Polish types of comedy
Comedy around the world differs in various ways. The most popular way is in movies and stand-up comedy routines, with the latter gaining on popularity in America and Great Britain in the 90s and grew in fame in different countries nowadays. One of such countries is Poland where though stand-up raises on popularity it never gained such praise as Kabaret which is the main form of comedy performed on stage to this day.
Though it’s not Cabaret as it’s known around the world. It mainly focuses on short sketches or monologues (which can be considered as a form of stand-up) ranging on topics from political satire, poking fun of everyday life in Poland, social differences, view of other countries to impressions, making fun of popular artists – singers and movie stars. The first great Polish cabaret which now is being regarded as cult-classic is kabaret Potem (literal translation: Later). The group came from Zielona Gora and consist of Joanna Kołaczkowska, Mirosław Gancarz, Leszek Jenek, Dariusz Kamys, Adam Pernal and Władysław Sikora. The kabaret in an abstract and fresh new way presented strange cross-overs of classic Fairy Tales, unusual characters as well as satirical songs (which to this day are memorable and catchy with the melodies as well as with the lyrics). Potem did it all without swearing or talking about controversial topics e.g. shock humour, which made it even more impressive especially nowadays when comedians are prone to talk about obscene topics to pander to the crowds. Their heritage was passed to Hrabi, a kabaret with two of the original cast members and the same intelligent but crazy type of show that can’t be beat.
The Polish comedies rose to fame in the 80s when Stanislaw Bareja showed the world one of the best comedy movies and TV-shows of that decade. Considered as most memorable by many, Bareja’s films showed the absurd side of Polish life in these times. Satirising the political corruptions, consumerism, the government as well as the weakness of man coming from his nature as well as the times in which he/she lives. All these topics were clearly shown in Teddy Bear (Miś), filmed in 1980, as one of his best works. Bareja was posthumously awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta by President Lech Kaczynski and in 2005, a street in Warsaw was named after the famous director. To this day people use the word Bareizm meaning something absurd, awkwardly put together like political slogans, texts or speeches. The other great, classic of Polish comedy scene is Marek Koterski’s 2002 movie, Dzien Swira (Day of the wacko) which talks about different weird compulsions and types of thinking which every one of us has inside. It follows the day of Adam Miauczynski who goes to work as a Polish teacher, visits his mother, his son and the beach to desperately try to write poetry about a king and queen sitting in the garden. But his daily journey does not only follow his footsteps but his thoughts, imagination and ideas, looking at the people around him and judging them in a cynical and sometimes mean-spirited way. Despite his flaws, the character portrayed by Marek Kondrat is a likeable though somewhat self-destructive and melancholic one. Either way by seeing ourselves in his daily struggles we are with him all the way in the surreal travel through his chaotic brain.
The Polish comedy though quite personal in the topics and talking a lot about the country itself and its inhabitants can depict the world to a foreign observer as well as the abstract way of thinking and the everyday struggles which can be tough for one person but are a joy to laugh at to another.
Grzegorz Konopski
