Herman José

Hermann José Krippahl or simply "Herman José" (born March 19, 1954 in Lisbon, Portugal) is the most successful comedian in Portugal,Fact|date=February 2008 though virtually unknown abroad. Lately, his career has focused on TV, where he hosts a weekly late night show with comic sketches in which he stars although he doesn't write all his material anymore as he used to.

His mother is Portuguese (of half-Spanish descent) and his late father was German. Herman José is a German citizen. He never acquired dual citizenship, first so he could avoid conscription, then because he said he was not interested. He went to Lisbon's German School for all his schooling and is fluent in Portuguese, German, English, French, and Spanish. He lives in the town of Azeitão, municipality of Setúbal, and keeps houses in Lisbon and Vilamoura, Algarve.

Career

His professional career started in 1973/1974 doing studio choruses (mostly on protest songs spun by the Carnation Revolution of April 1974) and acting in revues. His first leap to national fame was in 1976, invited by comedian Nicolau Breyner to his TV show "Eu Show Nico", where he performed against the host on a weekly skit called "Sr. Feliz e Sr. Contente" (lit. Mr. Happy and Mr. Joyful). His first big success as an author and performer was with "O Tal Canal" (lit. That Channel) where he performed several characters of a fictitious TV channel. With this show, Herman José was responsible for shaping the sense of humor of Portuguese people after the Revolution that ended almost 50 years of totalitarianism.

"Hermanias" was the next show, with huge success, until the Portuguese government ordered public station RTP to cancel the show after a sketch based on the Last Supper originated a public petition against the show. His career then turned mainly to daily gameshows like "Wheel of Fortune" and "Com a Verdade m'Enganas" (lit. With the Truth Y'Fool Me), and talk shows like "Parabéns" (lit. Happy Birthday). These shows, while originally not intended to be funny, soon became comic with Herman José hosting them. He returned with comic-oriented shows in the 1990s: "Herman Enciclopédia" and "Herman 98" revealed that Herman José was still a top comedian, although for the first time his shows were mainly written by other people at a company called Produções Fictícias.

In 2000, Herman José moved from RTP to the private station SIC for a reported 1.5 million euros a year, to host a late-night show called "HermanSic". While hosting the show, he went through a change of style that was criticised, using sexual innuendo, crude humor and R-rated acts, which resulted in low ratings. As of mid-2006 his show was changed to a family-safe show, with more comic sketches than before, but the ratings remained low, and the show was cancelled. On the other hand, Herman signed a new exclusivity contract with SIC to work on a new sketch show called "Hora H" (lit. "H hour", although the it is also expression meaning "the eleventh hour"). José is currently working on a new show called "Chamar a Música", as well as a remake of "Roda da Sorte".

Notable characters

Portugal's collective memory has adopted several of Herman's characters, with catchphrases that are still recognized by viewers after many years. Below is a partial list of these characters, with comments.

"Nota bene:" The headers indicate only the origin of these characters as many carried over to subsequent shows.

From "O Tal Canal"

* Felipa Vacondeus: A TV chef parody of real life cook Filipa Vacondeus. She affects a high society accent and is notorious for the inordinate amounts of paprika she puts into her confections.

* José Estebes: Sports commentator from Porto and unwavering supporter of FC Porto. He has a penchant for Port and frequently appears inebriated, drinking it on camera. His surname comes from the Portuguese surname "Esteves", which sounds "Estebes" when pronounced with a thick northern accent like that of the character.

* Marilú: The poor maid with a heart of gold employed by a wicked countess in the show-within-a-show soap opera "Diário de Marilú".

* Nelito: A child whose only pleasures in life seem to be breaking toys and torturing his kindergarten teacher, Miss Palmira.

* Tony Silva: South American "émigré" entertainer who claims to have invented "ro' music" (not to be mistaken with rock music). According to Herman José, Tony Silva is the personification of tastelessness and kitsch.

From "Hermanias"

* Serafim Saudade: This lounge singer sports a gigantic afro and a repertoire of failed jokes. He was initially based on popular singer Dino Meira, with his later incarnations incorporating elements of parody to another Portuguese popular singer, Marco Paulo. Fact|date=February 2008

From "Humor de Perdição"

* Maximiana: A cleaning lady from the fictional small town of Merdaleja ("Shitsville"). She has a loud, high-pitched voice and is fond of repeating raunchy popular sayings which are apparently exclusive to her hometown.

From "Casino Royale"

* Adolf Hitler: The infamous dictator was usually portrayed as a fussy man prone to tantrums and fits of whining.
* Royale: Leader of the casino.
* Celeste Royale: Royale's wife, known for liking milk and coffee.
* Crispim: Drunken Royale twin brother.
* Zizi: French Spy
* Phillip: English spy
* Brambilla: Italian spy, who also works in the casino's bar.
* Alverca: The stupid German spy, who falls in love with Maricarmen.
* Natasha Seminova: Russian spy, who married Cachucho.
* Cachucho: Poor friend of Royale.
* Maricarmen: Maricarmen is Royale dressed as a Spanish lady, to get the Nazis' plans from Alverca.

From "Parabéns"

* Felisberto Desgraçado: A fado singer who, as his last name suggests, is very unlucky.

* Henrique Melga: Over-enthusiastic infomercial host and seller of many pointless and/or defective products. He is frequently accompanied by Mike (played by José Pedro Gomes), who serves as the subject and victim of his product demos. Their most obvious quirk is that their voices do not sync with the movement of their lips, a parody of the poor quality dubbing found in most foreign infomercials that are aired in Portugal. "Melga" (lit. "gnat") is a colloquial term for an annoying or persistent person.

From "Herman Enciclopédia"

* David Vaittenborough: A British naturalist and ethnographer based on David Attenborough. Vaittenborough speaks only in English, but his voice is dubbed over in Brazilian Portuguese, mimicking the style of many wildlife documentaries found on cable television at the time. The name references Attenborough and is also a pun on the words "Vai-te embora!" (Portuguese for "Go away!").

* Diácono Remédios: a very religious and sexually repressed former censor (ostensibly from the days before the Carnation revolution), son of sexologist Rute Remédios (a parody of sexologist Ruth Westheimer, also played by Herman); most famous sentence: "there was no need for that".

* Lauro Dérmio: A film critic (after film critic and director Lauro António) who enjoys using English words despite his obvious ignorance of the language, frequently providing literal translations of Portuguese idioms. His mangled English-language catchphrases are "Létes luque eta treila" ("Let's look at a trailer") and "Alueis uátche gude muves" ("Always watch good movies"). The name is a pun on Lauroderm, a brand of skin lotion.

* Passos de Ferreira: a Northern engineer whose big ambition is to open Expo'97 in Oporto before Expo'98 opens in Lisbon; most famous sentence: "this man/woman is not a Northerner!!". His name is a pun on Paços de Ferreira, a town in northern Portugal.

* O Presidente da Junta: This nameless politician, who wears very thick eyeglasses and appears to be constantly drunk or on drugs, insists in a slurred voice that he is the one and only "president of the parish." ( [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5VHSGsLpwc Video] )
* Supertia: Supertia is a character (super-hero), who represents the portuguese high-society. Supertia, helps, the others high-society ladies, giving them fancy clothes and jewels.

From "Hora H"

* Chica Pardoca: The stereotypical clueless socialite who nevertheless likes to flaunt her ignorance when discussing topics ranging from politics to automobiles.
* Julio Flores: The non-assumed gay camera-man.
* Americo Russo: The reporter from CNN (Canal Nacional de Notícias, which means National News Channel), who pretends to be an actor and says that has travelled all around the world.
* Yuri Tupolev: Yuri Tupolev is "the poor Ucranian emigrant in Portugal", who has invented a lot of chemical potions, won the Munich Olympic games and been the Ucranian president, he lives in a laboratory, where everybody who wants to visit him should pay him 20 euros.

Trivia

Herman José was a singer and a popular one-man-show in the late 1970s and early 1980s, travelling through Portugal and abroad, for Portuguese groups of emmigrants. "Saca o Saca-Rolhas" (lit. Screw the Corkscrew) (1977) and "Canção do Beijinho" (lit. The Kiss Song) (1980) were his biggest hits - both reached gold record status.

He owns Café Café and Bastidores, two popular back-to-back restaurants in Lisbon, where he performs stand-up comedy once a week. He's also a partner in sea-food restaurant Jardim do Marisco and the Tivoli Theater, both also in Lisbon.

Herman José has a penchant for expensive tastes, including high-end automobiles and motorbikes. He currently owns two Bentleys, a BMW Z4 and a BMW Z8.

He is known for destroying scenery and props. On the last broadcast of "Wheel of Fortune", he fired a shotgun live on air against the scenery and a TV set. He later justified the act as wanting to "just see how it looks like in the inside".