- Title: GERMANY: Sinasi Dikmen is a Turkish comedian taking Germany by storm
- Date: 15th September 2000
- Summary: FRANKFURT, GERMANY (RECENT) (REUTERS) CLOSE UP SINASI DIKMEN CABARET POSTER ON WALL , PAN TO DIKMAN SELLING TICKETS TO CUSTOMERS ARRIVING AT THEATRE CLOSE UP THEATRE POSTER PAN TO POSTER VARIOUS, AUDIENCE COLLECTING TICKETS (2 SHOTS) VARIOUS, GUESTS SEATED IN FRONT OF STAGE WAITING FOR SHOW TO BEGIN. (5 SHOTS) GV'S BEER BEING DRAWN AND SERVED AT BAR (3 SHOTS) GV'S DIKMEN PERFORMING. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) DIKMEN "I started in 1985. In 1985 I formed the cabaret. In 1983-84 I appeared on the "Scheibenwischer" program of the well-known German cabaret artist Dieter Hildebrandt. I have been performing cabaret ever since." PAN PEOPLE WATCHING PERFORMANCE VARIOUS, DIKMAN PERFORMING WIDE OF AUDIENCE LAUGHING SCU (SOUNDBITE) (German) SINASI DIKMEN "I'm not trying to convey a message, certainly not, but if people get that impression, all the better. I am the only satirical artist who can just as freely criticize foreigners as I can criticize the Germans. I can speak about the Jews, Greeks, Turks, Kurds, Germans I can speak about them freely, and people find it funny." GV'S DIKMEN PERFORMING AND SHOTS OF AUDIENCE SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) DIKMEN "I have never been a Turkish nationalist but I don't want to apply for German citizenship. I am neither particularly proud nor upset by my Turkish nationality. I am me. My humanness starts and finishes with me. I have many characteristics that this society has given me. I come from a Moslem culture, a Turkish culture. That culture gave me many good things and there are also bad things. I don't brag about the good qualities or become upset by the bad ones. This is me, this is what you get from me." GV DIKMEN PERFORMING SCU (SOUNDBITE (German) DIKMEN "I don't hope for anything. I only say what I think, and whether or not people are then getting certain ideas or are made to laugh or start to think that's their own business. The Kabarett is a form of entertainment." SMV AUDIENCE LAUGHING GV DIKMEN PERFORMING/ CUTAWAY AUDIENCE (3 SHOTS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (German) DIKMEN "Everybody has his or her own sense of humour, the Germans laugh about the man who slips on a banana skin. I noticed that the Turks or the foreigners laugh about themselves, so not about the one who slips on the banana skin... GV'S AUDIENCE CLAPPING
- Embargoed: 30th September 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: FRANKFURT, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
- Reuters ID: LVA2FZHZMPOS5DGX27QBFOQTEDHL
- Story Text: A Turkish comedian is taking Germany by storm -- Sinasi Dikmen is one of few foreign artists mastering the art of the German "Kabarett" - a social political satire.
Turkish comedian Sinasi Dikmen has lived in Germany since 1972, actively engaging in German language "Kabarett", a term which - unlike the English "cabaret" - means a political or social satire.
Since the early eighties Sinasi Dikmen made a number of guest appearances on German television. But it wasn't until two and a half years ago when he set up the theatre 'Schneiderei Die Käs' in Frankfurt that he began to gather a big following.
"I started in 1985. In 1985 I formed the cabaret. In 1983-84 I appeared on the "Scheibenwischer" program of the well-known German cabaret artist Dieter Hildebrandt. I have been performing cabaret ever since."
"I'm not trying to convey a message, certainly not, but if people get that impression, all the better. I am the only satirical artist who can just as freely criticize foreigners as I can criticize the Germans. I can speak about the Jews, Greeks, Turks, Kurds, Germans I can speak about them freely, and people find it funny", he says.
As the funniest and most original of only a handful of foreign German language Kabarett artists, Dikmen parodies both the Turks living in Germany and the German attitudes to the Turks.
His shows that play to a small theatre of around eighty people are mainly attended by Germans and he has received some criticism from the Turkish population in Germany to his act.
"I have never been a Turkish nationalist but I don't want to apply for German citizenship. I am neither particularly proud nor upset by my Turkish nationality. I am me. My humanness starts and finishes with me. I have many characteristics that this society has given me. I come from a Moslem culture, a Turkish culture. That culture gave me many good things and there are also bad things. I don't brag about the good qualities or become upset by the bad ones. This is me, this is what you get from me."
"I don't hope for anything. I only say what I think, and whether or not people are then getting certain ideas or are made to laugh or start to think that's their own business.
The Kabarett is a form of entertainment", he says.
The act shown here, 'Mach kein Theater, Türke!' or 'Don't play up Turk' is his latest presentation and deals with his relationship to his two wives, one German and one Turkish.
"Everybody has his or her own sense of humour, the Germans laugh about the man who slips on a banana skin. I noticed that the Turks or the foreigners laugh about themselves, so not about the one who slips on the banana skin but about themselves who slip on the banana skin. So when a Turk falls down, he laughs about himself because he doesn't have enough self-confidence to laugh about the others, so he goes 'Oh, God', he wants to pretend he is self-confident, so he looks around and laughs. A German doesn't laugh about himself but at other people's expense. If the one who is laughed at is Austrian or East Frisian* - basically, the weaker the better for the German." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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