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Comedian Lisa Eckhart describes herself as “an angry, screaming Austrian rejected by art schools and loved by Germans who will never learn.” For her, no subject is off-limits when she gets on a stage: gay and transgender people, Black people, Christians, Jews. In fact, the more politically incorrect the issue, the more likely she is to be drawn to it.
“Satire should not flatter anyone. It should cause pain to the audience,” she has argued, prompting an obvious question: Is Eckhart actually a satirist? Or is she instead a shameless stand-up who asks that her audience not question themselves and their attitudes, but rather laugh along at some of society’s laziest stereotypes?
The 29-year-old comedian was due for a gig in Dortmund, Germany earlier this month, which led a local Jewish organization to issue a rare statement criticizing her work.
“Even if humor can be a means of addressing antisemitism, Lisa Eckhart turns it into the opposite,” the organization stated. “She allows her audience not to laugh at the absurdity of the antisemitic madness, but rather at antisemitic jokes.”
Before she could potentially be “canceled” for her act, the pandemic intervened and the show was postponed for public safety reasons. But it was not the first time, nor will it be the last, that her humor has raised the hackles of Jewish groups in Germany.
Eckhart became headline news in Germany last year after an old routine from 2018 went viral on YouTube. It’s about two notorious Jews: convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein and director Roman Polanski, who fled America in February 1978 while on trial for raping a 13-year-old girl.
“It’s only right if we now allow the Jews to take advantage of a few women,” Eckhart told her audience. “Money can’t make up for everything. I mean, paying reparations to the Jews is like giving Didi Mateschitz a Red Bull,” referring to the Austrian billionaire who co-founded the energy drink company.
She then delivers her punch line: “We’ve always railed against the dumb accusation that they’re only in it for the money. Now suddenly it becomes apparent that they’re really not in it for the money – they’re in it for the women, and that’s why they need the money.” Some restrained laughs are heard echoing through the venue, but no one claps.
That same clip caused a lot more uproar in 2020, however, after the German public broadcaster WDR posted it online. Some hailed Eckhart as a rare comic talent; others as something far more dangerous. The debate initially played out on Twitter. Eckhart then became a cause célèbre in the media, and even got party officials and other public figures speaking out.
Green Party politician Volker Beck described Eckhart’s material as a “potpourri of antisemitic clichés.” The federal government’s commissioner on antisemitism, Felix Klein, labeled her performance “tasteless” and noted that her “punchlines are based on antisemitism, racism and misanthropy.”
Where others defended her satire as witty and smart, the director of the American Jewish Committee in Berlin, Remko Leemhuis, remarked in a German-Jewish newspaper that he could “see nothing but the reproduction of the most primitive antisemitic stereotypes.”
The public broadcaster kept the show online – it can still be found on YouTube – stating that Eckhart had chosen a “highly relevant subject” and “took up prejudices against Jews” in order to “relentlessly expose” them.
Not everyone was convinced. The organizer of a literary festival in Hamburg at which Eckhart was due to appear in the summer of 2020 indicated that residents were gathering for a violent protest and wrote that they were “unable to guarantee the safety of the audience and the artist.” The appearance was canceled, which only created more publicity for the comedian. Not that she needed it.
Goebbels’ diaries
Eckhart, whose real name is Lisa Lasselsberger, studied in Austria and France to become a teacher. She has stated that her first master’s thesis, on femininity during the Nazi era based on the diaries of arch propagandist Joseph Goebbels, was declined. She subsequently pursued an acting career, without success, and switched to poetry slams – where she quickly rose to prominence.
In 2020 she published a book, “Omama,” a novel based loosely on her grandmother’s life, but she continues to perform cabaret. As well as the colorful language, her stand-up routines usually see her dressed in extravagant costumes.
She has increasingly been seen on German television, and her latest appearance again included a Jewish reference. “In contrast to the Jews, women have not succeeded in developing a genuine sense of humor through their long oppression,” she says. “When it comes to humor, why do the Jews always win by two noses against the women?”
Two things annoyed Philipp Peyman Engel, editor of the German-Jewish newspaper Jüdische Allgemeine, about Eckhart’s set. “I was very annoyed not only from a professional-journalistic point of view, but also from a Jewish point of view” he wrote. He noted that the show aired on November 9, the anniversary of Kristallnacht.
His article called her performances “very close to the antisemitic original.” He added: “Naturally, we have freedom of expression. But if she expresses herself in this particular fashion, she must endure criticism.”
Such accusations do not seem to bother Eckhart. In an email exchange with Haaretz, she stated: “Since humorists are being blamed on a day-to-day basis, I no longer take any reproaches personally. What hits me is the nastiness of the people who, because of their complete creative impotence and resentment, are left only with destruction. I do not hope to ever get used to this kind of nastiness.”
Eckhart commonly describes herself as an “equal opportunity” offender, and that everyone is fair game for her humor. Engel was unconvinced by that defense.
“I’m not sure whether this makes it any better,” he told Haaretz. “My point is, she makes jokes about Jews and there’s no irony, no double meaning. I don’t want to be understood in a way where I’m saying she’s antisemitic; I can’t look inside her head. What I can say is, if that’s her idea of artistic expression – making jokes about Jews and other minorities in order to expose certain attitudes in the audience – then this is a very weak concept.”
The limits of satire
Eckhart’s rise isn’t the first time the limits of satire have been discussed in recent years. There have been two particularly prominent cases: The first involved popular late-night TV host Jan Böhmermann, whose profane poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016 sparked a diplomatic incident between the countries. The second was a 2020 column by Hengameh Yaghoobifarah in a left-leaning newspaper comparing police officers to trash.
But while those two incidents were one-offs, Eckhart is seemingly never far from the news. It’s not easy to pigeonhole her politically, and she herself fights against such categorization. Both the left-wing and right-wing media appear confused by her shtick, and criticisms as well as defenses can be found in both.
Does she now regard herself as a popular comedian in Germany, despite all of the criticism? “For sure,” she says, “and that applies to everyone: men, women, the old, the young and – although these categories are rarely any use nowadays – the right and the left.”
Last month, German newspaper Die Welt also referenced Eckhart, noting that German TV was in the midst of a humor crisis. “The problem is not that ‘in times of political correctness,’ as they say, you’re ‘no longer allowed to laugh.’ The problem is that people do not want to laugh anymore,” Hannah Lühmann wrote.
Eckhart agrees, to a point. “There seems to be more and more people to whom the concept of humor is foreign,” she sums up. “They rant about cracker-barrel jokes – but they really mean all jokes. Because wherever there is laughter, they suspect Schadenfreude.”
This Austrian Comedian Tells Jokes About Jews. Not Everyone Is Laughing
Lisa Eckhart has jokes about Jewish noses, Jewish money and Jewish sex offenders. While she says satire is supposed to hurt, her detractors say it invites the criticism she receives, including accusations of antisemitismComedian Lisa Eckhart describes herself as “an angry, screaming Austrian rejected by art schools and loved by Germans who will never learn.” For her, no subject is off-limits when she gets on a stage: gay and transgender people, Black people, Christians, Jews. In fact, the more politically incorrect the issue, the more likely she is to be drawn to it.
“Satire should not flatter anyone. It should cause pain to the audience,” she has argued, prompting an obvious question: Is Eckhart actually a satirist? Or is she instead a shameless stand-up who asks that her audience not question themselves and their attitudes, but rather laugh along at some of society’s laziest stereotypes?
The 29-year-old comedian was due for a gig in Dortmund, Germany earlier this month, which led a local Jewish organization to issue a rare statement criticizing her work.
“Even if humor can be a means of addressing antisemitism, Lisa Eckhart turns it into the opposite,” the organization stated. “She allows her audience not to laugh at the absurdity of the antisemitic madness, but rather at antisemitic jokes.”
Before she could potentially be “canceled” for her act, the pandemic intervened and the show was postponed for public safety reasons. But it was not the first time, nor will it be the last, that her humor has raised the hackles of Jewish groups in Germany.
Eckhart became headline news in Germany last year after an old routine from 2018 went viral on YouTube. It’s about two notorious Jews: convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein and director Roman Polanski, who fled America in February 1978 while on trial for raping a 13-year-old girl.
“It’s only right if we now allow the Jews to take advantage of a few women,” Eckhart told her audience. “Money can’t make up for everything. I mean, paying reparations to the Jews is like giving Didi Mateschitz a Red Bull,” referring to the Austrian billionaire who co-founded the energy drink company.
She then delivers her punch line: “We’ve always railed against the dumb accusation that they’re only in it for the money. Now suddenly it becomes apparent that they’re really not in it for the money – they’re in it for the women, and that’s why they need the money.” Some restrained laughs are heard echoing through the venue, but no one claps.
That same clip caused a lot more uproar in 2020, however, after the German public broadcaster WDR posted it online. Some hailed Eckhart as a rare comic talent; others as something far more dangerous. The debate initially played out on Twitter. Eckhart then became a cause célèbre in the media, and even got party officials and other public figures speaking out.
Green Party politician Volker Beck described Eckhart’s material as a “potpourri of antisemitic clichés.” The federal government’s commissioner on antisemitism, Felix Klein, labeled her performance “tasteless” and noted that her “punchlines are based on antisemitism, racism and misanthropy.”
Where others defended her satire as witty and smart, the director of the American Jewish Committee in Berlin, Remko Leemhuis, remarked in a German-Jewish newspaper that he could “see nothing but the reproduction of the most primitive antisemitic stereotypes.”
The public broadcaster kept the show online – it can still be found on YouTube – stating that Eckhart had chosen a “highly relevant subject” and “took up prejudices against Jews” in order to “relentlessly expose” them.
Not everyone was convinced. The organizer of a literary festival in Hamburg at which Eckhart was due to appear in the summer of 2020 indicated that residents were gathering for a violent protest and wrote that they were “unable to guarantee the safety of the audience and the artist.” The appearance was canceled, which only created more publicity for the comedian. Not that she needed it.
Goebbels’ diaries
Eckhart, whose real name is Lisa Lasselsberger, studied in Austria and France to become a teacher. She has stated that her first master’s thesis, on femininity during the Nazi era based on the diaries of arch propagandist Joseph Goebbels, was declined. She subsequently pursued an acting career, without success, and switched to poetry slams – where she quickly rose to prominence.
In 2020 she published a book, “Omama,” a novel based loosely on her grandmother’s life, but she continues to perform cabaret. As well as the colorful language, her stand-up routines usually see her dressed in extravagant costumes.
She has increasingly been seen on German television, and her latest appearance again included a Jewish reference. “In contrast to the Jews, women have not succeeded in developing a genuine sense of humor through their long oppression,” she says. “When it comes to humor, why do the Jews always win by two noses against the women?”
Two things annoyed Philipp Peyman Engel, editor of the German-Jewish newspaper Jüdische Allgemeine, about Eckhart’s set. “I was very annoyed not only from a professional-journalistic point of view, but also from a Jewish point of view” he wrote. He noted that the show aired on November 9, the anniversary of Kristallnacht.
His article called her performances “very close to the antisemitic original.” He added: “Naturally, we have freedom of expression. But if she expresses herself in this particular fashion, she must endure criticism.”
Such accusations do not seem to bother Eckhart. In an email exchange with Haaretz, she stated: “Since humorists are being blamed on a day-to-day basis, I no longer take any reproaches personally. What hits me is the nastiness of the people who, because of their complete creative impotence and resentment, are left only with destruction. I do not hope to ever get used to this kind of nastiness.”
Eckhart commonly describes herself as an “equal opportunity” offender, and that everyone is fair game for her humor. Engel was unconvinced by that defense.
“I’m not sure whether this makes it any better,” he told Haaretz. “My point is, she makes jokes about Jews and there’s no irony, no double meaning. I don’t want to be understood in a way where I’m saying she’s antisemitic; I can’t look inside her head. What I can say is, if that’s her idea of artistic expression – making jokes about Jews and other minorities in order to expose certain attitudes in the audience – then this is a very weak concept.”
The limits of satire
Eckhart’s rise isn’t the first time the limits of satire have been discussed in recent years. There have been two particularly prominent cases: The first involved popular late-night TV host Jan Böhmermann, whose profane poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016 sparked a diplomatic incident between the countries. The second was a 2020 column by Hengameh Yaghoobifarah in a left-leaning newspaper comparing police officers to trash.
But while those two incidents were one-offs, Eckhart is seemingly never far from the news. It’s not easy to pigeonhole her politically, and she herself fights against such categorization. Both the left-wing and right-wing media appear confused by her shtick, and criticisms as well as defenses can be found in both.
Does she now regard herself as a popular comedian in Germany, despite all of the criticism? “For sure,” she says, “and that applies to everyone: men, women, the old, the young and – although these categories are rarely any use nowadays – the right and the left.”
Last month, German newspaper Die Welt also referenced Eckhart, noting that German TV was in the midst of a humor crisis. “The problem is not that ‘in times of political correctness,’ as they say, you’re ‘no longer allowed to laugh.’ The problem is that people do not want to laugh anymore,” Hannah Lühmann wrote.
Eckhart agrees, to a point. “There seems to be more and more people to whom the concept of humor is foreign,” she sums up. “They rant about cracker-barrel jokes – but they really mean all jokes. Because wherever there is laughter, they suspect Schadenfreude.”
