Munich: This is how the new laugh and shoot
Created: 01/14/2022, 16:26
By: Stefanie Thyssen
The laughing and shooting society in Schwabing: Stefan Hanitzsch is the new managing director.
© Marcus Merk
The Munich Laughing and Shooting Society is 65 years old and has always been turbulent.
After Till Hofmann's retirement, Stefan Hanitzsch, as managing partner, now holds the reins of the legendary "Shop" in Schwabing.
On Sunday, January 16, 2022, the Lach und Schiess will open for the first time under new management - due to the pandemic, however, "only" via stream.
Performing: the Carinthian cabaret artist Hosea Ratschiller.
We spoke to managing director Stefan Hanitzsch, who is supported by cabaret legend Bruno Jonas and singer Laila Montana Nöth, daughter of the deceased former shareholder Wolfgang Nöth, about his plans for the traditional cabaret stage.
How sad are you that the "new" Lach und Schiess, the one under your direction, cannot open with a great live evening? Or is the joy that you can at least stream?
Stefan Hanitzsch:
I always see the positive.
Always.
Always.
(Laughs)
When I see a flower in the desert, I look at the flower and not at the five million cubic meters of sand around it.
On Sunday, Hosea Ratschiller is the flower in the cabaret Corona desert, so to speak?
Stefan Hanitzsch:
I see it this way: Due to Corona, we are now preferring what we wanted to start in the course of 2022 anyway: the digital era of the Munich laughing and shooting society.
Because it starts on Sunday.
You need to explain that in more detail, please.
Stefan Hanitzsch:
Lach und Schiess would like to be successful on its own.
Also economically, not only in terms of content.
And on the one hand it has to revive old lines of business.
The guest performances in larger houses, for example;
we also want to reactivate television productions and co-productions.
On the other hand, there is digitization, which should not stop at venerable theater either.
That's why we're currently building a recording studio where we produce audio books, as well as Bruno Jonas' columns and our own podcasts.
We also want to rent out the studio to generate income.
And then of course we will stream from the "shop", even if - hopefully soon - a full cast is possible again.
The fact that you are now allowed to start with 25 percent audience capacity was never a consideration?
Stefan Hanitzsch:
No.
That doesn't pay off at all.
The smaller a theater is, the less profitable this idea becomes.
That's why we refrained from it.
Do you want to go back to "real" television with the laugh and shoot?
Stefan Hanitzsch:
Linear television, streaming - we listen to everything and are open.
Good content is always in demand, and that's what Lach und Schiess stands for.
The natural partner would be BR. Are you having conversations there?
Stefan Hanitzsch:
We are in contact with various partners.
There is currently an informal exchange.
However, we are not a monogamous theatre.
We will not conclude any exclusive contracts.
That sounds very confident. Are you really in a position to be able to choose a partner?
Stefan Hanitzsch:
Why shouldn't we appear self-confident?
We're not a school hostel that's throwing a ball!
The Munich laughing and shooting society stands for a great tradition.
That's correct. What should it stand for in the future – under your direction?
Stefan Hanitzsch:
I would like to quote Klaus Peter Schreiner: “Both sides want to get on with us as soon as possible.
Therefore, the ultimate purpose of what we do is to smack left and right.”
And specifically: what is on your agenda for the coming months?
Stefan Hanitzsch:
On February 24, our ensemble will be performing in the store for the first time with its program "Aufstaut"
(Christl Sittenauer, Frank Klötgen and Sebastian Fritz; editor's note)
.
We will then also stream it live and exclusively.
Faltsch Wagoni are coming on January 29th.
Bruno Jonas will appear in March with his program "My Speech".
And the other things are still in flux.
We are in talks with agencies and artists.
Some cabaret artists simply don't want to travel halfway across the country and then play in front of 25 people.
But I can announce a highlight in May.
Please.
Stefan Hanitzsch:
We're celebrating Dieter Hildebrandt's 95th birthday.
Walter Sittler comes and reads - he is the best for Hildebrandt texts.
I am looking forward to that.
And we're celebrating Georg Kreisler's 100th in October, with his daughter Sandra Kreisler and Jochem Hochstenbach at the grand piano.
Do you have hope that Hildebrandt's birthday can be celebrated in front of an audience in May?
Stefan Hanitzsch:
I hope so, of course.
But as long as I haven't finished learning the Greek alphabet – keyword delta, omicron – I'm not planning anything in this regard.
You will find that 2G applies in gastronomy and 2G plus in culture...
Stefan Hanitzsch:
… totally incomprehensible!
The same applies to the question of why a stage with a bar can only have 25 percent occupancy, but a bar without a stage can have 100 percent.
Whoever wants to understand that.
Politicians are only human.
Who might prefer to sit in a restaurant than in the theatre?
Stefan Hanitzsch:
Maybe.
Maybe it's revenge on the many skewers they were impaled on by the cabaret.
But that's a joke, of course
. (Laughs.)
It probably has more to do with lobbying.
