Martina Hill talks about the Amazon Prime Show “LOL” and the beginnings of her career

In addition to Anke Engelke and Bastian Pastewka, you are part of the crew in the second season of the comedy format “LOL” on Amazon Prime. What is special about the hit show for you?

I don’t think there has ever been a comedy show in which so many top-class comedians meet at once and are then locked together in one room for six hours. Is that even allowed?

Anyone who laughs at the gags and skits of their colleagues in this format is quickly out …

And to force yourself not to laugh or even to grin for hours, that is really inhuman! And that’s exactly what makes the show so attractive in my eyes. As a viewer, you can put yourself in the position of the candidates, you can cheer, empathize, torment yourself, because everyone knows from their own experience how difficult it is. Everyone still remembers that oppressive feeling from school when the teacher threatens to throw you out of class if you laugh again.

One of your successful TV formats is called “Knallerfrauen”. What makes a great woman for you personally in 2021?

For me, in the end, every woman is a great woman. Everyone has to carry their own package and that under the most varied of conditions. Anyone who tries to do their best every day and manages to remain friendly to their fellow human beings despite all adversities is a hit for me.

Has the emancipation and equality of women suffered a setback as a result of the corona crisis? Keywords: homeschooling, home office etc.

It would be nice if there had been equal rights before Corona. But unfortunately that is not the case. The corona crisis is a burden for everyone. But especially for families with daycare or school children. As a rule, the parent who earns less takes care of the children. It is more of a step back into old role stereotypes than into modern family models with equal rights.

It is particularly difficult for single parents!

Exactly, and more than 80 percent of them in Germany are women. If the daycare and school suddenly close, it becomes a great challenge because home office is not always possible. And even then it often becomes a balancing act.

For a long time you didn’t know what you wanted to do for a living and only started in your mid-twenties.

At a private school, exactly. Because at that time it lasted not four, but only two years. On the one hand, this abbreviation was a great advantage; on the other hand, the training was so expensive that I had to move back to my old children’s room at home: school during the day, behind the counter at night, conversations with mom in the morning.

How did that feel?

At first like a relapse! You are standing on your own two feet, proud like Bolle of your first apartment, and then suddenly you hear yourself saying sentences like: “What is lunch today?” or “Don’t wait for me, it’s getting late today!” Help! In retrospect, however, the time was a gift: I was able to clarify a few family issues with my parents that had not yet been dealt with, and the social studies that I was able to carry out as a waitress still help me with my work today.

You’re slowly approaching 50 and looking great!

Oh thank you! Of course I sometimes look in the mirror and think: Oh no … I’m not going to take part today! But in general I don’t feel like 47. I don’t feel a number at all. I think I stopped feeling any age when I was around 35. I keep forgetting how old I am. I also don’t want to fix my attitude towards life and my mental agility to a number.

Because age is just a number?

Physically, there is nothing wrong with aging. Just as little as gravity. My body is 47 years old. That’s a fact! But it still remains a matter of inner attitude. And that has definitely changed for me over the years. As a teenager, I thought that when you were 50 you were ancient. Not today.

What do you enjoy about growing up?

Everything! I don’t want to be a day younger and certainly not 35 or even 25.

And why not? Mid-30s is a great age.

Of course that was great. I don’t want to miss this time either. But the woman I was then has nothing to do with the Martina I am today.

Can you tell us the most serious differences between today’s and the younger Martina Hill?

I used to be a feather in the wind. Today I know what I want and what I don’t want. In the past few years I have learned to listen to myself a lot more, to deal with myself better and not to take everything too seriously.

Do you believe in fate or prediction?

I believe that everything is interrelated and that nothing in the world just happens.

Is it also because you have had relevant experience?

Yes. For example, it took me forever to know what I wanted to do for a living. But when I finally had clarity, encounters and things suddenly arose in my life that always brought me a little closer to my goal. It was a long way and at times I had doubts, but I was hardworking and thanks to lucky coincidences everything came together in the end. Of course, I only realize that now and from a long way off.

And what if you do raise doubts?

Then I can remember this time well and say to myself: Martina, just don’t worry! Everything in life takes time. And even if I don’t see it now and it doesn’t feel like it at all: Everything has its meaning and everything will turn out fine!

What do you think is the key to a contented and happy life?

Every single day brings with it much more joy and ease if we worry as little as possible. I once read that, according to studies, more than 80 percent of all worries we humans make are totally unfounded. We are wasting too much valuable energy and time worrying all the time about the blank slate of our future.