Reaction To Volker Pispers: Capitalism & Politics (1 of 3) 

Too bad that the subtitles are quite horrible.

The subtitles are soooooo bad on this one. Im impressed you made any sense out of them. Mad RESPECT!

Sigmar Gabriel is a former german politician and he ist not skinny at all. Volkers sentence "Früher waren 'Dick und Doof' mal zwei" roughly translates to "In the past, Stan and Ollie were two different people" 'Dick und Doof' (Fat and stupid) was the german name for the iconic comedy duo and both adjectives seem to fit quite well for Mr. Gabriel. Also 'einschleimen' means something like 'boot licking' or 'brownnosing'.

Reiner Calmund is a former football executive. He maintained an image as a 'gentle giant'. The joke is about him being really fat at that time (even he stopped gaining weight at some point). He lost a lot of weight since then though. Pegida (patriotic europeans against the islamisation of the west) is a far right wing movement that formed in 2014. They demonstrated mostly against syrian refugees and they hold their demonstrations on mondays, like the people did in 1989 in the DDR (GDR), as well as trying to reclaim their famous 'wir sind das Volk' (we are the people) slogan.

The set was very good, but I think a lot of things just got lost due to a terrible translation. It was obviously automatically translated and badly at that. For example when he says about Sigmar Gabriel: "Fat and Stupid used to be two people". Sigmar Gabriel I think was foreign minister at that time and Fat and Stupid are (or used to be) the german names for Laurel and Hardy

Cesspool was a wordplay. In german it's "Jauchegrube" and in german television there was a political talkshow every sunday evening, moderated by Günter Jauch. So: Jauch's talkshow = JAUCHegrube = cesspool.

I am from Germany and agree with every word he say. Watched him live two times. Another Satire-Guy you have to know is Georg Schramm. He is a genius.

Ich bin wirklich beeindruckt, wie schnell alle Unklarheiten und Fragen von den Zuschauern hier beantwortet werden. 👍

WestLB is the 'Landesbank Nordrhein-Westfalen', the head bank of the local savings banks of that province. They are infamous for being the first german Bad Bank after several bad business decisions regarding stock trading and dabbling in US subprime lending resulting in having to transfer assets worth 85 Bn. Euros to a winding up agency. An interesting sidenote: CDU chairperson Friedrich Merz got paid 5000 Euros a day to facilitate the sale of the WestLB (without success).

Volker Pisper is the best. Too bad he stopped :/ Much love from Germany for your reactions to him

I'm impressed how well you handled that horrific (auto-)translation. So much context and coherence got lost on the way. And that doesn't even include the things you can't really translate to begin with ... like the "book someone ought to write", which refers to a book called "Deutschland schafft sich ab" (Germany abolishes itself) by Thilo Sarrazin, that dealt with migration and asylum and has sparked massive controversy.

Volker Pispers constantly switches between irony and bitter truth, back and forth. It's really not easy to understand, especially when reading only the English translation. Therefore, great video!

What I like about Volker Pispers is that he can explain complex things in a simple way. Well, he was a teacher - and not a bad one I guess. What I like about you is your critical, open mind, your genuine appearence and your accent ;) Go ahead!

10:10 ...lost in translation... Stan & Ollie / Laurel and Hardy... in german "Dick und Doof" (the fat and the stupid). Sigmar Gabriel, former vice chancellor, is a combination of those.

hats off sir, making sense of most of it with THAT translation at that speed. i´m in awe!

Hagen Rether is another wonderful Karbaret Artist.

Georg Schramm is probably the best cabaret performer we ever had and ever will have had. His retirement is a national tragedy.😢

Reiner Calmund used to be an (overweight) football executive in Germany. He is retired now but when he was still active he was regularly mocked for his weight problems in an ironic way. I guess the reason is that he was never offended by any of that, so it was a low-risk-metaphor. ;) Nowadays this doesn't work anymore as he got a stomach reduction surgery in 2020 and since lost half of his weight (used to be 180kg). If you google his name (as spelled in my comment), you should still be able to find pictures of him "in his full glory". PEGIDA (unironically a short form for Patriotische Europäer Gegen die Islamisierung Des Abendlandes, translating to patriotic europeans against the islamization of the western world) is a right wing populist movement that organizes weekly demonstrations especially in eastern Germany. Regarding the former GDR as West Germanys low wage sector: It's of course nothing that historians would say like that but it's true that labor costs were a lot lower in eastern Germany and a lot of exports from eastern Germany went into the west, so as a metaphor to make a point this definitely works, even though you shouldn't take that comparison at face value. The principle applies but it's over-exaggerated (which is the intention of his program). I personally agree with most of Volker Pispers points. He has really well developed points and it's fun AND inspiring to listen to his takes on history and politics. Regarding similar artists from Germany I'd recommend Hagen Rether and the Kabarett-Show "Die Anstalt".

Volker is really good. You can even watch 25 years old stuff of him and it is still actual

ARGE is short for Arbeitsgemeinschaft (literally translated into working group) It was also our Federal Employment Agency that tried to get people into jobs again and paid welfare to those, that hadnt been employed for a long time.

Oh his points are still as valid today, maybe even more, than back in the days when he was still active.

To fully understand and appreciate Pisper's humor you need to know a lot of German history, culture, politics, and language. Countless clever allusions throughout. It's absolutely brilliant.

I love Volker Pispers 😂 One of the greatest german cabarettist ever 💪🏼 It's such a big pity he retired 😢

Until 2010, a job center was called "ARGE" (Arbeitsgemeinschaft SGB II). The Federal Employment Agency is responsible for the federal funds, such as funds for placement in work and standard benefits, in a joint facility. Now it is simply JOB CENTER, and it handles as well domestic town welfare help in communes.

Yes he brings facts and saying it, as if they are common sense, obvious for everybody who wants to see. He doesnt play characters, like the georgeous Georg Schramm did, Volker Pispers is pure satire like a friend would use. 👍Good catch this piece

Hagen Rether "Liebe" is one of the best programs. Pispers, Schramm and Rether are the holy trinity!

I have been on Volkers farewell tour and most of the time the laugter got stuck in my throat. It is all too close to the truth. And although there are alternatives like "Die Anstalt" he is dearly missed.

TILL REINERS is another satire artist I would recommend to you, since you asked wether there were others in the like of Volker Pisper´s style. He is equally sharp and brilliant in describing the weirdness of circumstands rather then roasting single people. He is a frequent guest of the "Anstalt" and "Heute Show" which you both reacted to before, and hosts his own satire show now called "Till Reiners Happy Hour", but I mostly enjoyed his solistic stand-up performances - to be found on youtube...

Unfortunately the subtitles are horrible!! I am impressed you can understand anything at all. Thank you for soldigering through tho, love your reactions to Volker and the Heute Show

you make great videos , love to watch your content

Hey, first thank you for all your reactions! As a German it's interesting to see and hear a Brit (whose humour/sarcasm I always admired) react to german satire artists. I feel the humour in the UK is more about a general 'sarcasm' about situations in life and in Germany it's much more political (don't know why, maybe because of the political past?) & btw: Volker Pispers is one of a kind, the kind of way he speaks and brings his arguments to the point is very special and I think the nearest you get to his way are the known formats 'HeuteShow/DieAnstalt/Extra3' ☺️

Hello friend. Its a pleasure to see you watching Volker Pispers classics on youtube. I'm from Germany and a big Pispers fan. He's a comedy legend and comes from my area here as well (Düsseldorf). Can't await see you watching the next parts from Pispers.

Those subtitles are insane :D i wish more german comedians would do stand up or shows in english. Even in Germany there is a market for english comedy, humor and food are universal languages

Volker Pispers is the best one in germany never saw anyone who talks like him very direkt and no fear

I once saw a picture of the wall of a public toilet where someone had written "we buy things we don't need, with money we don't have to impress people we don't like." and someone else had written underneath "we write words on toilet walls that aren't our's to impress people we don't know" or something along those lines. I think I don't remember the answer correctly... yea, the walls of public toilets, the original social media. and the german author and .. Kleinkünstler (also by now, film director and who knows what else he's up to) Mark Uwe Kling, takes this idea one step further in his books (Quality land). and makes the neo liberals (as a political party) register as an official church (like the catholic or protestant church in germany). in his books the neo liberals claim it was just to save taxes.. but it's really just being honest.

WestLB AG was an internationally active Landesbank headquartered in Düsseldorf, which was allowed to conduct all banking business as a credit institution. It also acted as the giro center for the savings banks and the principal bank of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. WestLB was split into three parts on June 30, 2012, following some financial inconsistencies.

I'm from germany and a totaly agree with his points! He is a legend! Another show which has some good points is Extra3 pretty close to the Heute Show.

Thank's,good Video and reaction. Greetings from Germany 😊

pretty much like your dialect. the rollin R absolutely makes it! Nice evening bro

I'm from Germany and I agree to every word Pispers says. He was the best 🫶🏼

Volker always gets to the point. Also very good is the German satirical show 'Die Anstalt'. They show the flaws in our country and the political parties very vividly.

That is by far the worst translation i´ve ever read. Impressive that you got so much information out of it. 👍🏻 Greetings from Austria. 🇵🇪

In the early 80s, Volker Pispers was a teacher at my school. I didn't take any lessons from him myself, but I often saw him in the schoolyard. He was popular, but also a little strict. I think he's great as a comedian, but unfortunately he doesn't do that anymore.

Volker Pispers was always spot on with everything he spoke about.

Pispers is one of the best cabaret artist in Germany. This one you can watch nonstop!

Many thanks for spending that much time and effort to understand German humor, much appreciated! Great contribution to overcome stereotypes! 👍

I don't always agree with him but seriously he's absolutely brilliant. Political cabaret is actually a very particular cultural gem in Germany.

okay, it's quite impressive how much you were able to decipher context through those terrible subtitles. It's auto-translated I'm assuming; I hope there are better versions somewhere.

I think introducing the concept of lottery is not so much the notion of luck, as it is the fact, that in order for a few people to get rich you have to have a massive base underneath to get poor.

Keep this legend alive!

Hi, Mert! Thank you so much for these videos about Volker Pispers (a bloody genius, incredible talent for the right use of our german language). You understand him very well, despite the awful subtitles. And you show a great amount of genuine interest, props for that! Allow me a question, please: do you have turkish or maybe albanian ancestors? Beacuse your name is a turkish one, I have a cousin with the same name :)

The capitalism lottery comparison was not about capitalist success depending on luck, it was about everybody being able to reach top 10 percent of society, but not all together can be top 10 percent of society. You can become part of the top 10 percent of society, because 90 percent won't.

I think comedians who compare to Volker would be Urban Priol and Georg Schramm. Dieter Hildebrandt too, but he passed away long ago. But he was great.

Better translation of the last point: In capitalism anybody can become rich. But not everybody.

I am from Germany. Pispers is the best !

Just yesterday we discovered, that Volker lives in the same city as us, 5 km away from us. Thats awesome - I got actually a chance to run into him :D

great that you get much information out of this terrible translation.. this lecture from volker is my fav

no comedian talked about the wall like he did ! and it was exactly like he described it !

Know you only over the Pisper Reaction Videos. And as an leftist german i am happy to see when others explore the german "Kabarett". I can warmly recommend you "Die Anstalt". A political satiric Show with very precise analytics, and always with a fact check to support the arguments they bring.

Hey Mert If you want to, I can upload the next parts for you with better translation.

OMG, the subtitles are like translated from german to hindi than to maori, japanese, french, back to german and then to english.

Thx for the content, I like it, when you repaid the dialoge for us once more in english, so I learn also english better to understand.

Pispers : BEST man ! ..since decades he is talking truth .

You need see / hear Hagen Rether .. it's also older but awesome And Georg Schramm is the Grandmaster of all who you are loving

If you want to know about another good satire show: I can highly recommend "Die Anstalt", I think you actually already watched a short video from this show. They release a new episode each month. But I'm not sure, if these episodes are availabe with english subtitles :/

15:00 The shelf was named 'billy'. It is like the word 'billig' (cheap), but the letter 'ig' was mixed together into a 'y'. Or the 'g' was missing, just like the screws or the holes. ^^

as german history geek from austria, i can say at least from my point view his arguments are valid.

Wow, that you found Volker Pispers! Respect! This cabaret artist really is the crème de la crème of German political cabaret. I've also learned a few things with him that you'd rather suppress. It's a pity that he has retired, but I understand when you spend years "educating" people and nothing changes.

It's all true. I'm an old West Berliner. I was 9 years old when the Berlin Wall was built. In 1980 I married a woman who lives in East Berlin. It was complicated because her uncle was the first refugee in Berlin-Hafen to be shot in 1961. I know things made in the east were sold in the west. Things that weren't quite right were sold to the Easterners at exorbitant prices - example: howling record players, broken washing machines - imprisoned Discidents were also sold to the West.

The point of the lottery comparison is not the luck aspect. It's the fact that you need a certain amount of people not profiting to make one profiting big time. That's the point. Workers are not there to win, they are there to pay for the winners.

i like your reaction and your conclusions very much. Do more of Volker Pispers and maybe of Hagen Rether he is a bit like Volker. Props😊

i definitly agree with the piont of win win win situation. pisper is insane good

The East of Germany (GDR/DDR) could not keep up with the economic growth supported by the USA, for they were also partially exploited by the UDSSR. They tried to better their economy with production for e.g. IKEA. The currency and the production costs were lower than in West Germany. Therefore students and people with lower wages from the West could afford products from the GDR/DDR easier. It was like a transfer of wealth that continued even after the Fall of the Berlin Wall by western Companies and Investors (from GER West and International) buying up Eastern German companies, exploiting them and letting them die. This problem is to be seen from multiple perspectives, for it is a very complex situation, but I think that example can give an easy to understand impression.

Nice reactions, for me it´s a refresh. Someone i can highly recommend is Georg Schramm. If you like Volker i will say it´s a must see!

The electric irons for ironing sold at the Quelle Versand which was German Amazon sold for 19.90 Deutschmark have been all produced in either East Germany or other east European Countries..

16:10 Arge is the abriviation of Arbeitsgemeinschaft (working partnership). East Germany was like 'Made in China' of the past, and West Germany was buying and consuming the products

I like your stuff, keep on. If you are well familiary to the Germans, Austria would be a challenge. Regards from Vienna! 🧐

As you asked about it: Rainer Calmund is a former German football manager. He was very famous for being tall, if not suffering from obesity. Hence Volker's remark to endless growth

good job bromigo... take care ;-)

Einschleimen means to suck up to someone. In this context it refers to Sigmar Gabriels quote that you have to take right wing protesters seriously. V. Pispers thinks that Gabriel said that to suck up to them to get their votes potentially.

Einschleimen means to say things, that you don't actually believe in (or to exaggerate) just to make someone happy for that both share beliefs

I discovered Volker Pispers in 2010 when I was 16. It was an eye opener. I went from totally uninteressted in politics and history to full on economy nerd and liberal communistic know it all. It was great. I learned so much. Now I'm much more nuanced in my opinions but I still think that Volker Pispers is mostly right.

Rainer Calmund and PEGIDA have already been described very well in another comment. Sigmar Gabriel is a former Economics Minister. He made some difficult testimonies and allowed Germany's largest robotics company (Kuka) to be sold to China. If you are looking for a satirist who is also very good, take a look at Thorsten Sträter's videos. Go in a similar direction.

lol, those captions "you a full spinner". We should run the pispers videos through some AI transcription and translation software and then disseminate correct version.

Sigmar Gabriel is the former leader of the SPD, with a very imposing 'stature'. And 'Dick & Doof' (fat & stupid) are the monikers used for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in Germany.

Es ist zu niedlich 😂 , er versteht nicht alles , manche Begriffe sind wahrscheinlich schlecht zu übersetzen 😂, ich schau in sein Gesicht und muss schmunzeln 😊

i love his humor.

Greetings from Hamburg my friend.

Sigmar Gabriel was secretary and vice-president of germany. "Einschleimen" means kissing ass or sucking up. Gabriel changed his views and friends quite a lot for his own career and for his political party. As well as Reiner Calmund he was quite a large person for some time.

I do agree, greetings from germany

Nicccce. Do more Pispers.

As a german i agree to all what Pispers is saying. Everything's absolutly true. He's genius!

the subs are terrible but you still managed to filter out the meaning quite well, good job. when you ask for more like him, Georg Schramm or Urban Priol are the two names i would recommend.

I was wondering if you have similar voices in GB. I do watch a few panel shows but Ive not seen the BBC have dedicated programmes for satire and individual artists as they have in Germany on the "dritter Kanal". Pispers, Georg Schramm and Urban Priol have, for decades, defined political satire in Germany. The only GB name that came to mind was Tom Walker/Jonathan Pie, and I wonder if you can name a few more?

"Einschleimen" means "to suck up" to somebody.

On the topic of East-West Germans Olaf Schubert is very good cabaret artist to watch - even a must watch. He dresses as a "stereotypical" east german (traditionally playing an east-german), always wearing an old/retro green/yellow slipover/ sleeveless pullover. He is often part of "heute show" as the "quota-east-german", presenting among other things an "east-german" perspective on topics. Unfortunately there is no video of him online, that I know of, with english subtitles. So you probably, sadly, can't understand any of them. Yet, he stays a good recommendation.

13:04 i agree, 100 %. Im from east germany.

You ask for more cabaretists like Volker: Hagen Rether.

Georg Schramm was already recommended which is an excellent recommendation. Hagen Rether could also be interesting for you.

'ZDF - Die Anstalt' has a similar political satire program on RU-vid. Both Volker and 'die Anstalt' (the asylum/ the institution) are excellent.