Genial daneben

Hugo Egon Balder was for a long time only known for the knockers show he had done for a while on cable channel RTL. That he is a man with a great sense of humour and that he can find this also in other people, I believe, not many knew.

Now there is this new (well, started in 2003 already) show on rival channel SAT1 with him as a host based on his idea. The description is simple: let viewers send in tricky questions and let comedians find the answers. The worse and the funnier the answer, the better. The audience can laugh and the viewer who sent in the question gets 500 euros if the comedians can't find the correct answer. Simple, isn't it?

And you know what? This is the best new concept I've seen in years on telly. Hard to understand that no-one at first wanted to produce this show! Just take five comedians (two regulars and three varying guests) and let them use their wit. Brilliant! They often know each other so well, often worked together before, that they "play" perfectly together, they feed each other lines, sometimes it's like verbal tennis. At the beginning it was only half an hour long, now thankfully it's a full hour, and soon it will be shown twice a week. I can't get enough of it.

I often work the late shift on Saturdays and then it's so good to know, that when I come home I can watch an hour of good laughs and great humour. Laughing is the best you can do to forget the trouble you had at work. This show definitely helps on Saturdays! I hope this show will continue for several more years. I want to see the Old Man ("der alte Mann"), the Fat Lady ("die dicke Frau"), Little Hoecker ("Hoeckerchen")and all the others for a long, long time. Don't stop!