Mario Barth

Mario Barth ranks among Germany's most beloved standup performers. Born into a Berlin household with five siblings, he recognized his knack for holding attention and making people laugh at an early age. His parents therefore enrolled him in a private Catholic institution, where he trained in theater. After finishing those studies in 1995, he turned his focus exclusively to comedy. Workshops brought him into contact with established figures such as Diether Cancer, Anka Zinc, and Thomas Hermanns, whose insights shaped his approach to the craft. He refined his routines through brief sets at venues including Night Wash and the Quatsch Comedy Club before mounting his debut stage production, Männer Sind Schweine, Frauen aber Auch (Men Are Pigs, But Women Are Too). The show ran from 2003 to 2005; its subsequent live CD and DVD earned the album a number-three position on the German charts and platinum certification—an uncommon achievement for a standup recording. In October 2006 Barth issued his follow-up, Männer Sind Primitiv, Aber Glücklich (Men Are Primitive, But Happy), which likewise succeeded and was later honored as that year's "Best Live Comedy" release. Building on these two projects, he created the short-film series Mario Sucht das Paradies (Mario in Search of Paradise), portraying an array of roles that encompassed a Dallas firefighter, a Top Gun-style fighter pilot, and a Texas cowboy. In 2008 he set a Guinness world record for the largest live comedy audience when 70,000 spectators filled Berlin's Olympic Stadium. Additional hit programs and their recorded editions followed: Männer Sind Peinlich, Frauen Manchmal Auch (Men Are Embarrassing, Sometimes Women Are Too) in 2010 and Männer Sind Schuld, Sagen die Frauen (Men Are To Blame, Women Say) in 2012.