THE last time Henning Wehn took to a Liverpool stage, things didn't exactly go to plan. As one of the guests of a special Al Murray charity show, the Pub Landlord only had to mention the comic's nationality before chaos ensued.

Not only was the self-styled 'German Comedy Ambassador' continually booed until he had little choice but to quit the stage, but even before the Teutonic intervention the police had been called to put a halt to a brawl during the opening act. At the Royal Court, of all places.

At the time, I described it as “one of the weirdest nights of comedy you could probably ever see”. Unsurprisingly, Wehn agrees, although doesn't seem to take it too seriously.

“It was quite a remarkable night,” he chuckles. “I found it hilarious.
“This has only happened in Liverpool. Usually I have to work to get the boos. Usually, I have to offend people first to get that level of abuse, but there, from the moment Al Murray said there was a German act coming on, they booed.”

Despite it all, Wehn is back in the city on Friday, headlining Capital of Comedy at the Slaughterhouse on Fenwick Street. It will be his third gig in Liverpool and his first since that fateful appearance at the Royal Court, for which it must be said the stand up gave as good as he got, quite skilfully winding up the baying crowd before bowing out with a rendition of the German national anthem.

“Some of the shouting that was coming from the audience that night... “foreigners out” must be the best heckle ever,” he laughs. “I've worked with Al Murray on several of those charity shows for Camkids and also on Edinburgh and Beyond for Paramount Comedy. A lot of people don't get the irony of what he does. Plus it was a Saturday night, and people were all steaming drunk.

“What was so funny was in the plush surroundings of the Royal Court, the first interval lasted 45 minutes because the police had to come and arrest people fighting in the upper circle.“

Things should be a bit different this time, not least of all because Capital of Comedy nights run to the peaceful ethos “be nice or go home”, which fortunately is something at odds with the tenets of xenophobia.

“It will be more like a comedy club. The other show was more like a rally,” he said. “There'll be more time for nuances, there wasn't really any on that night. It'll not turn into one giant Brit bashing. Well... it might do.”

Wehn has lived in London for more than six years and been doing stand up for more than four, after moving to the UK to further his career in football marketing. His act is smartly based on the stereotypical relationship between the English and the Germans, with much ridicule of each side (his Edinburgh show in 2006 was called Four World Cups and One World Pope). There was far more opportunity to get a start on stage in this country than at home, he says.

“There was never any master plan to get into comedy, I was just watching a stand up one night and thought, 'I'd like a go at that'. It's not easy to overcome that language barrier and the cultural references – I think the key is to live in the country.
"There's not a single country in the world without an English language comedy club, and it is quite cheap to fly acts out, so the circuit is becoming more and more global.”

Wehn appears at the Slaughterhouse on Friday (February 29), with Dan Nightingale and Parrot. For tickets call 08444 77 1000.

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