Audience member humiliated

Pocher follows up: “Bullied for all it’s worth”

Oliver Pocher exposed an audience member during an appearance in Stuttgart. Now the comedian has gone one better.(Bild: Viennareport/(c) www.VIENNAREPORT.at)

Oliver Pocher (46) caused a heated debate about the boundaries of comedy at the SWR Comedy Festival in Stuttgart. An audience member was humiliated and exposed by him to such an extent that she later had to be looked after by a member of staff because she was "completely distraught". Now the comedian, who apparently shows no understanding, has gone one better.

According to the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper, comedian Oliver Pocher caused an uproar during a show at the SWR Summer Festival at the weekend by making a woman from the audience the target of his jokes. He pestered the woman with uncomfortably intimate questions and repeatedly made her virginity the subject of discussion during the show.

In the end, she even had to be looked after by a member of staff and left the show in tears. The concern that her named employer might find out about the incident further increased her agitation.

Here is the video in which the comedian questions the young woman:

I "Now people are bullying for all they're worth"
He posted a video of the scene on his Instagram account, even though the woman concerned had expressed her fear that her employer would find out about the conversation if it went viral. Because the comedian still didn't delete the video, it was met with a lot of criticism - both for this and for his statements themselves.

However, Oliver Pocher continues to show a lack of understanding and is even blowing the issue out of proportion. At his show in Klagenfurt, he sneered: "Because now people are bullying like crazy!" He recorded the speech on his cell phone and then posted it on Instagram.

Pocher defends his bullying campaign
"A little fun fact again: The young lady who was there was a fan," the 46-year-old explained himself and his action. The spectator also "didn't have crying fits or anything else". The woman, who he called a "virgin" and a "sugar snail", had merely wanted "this event to be cut out if it had been broadcast".

However, Oliver Pocher did not comment on the fact that he himself filmed the dialog and posted it online. Instead, the 46-year-old said: "This is also a comedy event! And if you can't stand catching a joke in the front row, then you have to fuck off."

SWR makes a statement
The broadcaster also commented on the unpleasant incident. A spokeswoman for SWR told RND: "Exposures like the one last Sunday have no place in a public service program". They had wanted to reach target groups with Oliver Pocher's show that SWR would otherwise find difficult to reach, but this had "completely failed".