Kaya Yanar

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. ["Interview mit Kaya Yanar", [http://www.tvdirekt.de/interview-kaya-yanar.html 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."] While in highschool 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 (a highschool in Frankfurt) he committed himself to studies in phonetics, American studies and philosophy but left university prior to graduation.

In his one-man comedy show "Was guckst du?!" 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 GermanyFact|date=August 2008.

In 2006 he ended his comedy show to pursue a movie project. No details or release dates are known as of January 2008.]

elected Filmography

* "Was guckst du?!" ... Host and main performer

Notes

References

* [http://www.time.com/time/pacific/magazine/20010702/show.html "Time" magazine article on Kaya Yanar and "Was guckst du?"]

External links

*imdb name|0945883