Kaya Yanar
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Kaya Yanar (born 10 May 1973 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany) is a German comedian best known for his comedy show Was guckst du?! (Whaddaya lookin' at?!).
Born to Turkish immigrants from Antakya.[1] While in High School he once told his teacher that he wanted to be a comedian, which made the teacher laugh. In an interview with German talkshow host Johannes B. Kerner Yanar described his childhood as a more liberal one and stated that despite his Turkish nationality he doesn't know any Turkish. After graduating from "Heinrich-von-Gagern-Gymnasium" (High School) at Frankfurt he committed himself to studies in phonetics, American studies and philosophy but left the university prior to graduation.
He is known to a wider German audience for his one-man comedy show Was guckst du?!. In his show the distinctly mediterrean-looking Yanar toys with well-known xenophobic cliches both as host and main performer. For one of his best known sketches about an East Indian, Ranjid and his pet cow (and substitute best friend) Benita, he practised pidgin-English for months, taught by some Indian co-ed friends of his from university.
Yanar's show has advanced the acceptance of multicultural humor in Germany.
In 2006 Yanar ended his comedy show to pursue a movie project. No details or release dates are known as of January 2008.
Contents |
[edit] Filmography
- Was guckst du?! ... Host and main performer
[edit] Notes
- ^ Interview mit Kaya Yanar, TV Direkt (in German). "My parents are Turks, have a Turkish passport and lived in the southernmost city of Turkey: Antakya. ... I have occasionally told that my parents know Arabic. That is how this description of being "half Turkish, half Arab" arose. I am a German with Turkish roots, whose parents know Arabic. That is the best way to describe the situation."
