Serdar Somuncu (*1968 in Istanbul) is a German comedian born in Turkey who became famous by scenically reading Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler as a way to make fun of that text. As absurd as that sounds it actually works surprisingly well as a comedy routine. After many years of doing that (sometimes under police protection) and a follow-up routine based on Goebbels' (in)famous Sportpalast speech (the one with the "Wollt ihr den totalen Krieg" line, which was the only one Somuncu did not read himself but rather played from tape), he felt Typecast and instead went in a different direction creating a Hassprediger (literally hate preacher; a term usually referring to a religious extremist preacher inciting violence) persona ranting about day to day events and diverse groups insulting pretty much everybody. Due to his eloquence and his ethnic background as well as his will and ability to be confrontational about his views, Somuncu has in recent years become a somewhat frequent guest on German political talk shows, especially when migration or Islam are discussed. As of 2016 he is a semi regular contributor on the Heute Show, the German equivalent of The Daily Show.
Tropes associated with Serdar Somuncu's works:
- Classically-Trained Extra: He studied acting for several years only to get minor roles reducing him to his ethnic heritage where he had to deliver lines like "Kollega nix verstehn" with an accent that is not his.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Even by the permissive German standards (swearwords are hardly if ever censored on TV and considered printable in anything but media aimed at children) the rants of the Hassprediger are a bit much. An American audience would probably hear nothing but beeps unless they got him on cable.
- Hidden Depths: Neither his Hassprediger nor his "the guy who reads Hitler" persona might at first appear that way, but he is indeed a classically trained actor and familiar with the great works of German fiction and theater.
- The Gadfly: His Hassprediger persona screams and insults people seemingly at random, mostly to get a kick out of it.
- Godwin's Law: Naturally, given the subject matter he is still best known for. His (genetic, not political as he likes to point out) baldness does not help matters.
- MST: One act is to simultaneously read, and mock, Mein Kampf to the audience.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: The Hassprediger has insulted almost any group you could think of; vegans, gays, Jews, Turks, Muslims, Germans (this list could continue for hours without repetition).
- Sophisticated as Hell: More than once has he made a surprisingly profound statement - in equally profound words - buried beneath a cluster F bomb.
- The Unpronouncable: He likes making fun of Germans who struggle with his name. Especially if they themselves have names like Wischnewsky.
