Okan Seese: Lieber taub als gar kein Vogel

Translated by Archie Clapp

"Hello, my name is Okan Seese and I am deaf. My neighbors love me for that, because I've never called the police for disturbing the peace. But when we play Activity together, the mood can quickly change, at the latest after my tenth victory in a row. But what can I do? Sign language helps.

As a deaf, gay, Turkish-born person, my view of things rarely conforms to the so-called norm. Diversity is part of my existence and art in its diversity is a vital form of expression for me. I am an actor, music translator, sign language poet, presenter and comedian. My work has won me several awards at sign language festivals, so in the deaf scene people have heard of me... I mean: they know my name there.

But the world is not enough, so I finally want to share my love of stand-up comedy with the small group of hearing people. To make sure this isn't just a lot of fun for me, I've brought in comedian Archie Clapp to translate my jokes for hearing people into his language at the same time. Sounds crazy? It is! And that's exactly why the whole thing is very very funny!

With every show the certainty grows that humor is a universal language, with which it is possible to build a bridge between deaf and hearing people. So see for yourself and be my guests at 'Better Deaf Than No Bird at All'."

Comedy