Who likes happy kirkling to laugh at himself

“I like to laugh a lot. I laugh at Otto, I laugh at Bastian Pastioca, I laugh at Bucher sometimes. I’m a light laugh, I just want to be happy.” Plus ABBA and “Wetten, dass..?” Perhaps it was Hape Kerkeling that made the most notable entertainment comeback of 2021: a popular cat book, variety talk show appearances, Vox’s “Hape and the 7 dwarf States” travel documentary series and a hit album — and a Monday (20.15 O’ o’clock) show for two. Three hours “An Evening with Hape Kerkeling”. Lots of kerkeling was rare.

Just in time to celebrate his 50th birthday, the comedian and author completely disappeared from the scene in 2014, and in the year of his 57th birthday, which is scheduled to be December 9, he reappeared again. He himself did not find himself so absent: “I did a lot of things, I called Olaf ‘Frozen’ for Disney. I wrote a book and participated in films. I wasn’t really far away.”

“An Evening with Hape Kerkeling” recorded in Hamburg is a mixture of reading and talking. I read from my book ‘Paws off the table’! My cat and I are my other cat” and I answer the audience’s questions. All the questions! In the second part of the evening, Kerkeling spoke to ZDF journalist and longtime friend Denga Hayali about what drives him. Kerkeling also sings two songs from his album “Mal unter uns…”: “Trust.” Yourself” and “When the Curtain Slowly Falls”.

So Kirkling’s week is: Monday evening Vox, Thursday his 57th birthday, next Sunday (12.12.) Then after Malta, Liechtenstein and the Vatican Episode IV of Vox’s mini-country series: with the episode around Monaco. Friday is also the 30th anniversary of the wonderful Kirkling outing. On the evening of December 10, 1991, Rosa von Praunheim appeared on the RTL talk show “Explosiv – The hot chair” and announced to millions of viewers that the TV darling was gay, without Kerkeling.

The director (“It’s not a homosexual who’s a pervert, but the situation he’s in”) was worried at the time – a few weeks after Queen star Freddie Mercury died of AIDS – as he put it to famous people who aren’t. Those involved publicly rally around their homosexuality to encourage solidarity with homosexuals because they have the most people living with HIV and dying from AIDS.

After the riots were broadcast, the title of “Bild”: “Pfui, Rosa! Gay Betrayal on TV” thus made the outing really famous. This outing did not detract from Kirkling’s popularity, and he often emphasized that he had come to terms with Rosa’s disposition.

But von Braunheim and Kerkeling did not talk about this personally. You know each other only indirectly, 79-year-old von Braunheim told dpa a few months ago. Kirkling confirmed a few weeks ago in an “artist talk” on ORF III that there was absolutely no discussion and that this was not necessary, as he thought.

Kirkling told ORF that his first public appearance after coming out was at the Bambi Awards, on December 12, 1991 in Wiesbaden. Frank Elstner awarded him an award for “Total Normal”. Elsner and former German Federal President Walter Scheele were particularly friendly with him at the time.

Plus: “Who was particularly nice, was like Udo Juergens. He came right up to me.” And he said, ‘Don’t let yourself get down.’ Get over it. Tomorrow it will be over. Stay calm. “