Dinner for One

Different countries have their own traditions of seeing in the New Year. Most combine the same elements - a mix of alcohol, fireworks and revelry.  In other ways, traditions can diverge wildly.  In Holland, they burn Christmas trees, in Spain they eat 12 grapes while the midnight clock strikes twelve whilst in Denmark, people throw dishes at each others’ doors as a symbol of friendship.

One of the more remarkable New Year traditions is that, every year on New Year’s Eve, around half the German population watches a comedy sketch recorded in 1963 by a couple of long-dead English performers. 

Even stranger is the fact that it is also shown and enjoyed in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and many other countries in Europe.  And strangest of all, it has never been shown in full on TV in the United Kingdom.

The sketch is called Dinner for One – or The 90th Birthday (in German, Der 90).  It was written by British author Lauri Wylie in the 1920s and was often performed by music hall comic Freddie Frinton who eventually acquired the rights to it.  The German television station NDR recorded Frinton and May Warden performing the sketch in 1963 and it took off from there. Whilst Frinton found fleeting UK fame in the sitcom Meet the Wife, it is through the 10 minutes or so of Dinner for One that he has achieved TV immortality across continental Europe.

Of course, with the advent of YouTube, we can now view it in the UK any time we like, so here it is. 

OK, it’s more likely to give you pause for thought about the German psyche than leave you helpless with laughter.  At best, it’s mildly amusing; and there’s no doubting Freddie Frinton’s excellent comic timing.  But, but, but.....why????

I'm struggling to explain the appeal.  My best guess is that the sketch enables Germans to confirm their stereotyped views of us British – aristocratic, dotty and drunk.  At the same time, we can chuckle back in an equally superior way at the bizarre sense of humour (or lack of it) of our friends across the Channel.

If you can think of a better explanation, I’d like to hear it.  Or maybe, like most Germans, you find the catch phrase “Same procedure as every year” utterly hilarious.  Do let me know.