AS MENTIONED IN the previous chapter, Grabbe's first comedy, Scherz, Satire, Ironie und tiefere Bedeutung, also had to be adapted to the demands of state censorship before its publication within Dramatische Dichtungen von Grabbe. Nebst einer Abhandlung über die Shakspearo-Manie in 1827. The Lustspiel was originally composed within a few weeks during the summer of 1822, shortly after the completion of Gothland. Following Ludwig Tieck's disapproving reaction to the tragedy's nihilistic pessimism, Grabbe sent him a copy of Scherz, Satire, Ironie und tiefere Bedeutung in December 1822, with an assurance that “ich will mich von jetzt an bemühen, bloß heitere Sachen zu dichten” (HKG 5:53).

The mood of Scherz, Satire is certainly less oppressive than that of Gothland, but in other respects the two plays have much in common. A hint that the comedy's author had not moved beyond the pessimism of Gothland is contained within a letter from Grabbe to Kettembeil written in December 1827, in which the playwright refers to the “Lachen der Verzweiflung” that he expects his comedy to provoke. Though less brutal than Grabbe's early tragedy, Scherz, Satire contains episodes that involve callous violence and the undermining of family ties. Finally, like Gothland, the Lustspiel has an anti-classical form as well as an assertively complex plot intended to perplex the reader or spectator.

Grabbe's comedy tells the story of a visit by the devil to an unnamed German village. He is discovered shivering on a hilltop by a passing scientist and, more accustomed to the fiery climate in hell, freezes solid during their first encounter.