It’s allowed to have creases, but they shouldn’t be too deep. Small dimples are wanted, one on the left and one on the right, two dimples at the top of the brown fabric. And then, of course, the brim, it should be neither too narrow nor too wide, and especially not too wide. “Otherwise it looks like you’ve got a parasol on your head.”
This man avoids the brimmed umbrella, preferring the screen. During the video shoot, he wore his hat. For a few minutes he slipped into his artificial character “Harry G”, protected and grumpy, as many have known him since he was ten years ago started with Youtube clips. Since then, if you will, he has his hat on in the scene.
It’s Wednesday noon and Markus Stoll is talking on the phone – that’s Harry G’s name in life away from the stage, when he’s tucked his hat away as he just did. Yes, says the 43-year-old, not so irresponsibly: The importance of the hat for him and his comedian career is enormous, almost “decisive”.
“This connection was career-defining for me”
It’s just a piece of clothing for the head. An accessory. But for him it’s more since he first appeared in front of the camera in 2013. At that time, Stoll wore his father’s old traditional hat and handed out fashion misconduct at the Oktoberfest, that’s how you can see it. “Fully lubricated” visitors, for example, “dressed up like peonies with their tulle dirndl from Lodenfrey”. Beatings that brought him fans, not only, but not a few. Hit with a hat: “This combination was career-defining for me.”
Born in Regensburg, he now has almost 200,000 YouTube subscribers, fills large halls and can be seen in TV, cinema and streaming productions. The life of the former business economist has more than changed in ten years. And if you look closely, you’ll see that Harry G’s hat has also evolved.
In 2013 he put his hat on for the first time in front of the camera – because a mishap had happened
The current hat is light brown, the previous model from the father was forest green. And he probably wouldn’t have put it on if he hadn’t had a mishap back then – shortly before the start of the Oktoberfest 2013: Stoll’s self-experiment with the long hair trimmer ended with an unwanted stubble. He had underestimated the device – and came to the conclusion that his face had noticeably improved. So for the time being he put his hat over his hair – and wore it until the second mishap happened.
Almost exactly one year later, the Oktoberfest again: this time the 34-year-old had his hairstyle under control, but not his father’s traditional hat. He got out of control in the Oktoberfest turmoil in 2014. “I lost my hat,” he says. So he got a replacement: a made-to-measure item made of traditional wool from a small Munich hat maker, with fine dimples at the top and a subtle brim at the bottom – not curved downwards at the front as before, but slightly upwards.
He wears this second hat to this day. They both got a little more wrinkles. He and his woolen companion, which he always takes with him now that he’s on tour again. A material for his stories on stage or in front of the camera. While he’s on the phone, his woolly companion lies in a “hardcover hat box that’s fit for travel,” says Stoll. This avoids damage or even the déjà vu of a loss. And so they should both remain well protected for a while.
In “Favorite Things” people talk about what their hearts are about, what accompanies them through life, what brings them happiness and what they would never part with.