Swiss-German director Dani Levy uses humor to explore recent German history in his films "Alles auf Zucker" (2004) and "Mein Führer: Die wirklich wahrste Wahrheit über Adolf Hitler" (2007). In a move unusual for German-speaking film directors, Levy pokes fun at Adolf Hitler and his regime in "Mein Führer." Levy also plays with the tension among formerly estranged members of a Jewish family in "Alles auf Zucker" to create a metaphor for the strained relations in reunified Germany.This project explores how Levy uses humor to break taboos in contemporary German society and prompt audiences through humor to critical debate about recent German history and its implications for contemporary and future society. This analysis is important to the German-speaking world and global audiences because Levy's work begs viewers to ponder what they can laugh at, who is allowed to make jokes, and how comedy can promote debate about societal norms and taboos.

The critical component of this thesis, “Hitler Comedy”, is a dissertation on the intersection between comedy theory in general, and the specific practice of Hitler comedy. Focusing on Bertolt Brecht’s play The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1941; directed by Heiner Müller in 1995), and Dani Levy’s film Mein Führer: the Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler (2007), my argument critiques existing “instrumentalist” theories of comedy as didactic and morally reductive. Moving beyond prevailing conceptualisations of comedy as corrective and/or forgiving, my dissertation emphasises the centrality of pleasure, displeasure and disruption for audience members in the process of their experiencing Hitler comedies. / The creative component of this thesis is a script and a DVD recording of Hitlerhoff, a theatre and multimedia work that combines the characters of Adolf Hitler and David Hasselhoff into a single hybrid figure. Hitlerhoff is a spectacular black comedy that uses comedy to entertain and unsettle, and to disrupt audience members’ expectations. Hitlerhoff is a practical demonstration of the ability of “irresponsible” comedy to act as a potent catalyst for “responsible”, ethically engaged discussions.