Kaya Yanar
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Kaya Yanar (born 20 May 1973 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany) is a German comedian best known for his comedy show Was guckst du?! (Whaddaya lookin' at?!).
He was born to Turkish immigrants from Antakya.[1] While at 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 have a perfect grasp of the Turkish language. After graduating from Heinrich-von-Gagern-Gymnasium (a school in Frankfurt) he studied phonetics, American studies and philosophy but left university prior to graduation.
In his one-man comedy show Was guckst du?! the distinctly mediterranean-looking Yanar toys with well-known cultural stereotypes 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, which he learned from some Indian friends of his from university.
Yanar's show has advanced the acceptance of multicultural humour in Germany[citation needed].
In 2006 he ended his comedy show to pursue a film project. No details or release dates are known as of January 2008.
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[edit] Selected filmography
2004: Was guckst du?! – Season 1–4
2008: Made in Germany Live
2008: Dekker & Adi - Wer bremst verliert!
2008: Was guckst du?! – Season 5–8
2009: Live und unzensiert (Live and uncensored)
[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."
