Surinamese-Dutch comedy star Roué Verveer's only English show "rocked" the Comedy Cellar

Surinamese-Dutch comedian Roué Verveer is an all-around entertainer. The television presenter, actor, author, and stand-up has been amusing Dutch audiences with his energetic and sharp humor for 25 years. He hit the ground running after relocating to Amsterdam from Parimaribo, Suriname with his wife in 1999, and even though he's blown audiences away in both of his native languages, he has never really tried a set in English. Except one time at the Comedy Cellar in New York in 2019.

Could a potential foray into English-language comedy be in the works? The comedian can already boast that he has helped draw thousands of people to the Ziggo Dome 14 times, including two solo, Surminamese performances, but he’s just getting started. He sat down with the Dam Yankee podcast, in partnership with NL Times, to discuss the power of the home-court advantage and the allure of stand-up comedy.

Dam Yankee: Your sister used to tape comedy specials from New York and send them to you in Suriname before you ever stepped on stage. Which tapes had the biggest impact on you?

Roué Verveer: Comic View and Def Jam. So, these were mostly Black comedians. Later on, when the internet came, I came across white comedians. I knew they were there back then, but my sister just taped Comic View.

Sometimes she taped a whole show of unknown comedians, and I watched everything. I think the one who got me right away was Dave Chappelle. I was like, "Who’s this guy?" And the voice… He just did it so naturally. But I think Chris Rock was the guy—is the guy—I really relate to. He talks about the same things I talk about. Right?

DY: Did you see the two of them when they were here in Amsterdam together last year?

RV: I’m going to tell you something. Kevin Hart was here last weekend. I didn’t go. I rarely go to American comedians when they perform in Holland. I don’t go to the shows. I fly all the way to America if I want to see them because they are at home.

Here, I think they’re like, "If I say that, maybe they won’t know who I’m talking about. If I say that, maybe they won’t know the neighborhood I’m talking about." They’re keeping things out. But in America, they’re at home. So, I fly all the way to see them there.

I did go to that show here because it was Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle. But I’d rather see that same show in America. In Brooklyn.

DY: I have to ask, you’ve spent all this time going back and forth to the States to see your sister in New York, which is one of the centers for stand-up comedy in the world. Did you ever get up on stage in New York?

RV: I did, and nobody knows it. I was there to support a friend who was going to try at the Comedy Cellar. My friend told the people at the Comedy Cellar that I was a comedian too, and a very good one.

Then he went on YouTube and showed these comedians videos of the Ziggo Dome when I was playing. These American comedians in New York were like, "Who are you?" They saw 17,000 people. They're like, "I’m going to give you a chance.” But I never did it in English before then. They said, “You should! You have one hour to prepare five minutes."

So I got the jokes from my Dutch set which I thought were okay to do there. I went on stage, and the MC, who was the regular MC at the Cellar, said "This guy came from Holland, it’s his first time ever in English, so bear with him."

I came in, I rocked. People start clapping—not laughing—clapping after jokes. I said, “Thank you very much.” And then the MC came up, he's like. “What the fuck, is he lying to me? This isn’t the first time.” He gave me his Instagram and told me if I ever come back to the Cellar I can get play time.

DY: There's gotta be a small part of you that thinks about whether or not to do it at some point.

RV: Maybe, maybe. You inspire me to. Maybe I have to try here at the English stand-up comedy clubs. And then maybe Sweden. But if I ever play in English I’m going to say that it started here. I’ll say, “That damn yankee told me to get my ass to America and go tell jokes!”

Listen to this entire episode of Dam Yankee wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the full videos on YouTube. Verveer comments on the evolution of comedy in the Netherlands, why vegans get on his nerves, and his views on cancel culture.

Verveer will perform his fifth live Christmas special, A Very Funny Christmas, this December complete with comedy, singing, dancing, storytelling, and a live band. Tickets for A Very Funny Christmas will be available later in the year. Tickets for his current tour around the Netherlands can be purchased on his website starting at 19 euros, and up to 37,50 euros.