“Sexist and racist” – allegations against “Comedy Men” podcast

He is one of the most successful if not the most successful comedy podcast in Switzerland: “Comedymen”. However, since its launch by Stefan Büsser, Aron Herz and Michael Schweizer, it has been criticized repeatedly: due to its original name “Quotenmann”, the fact that the hosts are exclusively male and not least because of its content.

After the podcast launched, the “Tages-Anzeiger” under the title “Why I don’t find Stefan Büsser and his quota men funny” commented that the podcast was sexist on several levels and that the hosts were immune to complaints about discriminatory jokes.

The three seem to have stayed true to this line. Videos with clips of “comedy men” have been circulating on Instagram and Twitter for a few weeks now. This is not about a collection of the most successful punch lines – on the contrary. The account “uncover_comedymale” publishes – from his point of view – discriminatory statements.

The allegations are stark – they include racism, sexism, prowess and the trivialization of sexual assault. The account offers its criticism in the form of short excerpts from the podcast conversations and a caption such as “Racist jokes remain racist even if you quote them”. However, it is not clear in what context the jokes were made.

One series is about a woman who teaches her son in a Czech brothel. The joke culminates in a possible math problem for the boy:

In another example, the three presenters talk about a woman who faints in the disco. The focus of the conversation is that you could hold the woman’s hand because she couldn’t defend herself. According to «uncover_comedymale», this trivializes sexual violence.

It is not known who is behind “uncover_comedymale” – they do not want to reveal their identity if asked by Watson. When asked about the motivation and purpose behind the account, which mainly follows people from the media and entertainment industry, they reply: “We want to make it clear that one of the most popular – if not the most popular – comedy podcasts in Switzerland is spreading discriminatory content.”

The critics justify that satire has to do a lot, but not resign. They describe running the account as “activism against discrimination against minorities.” One of her goals is also “for her work to make the ‘comic men’ more reflective”.

Faced with the allegations, Stefan Büsser, who is considered one of the favorites for the SRF late night show “Deville”, is open for a conversation. He was not aware of the existence of the Instagram account. He declined to comment on individual allegations. However, he makes the following statement:

How do other industry personalities rate this? watson asked, hardly anyone wanted to answer. The reasons for this are diverse. For example, comedian Viktor Giacobbo does not want to comment on this because the people behind the account do not identify themselves: “I do not respond to anonymous critics who set humor rules. If they want a serious debate, they have to expose themselves first.”

Only the author and presenter Gülscha Adilji, who hosts the podcast “Zivadiliring”, thinks that if some of the jokes on her show were taken out of context, she too would look like a fool. But she also says: “These are three grown men who are very conscious of their output. I don’t know whether the point should fall on marginalized groups or not. I do not think so.”

Ultimately, the question is again what satire is allowed to do. A discussion that flares up again and again. Kurt Tucholsky’s opinion – “everything” – is no longer shared by everyone. Others see comedy threatened by the “cancellation culture”.

In this context, Adilji also has a request to the “comedy men”: “I would find it very exciting if they would have a serious exchange of ideas about the tightrope walk ‘What is allowed in comedy?’ that would unravel.”