The Same Procedure As Every Year

The stereotype has it that German’s lack a sense of humour. Even mentioning this has become a cliché in its own right. But nothing could be further from the truth. For sure, jokes don’t always translate particularly well from English into German, or the other way around.

But that’s probably down to the many differences between British and German culture. And the different way the German language is constructed, which affects how jokes are both told and understood.

In reality, like the British, Germans love political satire, slapstick and laughing at the misfortunes of others.

I wonder if this lazy thinking about German humour is really driven by that peculiar sense of British exceptionalism which pervades so much of our thinking. The idea that Britain is inherently different from other countries. And, by implication, superior to those countries.

Granted, there is always a disjunction between the way a country views itself and how other countries view it. But this disjunction appears to be especially large in Britain’s case. Not unrelated, I suggest, to the contradictions between our imperial past, victory in the Second World War and our steady economic decline since the 1950s. A sense of exceptionalism given a new lease of life by our current Prime Minister. 

Cult comedy

But back to the jokes. Luckily, we can disprove the stereotype about German humour in one fell swoop.

In 1963, the German TV station Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) filmed a comedy classic in Hamburg called Dinner for One. The 18-minute film was based on a music hall routine written in the 1920s by English playwright Lauri Wylie, that the producers had stumbled across in Blackpool the previous summer. It was filmed using the English comedians Freddie Frinton, who had acquired the rights, and May Warden, who had been performing the skit since 1945.

Since 1972 this achingly funny sketch has been shown on German TV every New Year's Eve. It’s become a cult tradition and is one of the most viewed programmes in Germany. It’s also a hit with audiences in Scandinavia and many other parts of Europe. But it has only ever been shown once on British TV, in 2018.

The irony will not be lost on the reader!

The sketch takes place in the dining room of a grand English house where Miss Sophie (May Warden) is celebrating her 90th birthday. She sits at the head of a large table with places laid for her four guests – Sir Toby, Mr Pommeroy, Mr Winterbottom and Admiral von Schneider – while overlooking the fact that they’re all long dead. To maintain the spirit of the event, Miss Sophie requires her butler James (Freddie Frinton) to impersonate the guests.

Not only must James serve Miss Sophie the four courses, he also has to serve the four imaginary guests the drinks chosen by Miss Sophie (in order, sherry, white wine, champagne and port). Slipping into the persona of each guest, adopting their idiosyncrasies of accent and behaviour as he drinks a toast to Miss Sophie, James becomes increasingly inebriated. 

The comedy revolves around the rapid disintegration of James’ professional demeanour as the alcohol does its work. There are several running gags in the piece. James asking Miss Sophie before each course, "The same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie?" To which she replies, "The same procedure as every year, James." James tripping over the stuffed head of a tiger skin set between the table and sideboard. The imagined exchange he has with Sir Toby, every time a new course is served, over the extra measure of drink he demands. And Miss Sophie’s expectation that James will click his heels together in true military fashion when he plays Admiral von Schneider and exclaim "Skål!".

Finally, Miss Sophie concludes the evening by saying, "I think I'll retire", whereupon James and Sophie repeat their exchange about the "same procedure". James, distinctly befuddled by this point, responds "Well, I'll do my very best!" before propelling Mis Sophie upstairs. And, in a wonderful final gesture, turns to camera and gives the thumbs up.

So how did this comedy jewel become such a hit in Germany? Particularly as NDR chose not to dub the dialogue into German. To begin with, the quality of the slapstick humour overcomes the language barrier. Not that the language is especially difficult. And maybe the slightly starchy, repetitive dialogue adds to the joke. The catchphrase, “The same procedure as every year”, has even entered German culture.

Laughter is subversive

The drinking must also have something to do with it. There is a long history in cinema and TV of comic drunks. Getting into all sorts of scrapes as a result of their over-indulgence. Schadenfreude is a very human emotion. And laughing at the folly of others is central to a lot of comedy.

In the case of Dinner for One, the drinking is clearly not a choice. James is instructed to make the regular toasts by his mistress. Maybe their relationship is also at the root of the skit’s success. It offers a subtle commentary on the vagaries of the British class system, peopled by bibulous relics from the past. But James gets his own back. Sleeping with the boss. Undermining the class system in the process.

Maybe that also helps explain the refusal of the BBC to air the sketch. Frinton came from a music hall background. Music hall had its origins in the pubs that emerged to serve the new urban working classes of the 1840s as pub owners began to offer music and other forms of entertainment to their customers. Consumption of alcohol was very much part of the package, and the variety entertainment appealed to audiences who appreciated the less stuffy atmosphere than provided by theatres.

Perhaps the humour was too close to the bone for a TV broadcaster which represents the voice of the Establishment. Or an extended routine based on an inebriated butler was simply regarded as being in poor taste.  

But playing a convincing drunk is notoriously difficult. Something Frinton, a true professional, carried off with aplomb. The irony is that, in real life, he was teetotal.

We’ll leave the final words to May and Frinton:

Miss Sophie: Well, James, it's been really a wonderful party!

James: Well, it's been most enjoyable (slurred).

Enjoy the 18-minute original version here.