“Gerry Lächnfinga” – what a name! Not a real one, that’s for sure. But, as it turns out after a meeting that was as amusing as it was interesting, a synonym for creative versatility. First and foremost, however, the man from Markt Schwaben chose a protective pseudonym because in real life he works as a social worker and gestalt therapist with people in difficult life situations.
In addition, Lächnfinga is a hobby drummer, a mental coach for a sports team, has written a book, more on that later, and runs the podcast “The cigar couch – in the smoke channel of life’s questions”. In addition to cigars and a suitable drink, this “classic lockdown project” is about everything from football to films, music, books and sports to sex.
This audio project is also the origin of the stage name, which was inspired by his podcast partner and colleague Maria: The “icy cold hand” that she put on his arm one day felt like “corpse fingers – and it was immediately clear to me that that I have to make something out of it”. The result, after a transformation into Austrian, even sounds really elegant as “Lächnfinga”. Incidentally, the first name “Gerry” is a homage to Robert Palfrader as Gerhard “Gerri” Tschach in the series “Braunschlag” – a soft spot that says a lot about the social worker.
The passion for incense gave the podcast “Cigarrencouch” its name. The humidor in the corner of the living room has space for up to 400 cigars.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
Lächnfinga sounds like a simple Austrian in his podcast. “I could also speak like Willi from Maya the Bee or even like Gerhard Schröder,” laughs the 41-year-old. In the shower he practiced what he could last the longest. In the end, even a Viennese woman who was a guest in one of the now 70 episodes was dazzled by the result. She was just surprised that he sounded so different during the preliminary phone call than in the podcast.
Talking names are the trigger for the novel
Perhaps the “multicultural” career of the native of Lower Bavaria is responsible for this linguistic adaptability: Having grown up in the Allgäu, he moved to Upper Bavaria with his Franconian wife after studying in the Upper Palatinate. But it may also be a trait of this man with a very special sense of comedy. The latter was definitely the trigger for the creation of “Transwaggon“, a highly unusual western crime thriller with elements of therapy and splatter, due out in late 2022.
Its beginnings go back to 2018, when the USA fan came up with a few meaningful names. Couldn’t “Handcuffs” be beautifully made into a female deputy (“Handy Cuffs”)? “Trench Coat” (DEA agent) and “Father Morgana” (who found God in prison) followed. This gave rise to the idea of giving each of the twelve characters a biography and letting them meet in the town of Transwaggon, where their fate then ends in a terrible way…
At the end of a day and night whose keynote is the drumming of the indigenous people, in northeastern New Mexico some find death, others purification, redemption, or all together. But which of the characters is closest to the author? You bet on social worker “Joss Tisse”, whose life guidelines are initially empathy and justice. After five years in Transwaggon, as a mediator for the “dirt movers”, he has become acquainted with all imaginable vices, but he has retained his loyalty to his clients.
The tattoo artist “Flash Tunnel” is Lächnfinga’s favorite character
But it isn’t. “I like them all. Trench Coat, for example, has a patience and coolness that I don’t have,” replies the creator of these characters, who have each gone through their own evolution. But he prefers “Flash Tunnel”: Thanks to his “Apache tears”, the tattoo artist not only has a very special connection to the natives, he is also practically the only one whose relationship with his own parents is untroubled. Another sign of what makes the thriller so individual: Each character deals intensively with their demons – sometimes supported by the advice of an expert.
Is this aspect due to a sense of mission, as is often attributed to therapists and social workers? Especially since the approach to the podcast – “with a certain ease we want to take the time for good conversations, in which the therapist sits next to you quite casually, so to speak” – shows that the Schwabener market is to a certain extent not out of its (professional) skin can out.
But no, there is no sign of missionary zeal in the author, whose life experiences include working in shifts in the metalworking shop and addiction counseling. But what the 41-year-old undoubtedly has: an antenna for problems, a feeling for nuances, and no hesitation in putting your finger in a wound.
A cigar cutter and a smoky quartz “Apache teardrop” (in the background) play important roles in the novel.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
Which is inevitable when you deal with people in crisis situations on a daily basis. But this is precisely where his sense of humor comes in handy, which shouldn’t hide the fact that the Schwabener market always acts seriously in its job. “As a social worker, you don’t sit there with an either/or, you want to make the gray area tangible. That’s also more honest with those affected,” he says. In addition, as a Gestalt therapist, he learned to recognize the “good in the bad”.
Hobbies, which also flow into the literary work, provide a balance. As a drummer, he knows how to get into a trance with just one beat, and his fondness for stoner rock connects him with his characters. “On the way to work, however, jazz, blues or BR classics are played on the radio. That’s the best way to calm down with Auto-Tourette.”
The saloon was planned and built in-house, with horseshoes heated on the stove being branded on the wood.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
Lächnfinga’s “Copper Coin” bar, which of course has the same name as the saloon in the book, was planned and built by him himself. The walls of the living room are adorned with 420 golden irises, hand dabbed onto the red wall to give the impression of Victorian wallpaper. There is a humidor in the corner next to the tobacco-colored sofa. Incidentally, the novel by the cigar expert owes an important episode to the penchant for tobacco products.
“I was sitting on the balcony and smiling slightly, this knife was lying there … then everything was clear,” says the Tarantino fan with a mischievous look in his eyes. In fact, this very torture scene, which should be read quickly by the faint-hearted, provides proof that violence is not portrayed in this book for its own sake. And that when reading, the imagination often paints bloodier pictures than any description.
But there are always pauses for breath, really funny moments, for example when the saloon becomes the meeting point of the local women’s association for “traditional western embroidery”, or when it comes to Schrödinger’s cat – another proof of the range of the work: here splatter, there philosophy.
In the living room there is no doubt that USA fans live here. Lächnfinga bought the boots, which have since been resoled several times, in Tombstone (Arizona) in 2012.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
One last question remains: How does this man behave in real life? “He’s definitely someone who has a lot of ideas,” replies the wife and laughs. She doesn’t know him any other way, he’s always been interested in many things and has found his way into everything. So it will be interesting to see what this, according to his wife, “creative but also profound person” comes up with next.
In the case of the podcast, the hundred episodes should definitely still be full. And even if there shouldn’t be a sequel to “Transwaggon”, the creative market in Swabia asserts: it certainly won’t be boring. “I’ll find something. Even if it’s traditional western embroidery.”