Austrian comic finds the funny

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on March 16th, 2009

The trial of Josef Fritzl is under way in Austria amid monster press coverage. Fritzl, some may recall, is the reviled dad who imprisoned his daughter for 24 years and, it is alleged, regularly had sex with her, fathered at least one child with her and, again allegedly, murdered one of their offspring. It doesn’t get much creepier than this, folks.

But this is Austria. So, there’s a comic taking advantage of the country’s morbid fascination with the trial (and engaging in some guerilla marketing as well)!

From the AP account of the opening day of the trial:

As reporters lined up to enter the courthouse, a prominent Austrian comedian littered the area in front of the building with naked, bloodied dolls.

“If something like this is happening, something has to be changed on the legal level to give the victims better protection,” said Hubsi Kramar, who recently produced a satirical stage show about the case.

We suppose that when your country gave birth to Hitler (and all the ensuing unpleasantries), it is entirely understandable that the “controversial stage show” bar has been raised to a stratospheric level.

Kramar says:

The director said critics had been too quick to judge the production and that, far from being a “comedy about incest”, it was a “satire about the media”, its coverage of Fritzl and its attitude to violence in the family in general.

Kramar has received death threats. Opening night sold out.

Thanks to Al Romas for the tip!

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