If you are practically running the economy of over half a continent (into the ground, some would say), perhaps it’s a job requirement to put on a poker face when dealing with world leaders in front of cameras. Angela Merkel has mastered it. Sometimes, though, the German chancellor has let her guard slip, letting the whole wide world know exactly what she was thinking with that now-famous roll of her eyes.
You can’t blame her, really. Imagine having to suffer the likes of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin drone on endlessly or Theresa May negotiate the shambles that’s her Brexit deal. Still, it is not a good look for a world leader.
Luckily for Merkel, Tracey Ullman is at hand to help.
In the BBC topical comedy series Tracey Breaks the News, the English comic sketches real life characters dealing with real world problems. Probably the funniest sketch is about “Angela Merkel’s poker face problem”. In it, following the 2017 eye-roll at Putin, an aide coaches the chancellor on how to keep her poker face on permanently. Does it work?
