Gummersbach – As many as 2,500 spectators in the SCHWALBE Arena were put into permanent laughter by comedian Ralf Schmitz.
By Jan Weber
You could literally feel it: the good mood when Ralf Schmitz entered the SCHWALBE Arena in Gummersbach. It took five tries before the show, originally scheduled for March 2020 and repeatedly postponed due to the pandemic, could take place. “Ralf is finally here on stage with us,” said arena manager Didi Weithöner, summing up the long wait. More than 2,500 spectators were entertained by the skillful imitations and sayings of the comedian known on film and television and listened to his program “Schmitzefrei”.
As soon as he took the stage, he left it again and mingled with the audience. “Gummersbach really has too much money,” Schmitz summed up after inquiring about planned travel destinations. Those in attendance quickly noticed that interaction is a top priority for the comedian. One viewer was asked to answer questions with a bell and a horn instead of answering “yes” and “no”. So Ralf became Claudia, who snores on vacation and watches the entertainers.
[Über 2.500 Zuschauer kamen in die SCHWALBE Arena.]
The setting changed from a sunny day on the beach to the backdrop of a US fast food giant, where Schmitz shone with his “Denglisch” and ordered the “nose-free” burger instead of no pickles and the request for feta was formulated in highly individual way: “Do you have Mäh cheese?”. Visitors liked the cunning and wit, which they received with thunderous applause. Travel enthusiasts in the front rows were henceforth called the champagne faction.
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“I’m a huge Star Wars fan. Well, pretty small,” said the 1.68-meter energy beam with self-mockery. He parodied various TV formats such as “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” or “Bauer sucht Frau” and brought characters from his favorite movie series. So he slipped into the role of Reiner Calmund in the “Grill den Henssler” series and said in a Cologne accent: “Hey little green master Yoda, you can’t serve that shit to Calli.”
The laughter culminated when guests were asked to pronounce the names of famous German songs that the artist wanted to imitate using sign language. Ideas ranged from “Greek wine” to “Scandal in the restricted area” to “Layla”. Especially with “Pippi Longstocking” Schmitz sweated a lot.
