Şenay Duzcu is a Turkish-German

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

. She is often referred to as "Germany's first female German-Turkish stand-up comedian".

Comedian career

Duzcu admits that she was restricted as a child by her parents, and at school, she was very reserved and never wanted to attract attention because that was expected from a Turkish girl. During a job as a tour leader at an art exhibition, she discovered her talent for inspiring ordinary people while telling stories and anecdotes. She initially planned to become an actress. However, her father did not allow it. She pursued a career as a full-time

, after she reached the final in the comedy category in the

talent show A talent show or talent contest is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are p ...

"Star-Search" in 2003. Television appearances in "Night Wash", "Ladies Night", "Comedy Tower" and "Nuhr im Ersten" followed. She is often referred to as "Germany's first female German-Turkish stand-up comedian". Beside holding on-stage comedy shows in theaters at various cities, she also appears on many radio and television programs. Duzcu talks about German/Turkish cultural differences with heart-warming humor. She explains the relations of first-generation Turks with Germans in a humorous way, using examples from her parents. She adds that Turkish humor thrives more on imitating people, on

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

and physicality, while German humor uses more

word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, ph ...

. She tries to mirror both cultures through her comedy. She also believes that seminars are not useful for the integration of immigrants, and empathy is more important. She says "I am not a diplomat or a politician. But if the work I do provides this additionally, that's a good thing." Wearing a red free-hanging short skirt, she starts her show on stage introducing herself as being from Turkey, from the fourth-largest city, Duisburg. She says that "the Turk in me is always late for work, but on the other hand, the German in me always finishes on time!"

Personal life

Born in Turkey, Şenay Duzcu was brought to

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

, Germany at three years of age by her immigrant parents. She grew up in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. Diagnosed with

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

, reading and spelling weaknesses, she was sent to a low-level

Hauptschule A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...

for secondary education. After finishing high school at 19, she received a scholarship for intellectually gifted students during her study of architecture in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, and earned a diploma. She later started

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

studies. She lived for a while in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

. She emphasizes that

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where she worked as an

au pair An au pair (; : au pairs) is a person working for, and living as part of, a homestay, host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family’s responsibility for child care as well as some homemaking, housework, and receive a monetary ...

, as well as

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

and

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, Turkey, where she stayed for a semester during her university education, influenced her. Currently, she resides in

Nippes, Cologne Nippes (; ) is the fifth borough (') of Cologne, Germany. Nippes was incorporated into the city of Cologne in 1888 and the district was created in 1975. A large Ford Europe production plant is located in Niehl, the north-eastern part of the di ...

Awards

In 2007, Duzcu received the "Deutsch-Türkischer Freundschaftspreis" ("German-Turkish Friendship Prize").

References

External links

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Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duzcu, Senay Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Turkish women Turkish emigrants to West Germany German people of Turkish descent People from Duisburg Comedians from Cologne German stand-up comedians German women comedians Turkish stand-up comedians Turkish women comedians 21st-century German comedians 21st-century Turkish comedians Year of birth missing (living people)