Oliver Pocher

Oliver Pocher
Oliver Pocher in 2008
Born	(1978-02-18) 18 February 1978 Hanover, Germany
Nationality	Germany
Years active	1999 - present
Genres	Stand-up comedy, Observational comedy
Notable works and roles	Rent a Pocher (2003-2006) Schmidt & Pocher Die Oliver Pocher Show
Website	Official Website

Oliver Pocher (born 18 February 1978 in Hanover) is a German actor, stand-up comedian and television host.

Biography

Early life and professional training

Pocher is the son of Gerhard and Jutta Pocher and grew up in Hanover. His parents are Jehovah's Witnesses and he too was raised as one. Nowadays, he has no contact with the organization.

The general predication that Pocher attended a Waldorf school was denied by his management. Pocher successfully completed his training as an insurance broker at Signal Iduna Bauspar AG.

Oliver Pocher is the son of Gerhard and Jutta Pocher. He grew up in Hanover, Germany. His parents are Jehovah's Witnesses and he, too, was raised as one. Unlike his parents, Pocher has no contact with the organization anymore as he claimed "not to have agreed with their rules“. [1] In 2004, however, he said that he never actually left the organisation and that he considers "many things that happen among Jehova's Witnesses not too bad after all“. After finishing school Pocher did an apprenticeship as an insurance broker at the German insurance “Signal Iduna Bauspar AG“. The rumour about Pocher having been a Waldorf school pupil has been denied by his management. [2] During the time of his apprenticeship he had some part-time jobs at various radio stations and as a DJ in clubs and during family celebrations. He also appeared in the comedian group Holla-Bolla and as an entertainer at Birte Karalus, a German chat show. After his apprenticeship he worked for the Swiss life insurance "Schweizerlebensversicherung und Rental AG" (today: SwissLife) and the "HDI Lebensversicherung AG" (HDI life insurance).

Career

Pocher's first television appearance was on 28 October 1998 at the afternoon chat show of Bärbel Schäfer. Pocher was given 5 minutes to make the audience laugh.

On 29 September 1999 he presented the show Chart Surfer Trash Top 100, Was geht ab, Planet Viva and finally 2002 his own show Alles Pocher, ... oder was?.

Between January 2003 to 14 April 2006 he presents the show Rent a Pocher on ProSieben.

In 2006 he recorded the single "Schwarz und Weiss," a song dedicated to the 2006 world cup. A music video was made, featuring Oliver as several pressbox speakers, as well as him performing the song in front of fans dressed in Team Germany attire.

In 2010, the second season of his Oliver Pocher Show started with the lowest viewer quotas ever.

Miscellaneous facts

• Pocher is a fan of the German football club "Hannover 96". (needs citation)
• In 2008 his third single "Bringt ihn heim“ (engl.: take it home)was released. It is a song for the European Football Championship of 2008. The original version is Baschi's number one hit (Switzerland) “Bring en hei“ (needs citation)
• On the 30th of May in 2008 he was the first candidate to answer the One Million question correctly during a celebrity special.[10]. Beforehand he announced to give away 100000 Euros of his own money in the case of giving the wrong answer. Pocher finally donated the million to the "Per Mertesacker Stiftung“ (foundation) and to the McDonald's Kinderhilfe (children foundation)(needs citation)
• He acted as a co-trainer of the European Team during the DEL All Star Game in 2009 and shortly after having been substituted as a player he received a 10-minute disciplinary punishment. (needs citation)

Criticism

Pocher caused a scandal in July 2005 by insulting and then accidentally spitting on Mariah Carey on the ZDF television show Gottschalk & Friends, a stunt that earned him fierce criticism in the press and media circles.

• Oliver Pocher is widely criticised for his jokes at the expense of others. In 2005, he was successfully sued and fined 6,000 € after advising a female audience member to have plastic surgery during a live TV show.

• When Pocher mocked the personal life of singer Sarah Connor and her reality show. Connor sued Pocher. Although the case remains mysterious, Pocher apologized to Connor.

Scandals

Pocher caused a scandal in July in 2005 during the ZDF (German broadcasting station) – show "Gottschalk & Friends" when he first insulted Mariah Carey and later accidentally spat water onto her. For this action he has been harshly criticised by some newspapers and by the broadcast station in charge. Gottschalk himself kept calm and commented upon the incident: "Of course I do not want to have jokes at the expense of others during my show and I do not want dead bodies having been carried away from the battle field afterwards. If you invite Pocher to your show, however, you should expect a different atmosphere than with, for example, Alfred Biolek."

After Pocher recommended plastic surgery to a woman of the audience of the Wetten, dass..? ("Wanna Bet..?") episode on the 22nd of January in 2005, he was sued for damages 25 000 euros. Although he apologized to her on the phone and repeated this apology in public during one of his shows, he was not able to solve this conflict out of court. On the 11th of January Pocher was sentenced by the district court of Hanover to pay a fine of 6000 euros. The judge in charge called Pocher’s statement (“You look quite old for your age”) a “very insulting comment”. [11] The public insulting continued in January 2008 during the TV show "Johannes B. Kerner" when Pocher once again made fun of this woman’s appearance and mocked the verdict. As a result another suit was filed against the entertainer. The victim’s lawyer explained that the woman was insulted and that the topic is repeatedly brought up by people whom she meets during her work. Pocher did not comment on this. [11]

In January 2009, during the TV show “Schmidt & Pocher“, Pocher spoofed the Hitler assassin Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, who is portrayed by Tom Cruise in “Operation Walküre“. He had to face negative feedback for this and thereafter the broadcasting commission examined this incident. [12]

Shows

Title	Channel	Period
Alles Pocher, … oder was?	Viva (TV station)	2002
Rent a Pocher	ProSieben	January 2003 - 13 April 2006
Trash Top 100	VIVA	2004
Pochers WM-Countdown	ProSieben	3 April 2006 - 5 June 2006
Pocher zu Gast in Deutschland	ProSieben	12 June 2006 - 6 July 2006
Gameshow-Marathon	ProSieben	15 January - 12 March 2007
Schmidt & Pocher	Das Erste	25 October 2007 - 16 April 2009
Sportfreunde Pocher – Alle gegen die Bayern	Sat.1	27 June 2009 - 25 July 2009
Alarm für Cobra 11 (guest appearance)	RTL	3. September 2009
5 gegen Jauch	RTL	4 September 2009
The Oliver Pocher Show	Sat.1	Starts October 2009

Discography

Albums

• 2007: It's my life - Aus dem Leben eines B-Promis

Singles

• 2006: "Schwarz und Weiß"
• 2007: "Ich kann nix dafür" with Nena und Stephan Remmler
• 2008: "Bringt ihn heim"
• 2009: "Kennst du die Stars" Bushido ft. Oliver Pocher

DVDs

• 2005: Best of Pocher: Aufstieg & Fall eines B-Promis (2 DVDs)
• 2007: It's my life - Aus dem Leben eines B-Promis (2 DVDs)
• 2008: Best of Schmidt & Pocher (2 DVDs)
• 2009: Gefährliches Halbwissen - Die Weltrekord Live-Show (2 DVDs)

Awards

2004

• Golden Bravo Otto in the category „Comedy“

2005

• Golden Bravo Otto in the category „Comedy“
• Comet in the category „Beste Live-Comedy“
• Deutscher Comedypreis for „Beste Comedy-Show“
• Jetix Kids Award in the category „Coolster TV-Star“

2006

• Goldene Schallplatte for over 45.000 sold DVDs
• Golden Bravo Otto in the category „Comedy“
• Radio Regenbogen Comedy Award
• Goldene Schallplatte for more than 220.000 sold Cd's of „Schwarz und Weiss“

2008

• Preis der beleidigten Zuschauer (Award of the offended viewers)

Filmography

• 2005: Durch die Nacht mit Moritz Bleibtreu und Oliver Pocher (TV)
• 2006: 7 Zwerge – Der Wald ist nicht genug
• 2006: Hui Buh – Das Schlossgespenst
• 2007: Vollidiot
• 2009: Alarm für Cobra 11

External links

• [2] Stephen Colbert about Oliver Pocher (14. February 2008)