German Jose experiences a fireworks moment

Herman José is “quietly” living through the “fireworks” phase of his life, after 50 years of a successful career, built for fun and which brought him only disappointment, in the Catholic Church.

In 2024, comedian Germán José turns 70 and celebrates 50 years of professional career, although his career as an artist began at the age of four, in a German school, where he became “the protagonist of all children’s plays”, because he already “I am very stood out among other children,” he recalled in an interview with the Lusa agency.

But what he considers the beginning of his professional career – the moment when he earned “his first fee” on television – happened on Arthur Agostinho’s program, where he ended up thanks to Pedro Osorio.

“The program premiered in January 74, a few months before April 25, it debuted with the poet Vitorino Nemesio, and for me it was exciting (…). I thought it was absolutely wonderful. This idea of ​​being in the studio – this was done in Maria Matos – smelling the cameras and these wonderful movements and being next to Arthur Agostinho, it was fantastic.”

He took on this project “with many dreams, many ambitions, but with very little confidence in achieving anything”, and with an ultimatum from his parents, who gave him two years to establish himself as an artist, otherwise he would have to continue studying with superiors. in any area.

“The funny thing is that when I was about to think that I would not go anywhere, Nicolau Breiner invited me to play “Feliz e Contente”. [em 1975] and then, overnight, I went from a young man with good looks and some skills, but without any technique and who walked, to a star because [nesse ano] The main event was the premiere of “Feliz e Contente”.

The following year, performances began, and then he began to “feel like he existed as an artist.”

He suggests that he was “politically illiterate” at the time, having lived through the Carnation Revolution without really understanding what was going on and only caring about having a warm-hearted father.

“It was a miracle for me because all the musicians I worked with were leftists, and so I joined this current of leftist music,” he said, recalling the emotions evoked by the debut of the song “Portugal is Risen.” “, in the program of Arthur Agostinho together with Fernando Tordo and Tonica.

These 50 years of career were also marked by the 40th anniversary of the debut in 1983 of the program “O Tal Canal”, which is still considered one of the most successful on Portuguese television.

It is based on two key moments: an invitation to perform on the radio, namely in the program “Pão com Butter”, which allowed him to find himself through writing: “What voice, what lifestyle, what lyrics?”; and another invitation to take part in “O Passeio dos Alegres” with Júlio Isidro, in which he also started writing his own material because the authors had no money.

These years were “a kind of self-made ‘master class'” during which he rehearsed writing lyrics that would entertain himself and his friends, rather than what he thought would entertain others.

“That’s where there’s a little big difference. I remember some magazine writers who were very sophisticated, very funny, very modern people, but then when they wrote, they wrote something for others, for trucks that were about to appear. province and similar things written for third parties, with some paternalism.”

This may have been the formula for O Tal Canal’s success, he admits, because it was the first time “someone wrote a program for themselves to come home to and laugh.”

Moreover, it was made “with an honesty, a purity and an almost childlike quality that made the difference. Obviously he was very inspired by English humor, which was the only humor I consumed, Benny Hill, Monty Python and so on.”

“Revolutionary” at that time was also the decision to include so-called “bloopers” in the program, “what was then considered only as a curiosity, separate from the programs.”

“There were two taboos on television: if they were filming a comedy, it was unthinkable to see an actor burst into laughter without thinking. In the same way, it was unthinkable for an actor to forget the text or stumble and fall out of the role. Therefore, everything that went on air had to be done with professional smoothness, the first rule. Second rule, cameras are never visible. The cameras had to be hidden at all times. And I broke both rules.”

Looking back today at Canal O Tal, German Jose admits that the program was very “ahead of its time,” primarily due to the “absolutely relevant “time” when “the speed with which everything happens” is precisely what what is used today.

On the other hand, there were technical innovations and even “absolutely incredible details, such as live music.”

German Jose can give such an assessment today, but when asked what his idea of ​​what was happening is, he replies that “it’s the same as asking a marathon runner what he felt at the 23rd kilometer.”

“First I tried not to die, then I tried to keep running, then I tried to see if I could come first, and then I tried to breathe, so the marathon runner doesn’t understand anything, he doesn’t understand. I don’t even know where he went.”

“Fatigue, tension, panic, melancholy, difficulties are so numerous that a person does not have time to feel anything,” he added.

Some of the immortal characters created by German José, such as Estevez or Maximiana (from Amor de Perdisan), came from the times of radio, which established their voice, while many remained behind, stuck in their time, like Marilou or Nelito.

Only one has “aged” along with its author, Estevez, who today is “much cooler than the original, more restrained, funnier, with a much better accent.”

Among the most memorable moments of his career, Germán José recalls a program in which he “joked” with his invited guest, former Porto coach José Maria Pedroto, at the time the most important figure in northern football.” not having a good idea of ​​who he was,” a historical moment that is now part of the Porto Football Club Museum.

Likewise, he recalls the telephone calls he received from Mario Soares, then President of the Republic, with a comment on a particular episode that he received in 1992, to see if he wanted to receive the award.

The only thing left in his mouth was “the stupidity of the Last Supper – on the Congratulations program in 1994 – when the Catholic Church decided to create petitions because they considered it a serious attack on the Church. Then we had the leader of the opposition, who was Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who went to the cardinal to say that yes, sir, he was absolutely right. And he says on television that there are things that should not be done, so as not to shock the beliefs of the majority of Portuguese people. That’s why we lived in such an environment.”

German Jose recalls bitterly that the number of signatures reached 250 thousand, so “it was not such a minority, and it was a little scary.”

Today he feels “a great calm” and sees life as “a moment of fireworks exploding.”

“I still look up at the sky and see the fireworks, knowing that all the canes have fallen and that soon the fire will begin to die out little by little (…) I will be 70 years old. years, and any day things cease to be as they are, but we also cannot suffer from what awaits us. We must stop, enjoy the moment and allow ourselves to be blinded by the fireworks without even thinking that we are susceptible to having a cane taken on our head.”