tim@cole.de

Actually, most Austrians are almost over-polite. They will don a saccharine smile and apologize profusely without any real cause, but deep down you know they are making fun of you. I like to describe Austrian manners as “sugar-glaze culture”.

The only Austrians who will go out of their way to be rude are the Viennese, where something called “Wiener Grant” has a long tradition. Some of the best cabaret performers like Helmut Qualtinger or Georg Kreisler used irony, satire, mockery, and dark humor to criticize the authorities and current affairs.

The roots of modern-day Vienna Cabaret can be traced at least back to the 17th century, when a culture surrounding impromptu poets like Marx Augustin (“Lieber Augustin”) arose. During the so-called “theater crisis” of 1873, triggered by an economic depression, forcing the established theaters to close, many new entertainment facilities sprung up, such as the Varieté, which functioned as a mixture of circus and theater, the Chantant, or dance café, and the Singspielhalle, which was used for singing, acting and comedy performances. In it, solo entertainers and stand-up comedians were used for the first time for intermission fillers until they were eventually given their own slots on the program.