Day 53: Büttenrede Meets Stand-Up
In Mainz, Gerhard (A), a grandfather who has given rhyming carnival speeches for forty years, rehearses their first joint act with his grandson Marco (B), a stand-up comedian.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a German word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native German, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
In die Bütt gestiegen, schaut der Redner streng in den Saal: „Ihr Narrhallesen, groß und klein, heut soll mein Enkel bei mir sein!“
Having climbed into the Bütt, the barrel-shaped pulpit, the speaker gazes sternly out at the audience: 'Dear revellers, both great and small, today my grandson joins me in the hall!'
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B
Opa, das klingt wie 1985. Stand-up bedarf keines Reims und keiner Kapelle, nur einer Pause, bis es wehtut.
Grandad, that sounds like 1985. Stand-up has no need of rhyme or band, just of a pause that lasts until it hurts.
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A
Eine Pause in der Bütt? Da denkt der Saal, ich hätte meinen Text vergessen, und ruft den Sanitäter.
A pause in the Bütt? The hall will think I've forgotten my lines and call the first-aider.
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B
Das ist ja gerade die Pointe! Die Leute lachen, weil sie nicht wissen, ob sie lachen dürfen.
But that's the whole punchline! People laugh because they don't know whether they're allowed to.
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A
Das entbehrt jeder Logik, mein Junge. Vierzig Jahre lang wusste mein Publikum genau, wann gelacht wird: nach dem Reim, beim Tusch.
That defies all logic, my boy. For forty years my audience knew exactly when to laugh: after the rhyme, at the fanfare.
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B
Moment, genau das ist unsere Nummer! Du reimst wie 1985, und ich kommentiere jeden Reim, als wär's ein Verkehrsunfall.
Hang on, that's exactly our act! You rhyme like it's 1985, and I comment on every rhyme as if it were a car crash.
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A
Na schön. Zum Saal gewandt, deklamiert der Redner: „Wir gedenken heut der alten Zeit, da war der Wein noch billig und der Rhein noch breit!“
Fine. Turning to the hall, the speaker declaims: 'Today we remember times gone by, when wine was cheap and the Rhine was wide!'
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B
Kleine Korrektur: Der Rhein ist immer noch genauso breit. Ich war heute Morgen extra nachschauen.
Small correction: the Rhine is still just as wide. I went down specially this morning to check.
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A
Du Lausbub, jetzt hab ich selbst gelacht, das ist mir in der Bütt seit 1987 nicht passiert! Das bedarf eines Tusches.
You rascal, now I've laughed myself, and that hasn't happened to me in the Bütt since 1987! That calls for a fanfare.
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B
So geht Stand-up, Opa. Zum Schluss rühmst du dich des schlechtesten Reims von ganz Mainz, und ich sage nur: „Er macht das seit vierzig Jahren freiwillig.“
That's how stand-up works, Grandad. At the end you boast of the worst rhyme in all of Mainz, and all I say is: 'He's been doing this of his own free will for forty years.'
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