Daniel Yazbek says his drug addicted parents led to comedy that's funnier than your trauma
For most children, a trip for ice cream is the ultimate treat; for Daniel Yazbek, it was the start of a kidnapping. During a compelling appearance on the Dam Yankee podcast with host Zack Newmark, the South African-born comedian recalled the afternoon his grandmother staged a rescue operation to pull him and his brother out of a household impacted by his parents’ heroin addiction. It would be years before his parents found sobriety, he explained on the podcast, out now on YouTube, with audio-only versions available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and on many more services.
Now the comedian uses these memories to fuel a stage persona that refuses to pull punches. "I think the best comedy comes from being brutally honest," Yazbek told Newmark. He leans into his history to navigate difficult topics, noting, "I feel like I have a Trauma Pass... I can talk about whatever I want because I've seen the worst".
Yazbek sets the scene with a matter-of-fact tone, describing the car ride and the heavy silence of an adult who knew she was changing forever changing the lives of two children. A four-year-old at the time, he recalls the specific flavor of ice cream that day - chocolate - and the sudden realization that this was not a temporary outing for him and his brother, who is three years older. The fallout within the family was unsurprisingly immediate, but Yazbek eventually learned how to confront the deep-seated wounds by taking ownership of his story and his unusually difficult past, similar to his father's approach later in life.
[Hear Daniel recount the "ice cream kidnapping" at 20:30]
This honesty extends to his time as a student in Amsterdam, where he pursued a master’s degree in computer science during the daytime, but always considering it a backup plan to finding his way into comedy clubs. "I was every stereotype; I would find the closest Indian or Asian kid being like, 'Yo, we got to be in the same group,'" Yazbek joked. Uniquely disinterested in his chosen field, Yazbek leaned on his classmates to handle the complex calculations, while he found a knack for presenting their work to classmates.
"I could bullshit my way through anything that I did," he admitted. But he grew increasingly frustrated with the work, with the courses. and with an overall sense of disinterest, especially once he began performing. "Pretty much from my first set, I could not picture myself doing a 9-to-5, and with no offense to my classmates."
And even still, it took time for Yazbek to adequately address issues, like his upbringing and his mental health. "I thought my depression was indigenous to South Africa, but then I moved, and I thought, 'I still kind of feel the same. So maybe it's not the environment,'" he recalled. "I guess I wasn't feeling fulfilled in my life," but that turned around as he put more time and energy into his comedy. He eventually found his sanctuary in the "flow state" of a comedy set, a place where his ADHD finally found a singular target for hyper-focusing.
[Watch Daniel explain the geographic cure fallacy at 11:18 and the comedy flow state at 13:13]
Yazbek has developed a close bond with his father over the years, maintaining that relationship with frequent calls throughout the week. The situation with his mother is far more complicated. His mother turned her struggle into a literary success with her book, Smacked, which was a major bestseller in South Africa, though has been criticized by her son for its one-sided nature. Additionally, the "gruesome detail" of her past was hardly anonymized, forcing Yazbek and his brother to repeatedly admit the book is about their family even as pre-teen adolescents.
But they're trying to find their way towards a closer relationship, Yazbek says. He seems to doubt that it will become as profound as his relationship with his father, which built on a unique foundation of transparency. Instead of the typical distance found in many father-son dynamics, they share a connection built on the ability to discuss the darkest parts of life without shame.
Yazbek beams with pride about his his father, a writer and director whose film, 180, is due to be released on Netflix this year. He feels it is his father's radically honest approach to life that made it possible to feel at peace with his family. "He's funny. He's open. He helps me write jokes about his heroin addiction." He explains his father teaching him, "Whatever it is, it's your story. You have to own it."
[See the moment Daniel reveals his father’s radical advice on drug use at 31:25]
Daniel Yazbek has upcoming solo performances in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and delivers sets weekly at the Clink Comedy Club and The Comedy Room. He and Sjoerd Scott release new episodes of the In The Background podcast bi-weekly. He frequently updates his Instagram and TikTok.
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