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Kaya Yanar
Born (1973-05-20) 20 May 1973 (age 51)
Frankfurt am Main, West Germany
OccupationComedian
Years active2001–present
Known forWas guckst du?!

Kaya Yanar (born 20 May 1973) is a German comedian, best known for his comedy show Was guckst du?! (Whatcha lookin' at?!).[1]

Early life

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Yanar was born in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany, to Turkish immigrants from Antakya.[2] 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 cannot speak 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.

Career

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Yanar in 2015

In his one-man comedy show Was guckst du?!, 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 practiced pidgin-English for months, which he learned from some Indian friends of his from university. He also parodies the stereotypical way Turkish migrants use to speak.

Furthermore, he toured through Germany with solo programmes. Fixations of his programmes "Made in Germany" (2008), "Live und unzensiert" (2009) and "All Inclusive!" (2013) were broadcast by German TV station RTL.

He also presented the ZDF show "Kaya Yanar testet Deutschland – die Multi-Kulti-Show (2007)" as part of a theme week focusing on integration. Because of his great success being without precedent for an artist with Turkish migration background in the German-speaking countries at the time of his appearance, Yanar is considered as a key figure and trailblazer for the acceptance of multicultural issues.[3]

Since December 2012, Yanar is godfather of the "Heinrich-Middendorf-Oberschule Aschendorf" in the project "Schule ohne Rassismus – Schule mit Courage" ("School without racism – school with courage").

In 2014, RTL started broadcasting his show "Geht's noch?! Kayas Woche", a weekly current affairs programme with a mixture of stand-up comedy and political satire.

Yanar is also a member of the jury in the German "Comedy Grand-Prix", an annual comedy contest which is broadcast on TV to seek the "best German comedian".[4][5]

Personal life

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Kaya is a vegan (formerly pescetarian); he is an animal rights activist and supports PETA.

Selected filmography

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Discography

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CDs

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DVDs

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Books

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Awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Kaya Yanar". Comedians in Deutschland.de. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  2. ^ Interview mit Kaya Yanar, TV Direkt (in German, archived version from 2010). "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."
  3. ^ Boran, Erol (2004). Geschichte des türkisch-deutschen Theaters und Kabaretts (Thesis). Ohio State University. Archived from the original on 6 September 2006.
  4. ^ "RTL Comedy Grand-Prix: Jury".
  5. ^ "News.de: Comedy Grand-Prix".
  6. ^ "Die Biografie von Kaya Yanar". RTL.de. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
Other sources
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kaya Yanar.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Kaya Yanar.
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