"I'm actually nice"

Defiant apology from Mockridge in Vienna

Luke Mockridge during his appearance in Vienna's Simm-City

(Bild: picturedesk.com/Michael Baumgartner / dpa)

German comedian Luke Mockridge presented his new program in Vienna with a mixture of defiance and remorse. In the Simm City, he once again distanced himself from his comments on disabled sport, which had earned him massive criticism and rejections. He was "actually nice".

"It's crazy that we're sold out, even though it's clearly written that I'm the worst person in the world," said the 35-year-old in front of around 500 spectators. 

Apology "no longer worth anything"
At the same time, he complained that he had received threats and that an apology was "no longer worth anything". Mockridge: "We were just joking. But those who threaten us and say terrible things and shout, they mean it. And that's why it can only be right to play here today. Not just today, but the whole tour." The show went off with much applause and no protests.

Jokes about disabled athletes
The tour, entitled "Funny Times", should actually have started a few days earlier in Bünde in East Westphalia. However, the premiere and the next performance in Paderborn were canceled. The reason: towards the end of the Paralympic Games in Paris, excerpts from a podcast had become known in which Mockridge and the two podcast hosts made jokes about disabled athletes that were criticized by para-athletes and many other people as derogatory.

Sensitive topics left out
Mockridge apologized immediately. However, several tour appearances were canceled and the TV station Sat.1 took a planned new quiz show with the 35-year-old off the air. Mockridge lost his German management, and his agency in Austria also announced that it would no longer be working with him after this tour.

In the premiere of his new solo program, Mockridge stayed away from potentially sensitive topics such as disability, floods or war. He told stories about his parents' sex and his own first time, and delighted the audience with musical parodies on the piano. Towards the end of the evening, he did address the controversy once again.

"I'm actually a nice guy"
"The German cultural scene is like a room with lots of buttons on it: Don't touch," said Mockridge. "I like incorrect jokes", he said and then launched into lines such as "Tom Kaulitz is the best-paid geriatric nurse in the world".

The audience in Vienna showed Mockridge a lot of sympathy. "I'm only an asshole sometimes and otherwise I'm actually a nice guy," he said at the end. "We know that!" shouted a fan in the hall.