Kaya Yanar

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, West Germany, to Turkish-Arabic immigrants from Antakya. 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 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.