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

Early life

Yanar was born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, to

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

-Arabic immigrants from

Antakya Antakya (), historically known as Antioch ( el, Ἀντιόχεια; hy, Անտիոք, Andiok), is the capital of Hatay Province, the southernmost province of Turkey. The city is located in a well-watered and fertile valley on the Orontes Rive ...

. 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 Johannes Baptist Kerner (born 9 December 1964) is a German television host, journalist, and former sportscaster. Early life Born in Bonn, Kerner was raised in Hersel, Bornheim, in a Catholic household. He attended boarding school at Aloisiu ...

Yanar described his childhood as a more liberal one and stated that despite his Turkish nationality, he cannot speak the

Turkish language Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant sma ...

. After graduating from Heinrich-von-Gagern- Gymnasium (a school in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

) he studied phonetics, American studies and philosophy but left university prior to graduation.

Career

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. 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. Kaya 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".

Personal life

Kaya is a vegan (formerly pescetarian), he is an animal rights activist and he supports

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, an ...

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) * 2009-2011:

Schillerstraße ''Schillerstraße'' (''Schiller Street'') was a German improvisational comedy show that aired weekly on Sat.1. It was recorded without a script and broadcast unedited to a large extent. The American broadcaster Fox has earned the licence for ''S ...

* since 2011: Stars bei der Arbeit (with Dieter Tappert as ''Paul Panzer'') * 2012: Die Kaya Show (Actor and Host) * 2012: * 2013: Typisch Deutsch * 2014: Geht's noch?! Kayas Woche

Discography

CDs

* 2001: ''Suchst du'' * 2003: ''Welttournee durch Deutschland'' * 2008: ''Made in Germany Live'' (DE #32)

DVDs

* 2004: ''Was guckst du?! – Best of Staffel 1–4'' * 2008: ''Made in Germany Live'' * 2008: ''Was guckst du?! – Best of Staffel 5–8'' * 2009: ''Live und unzensiert'' * 2011: ''Kaya Yanar & Paul Panzer Stars bei der Arbeit'' * 2015: ''Around the world''

Books

* 2011: ''Made in Germany'' beim

Heyne Verlag The Heyne Verlag (formerly Wilhelm Heyne Verlag) is a German publisher based in Munich, which was founded in Dresden in 1934 and sold to Axel Springer in 2000. In 2004 it became part of Random House. Heyne was one of the largest publishing houses ...

Awards

* 2001:

Deutscher Fernsehpreis The Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''German Television Award'') is an annual German award for television programming, created in 1999 by German television channels Das Erste, ZDF, RTL and Sat.1. It was created to be an equivalent to the Emmy Awards, t ...

''Beste Comedy'' for ''Was guckst du?!'' * 2001:

Deutscher Comedypreis The Deutscher Comedypreis ("German Comedy Award") is awarded by Brainpool TV. Because Brainpool's in-house productions have received extensive awards, the designation as the ''German Comedy Award'' is controversial. The awards ceremony takes plac ...

''Beste Comedysendung'' for ''Was guckst du?!'' * 2001:

Romy (TV award) The Romy television award in honor of the German-born and naturalized French actress Romy Schneider, born in Vienna, was created in 1990 by the Austrian newspaper ''Kurier'' – or rather their movie reviewer Rudolf John, who also designed th ...

''Beste Programmidee'' for ''Was guckst du?!'' * 2001: Civis media prize * 2005: ''Grüne Palme'' for outstanding contribution to international understanding (für besondere Verdienste um die Völkerverständigung) * 2009: Golden record for the DVD ''Made in Germany-Live'' * 2012: Comedy-Award * 2013:

''Bestes TV-Soloprogramm'' for ''Kaya live! All inclusive'' * 2014:

''Bester Komiker''

Notes

References

''Time'' magazine article on Kaya Yanar and ''Was guckst du?''
(archived version from 2010)

External links

* *
Kaya Yanar's Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yanar, Kaya German male comedians German people of Turkish descent Living people 1973 births Television people from Frankfurt Sat.1 people RTL Group people