or telling them to not raise their right hands to a German as “it’s not that kind of a show”. And yet, Schulte-Loh tackles it all with poise.
Some of his previous show names are dead giveaways to his peculiarity: Stop Laughing, I Am German!; I Am German, I Should Not Be Here!; or Attack of the 50 ft. German Comedian that features a hilarious poster of him goofily walking through a city like Godzilla with arms extended. Schulte-Loh, who performs in English and German, has been called everything from “one of the most subversive acts ever” by The Spectator, to “A funny German – the only one!” by Kkunst magazine in Belgium. Community caught up with the funnyman for a chat.
 What particularly struck you as different or interesting about the audience here in Doha or even Dubai, than say the audience you find in Europe or America?
I have really enjoyed the tour. The audiences have been very international, which is always great fun. I call it ‘Expat Heaven’ here. It’s like Luxembourg or Brussels, only with oil and a desert. Then again, Luxembourg feels a bit like a desert, too. But really, my favourite crowds are the diverse, international ones. And that’s what I’ve had here. I love working the crowd and having jokes for every nationality, culture and social group. A Sheikh next to an American expat, next to a Greek tourist – that’s just perfect. It feels a bit like the Eurovision Song Contest – or in your case: the World Cup 2022.
 
You seem to be at ease delivering your jokes as much as interacting with the audience or riffing on random comments. Is there a method to the madness?
Trust your instincts and don’t filter! That’s the secret. You just have to let that first thought come out, without holding back. The first thought is always the funniest. And I must say I had years of training as a kid, when I annoyed my teachers. Because in school I would always do that very same thing: I would work with no filter, I just always tried to have a quick and witty reply. Who would have thought I could turn this into a job one day? My teachers were annoyed; the audiences today seem to appreciate it a bit more.
 
You obviously exploit the inherent humour in being a ‘German comedian’ and cleverly turn it into your advantage. Do you consider yourself lucky to be that rare species of a German funnyman in the international comedy circuit?
Excuse me … Are you trying to imply Germans aren’t funny? We are the funniest people on the planet. We just don’t brag about it. And I was officially assigned as the person to spread our sense of humour into other countries. It’s a mission that makes me feel proud. You see, even our humour politics are seriously organised.
 
Has this whole German comedian identity or the jokes around it that you have devised ever backfired at some gig?
Yes, absolutely. I guess some of my jokes are a little edgy and not every audience member is willing to be relaxed and loose at a comedy gig. And that is totally fine, because we all have different taboos and boundaries. Sometimes – but luckily very rarely – people have been offended or upset. Funnily that happened most often when I joked about football. That still seems to be the most personal topic in comedy. Joking about wars, terrorism, religion, drugs etc. seems fine, but don’t mention the football! I do it anyway.

 What is it that you look for when you write your material? How do you do a self-check to know it’s working?
If something makes me laugh while I write it, I know it might work. But that’s no guarantee, because sometimes the funniest thought is only funny in your own head – nobody else gets your weird joke. I think we’ve all had that experience. That is no different if you’re a professional comedian. But we develop a pretty good sense for what might go down well with an audience. Then I work on it, test in on friends, or on Twitter and then obviously on stage. There are new-material-gigs for that, where professional comedians try out new bits. Those gigs are very useful. Sometimes the audience doesn’t go for a joke at all, and sometimes they share the excitement. All very useful.
 
To what extent does comedy come naturally to you and at what point do you have to work hard at it?
I have always tried to see the funny side in things. And I’ve always enjoyed making people laugh, as a child already. So I guess it does come naturally to me. Like breathing. I would also never stop doing that (until I will have to), and the same goes for making jokes. It can be hard work at times, though. The job sometimes actually IS a job. There are days where I’m not feeling funny or other days where the crowd is not having their best night. And there are obviously moments in life when being funny is not the most adequate thing. I guess it is true: comedy is all about the right timing.
 
If you could give one piece of advice to an amateur stand-up comic, what would it be?
Don’t tell your parents! But seriously, I would tell an amateur, that there are three rules: Perform as often as you can. Never give up. Because you will want to, very often... but always keep going. And don’t forget to enjoy it.