Henning Wehn
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Henning Wehn (; born 10 April 1974) is a German
stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...
based in the UK.


Career

Wehn studied Business Administration in Münster and worked in customer relations. In 2002, he moved to the United Kingdom to work in the marketing department of Wycombe Wanderers. One evening, he saw an open mic night and decided to try comedy. Of his decision to stay in the UK, Wehn later wrote: As a result, since October 2003, Wehn has been the self-styled "German Comedy Ambassador in London". After beginning his career as "warm-up act" to various comedians in London (including Stewart Lee for '' Comedy Vehicle''), he now has his own act on the British comedy circuit. Wehn has appeared on the panel shows '' 8 Out of 10 Cats'', '' Have I Got News for You'', '' Room 101'', '' 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'', '' QI'' and '' Would I Lie to You?''. He also appeared on Channel 4's political discussion/comedy show ''
10 O'Clock Live ''10 O'Clock Live'' is a British comedy/news television programme that ran from 2011 to 2013, presented by Charlie Brooker, Jimmy Carr, Lauren Laverne and David Mitchell. The programme was commissioned following the success of ''Channel 4's Alt ...
'' in May 2013. He is a recurring panellist on both the Radio Five Live comedy sports show '' Fighting Talk'' and on the Radio Four panel game '' The Unbelievable Truth''. Wehn also appeared as a panellist on the 2015, 2016 and 2017 series of '' The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice'' for both the BBC and Channel 4. He appeared on '' Would I Lie To You?'', Episode 7 of Series 7, in which he revealed that for three weeks in the mid-1990s he was listed as a missing person by Interpol. He later appeared on Episode 9 of Series 9, in which he revealed that he and his friend were once arrested by border guards for illegally entering the Czech Republic in the mid-1990s. In 2014, Wehn and fellow comedian
Mark Watson Mark Andrew Watson (born 13 February 1980) is a British comedian and novelist. Early life Watson was born in Bristol to a Welsh mother and English father. He has younger twin sisters and a brother, Paul. He attended Bristol Grammar School, wh ...
fronted a travelogue in Brazil called ''The Road to Rio'' for TV channel
Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...
. In the show, they explored the country's sporting culture, tying in with the
2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...
held in the country. Henning has often toured and performed with fellow German comedian . Kuhnle appeared on Wehn's
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
series ''Henning knows best'' in 2012. In May 2015, Wehn presented ''An Immigrant's Guide to Britain'' on Channel 4, telling ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...
'': " at I really like about the programme it mixes light-hearted issues (the job market), with more serious ones (trouble of having two water taps instead of just one) to the ultra serious (the British class system)". In October that same year, Wehn was the presenter of the
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...
radio documentary ''Wall in the Head'' in which he explored "the invisible cultural and psychological divide" between East and West Germans twenty five years after
German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
following the fall of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
. In October 2018, Wehn appeared in the German episode of History's TV series ''Al Murray: Why Does Everyone Hate The English'' alongside host Al Murray.


Approach to comedy

Wehn's comedy frequently employs common stereotypes about Germans, with critic
Brian Logan Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word meani ...
noting in UK daily newspaper '' The Guardian'' in 2015: "Wehn has made a career out of sending up and celebrating German stereotypes. But that particular ingredient is lower in the new show's mix – with abundant TV and radio credits to his name, Wehn is now well enough established to joke not only about who he is, but what he thinks".


Political views

Wehn's views have been described as
right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
by '' The Times'' and Richard Wilson, executive producer of '' Have I Got News For You''. In an article on left wing stand-up Stewart Lee describes him as occupying " broadly
libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
position".


List of tours

* ''My Struggle'' (2011) * ''No Surrender'' (2012—2013) * ''Henning Knows Bestest'' (2013—2014) * ''Eins Zwei DIY'' (2015—2016) * ''Westphalia is Not an Option'' (2016—2017) * ''Das Neuen Materialen Nachten'' (2018; Work in Progress) * ''Get On With It!'' (2018–) * ''It’ll All Come Out In The Wash'' (2022)


References


External links

* * *Detailed article from 2010 in the ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' newspaper i
German
and a
English translation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wehn, Henning 1974 births Formerly missing people German expatriates in the United Kingdom German male comedians Living people Missing person cases in Spain People from Hagen Wycombe Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff