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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Ethnic Merman

Inanç Karacaylak

YouTube · 2026

An immigrant kiteboarding instructor works a loose Oakland room.

Watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Released , on YouTube.

Fifteen years into doing stand-up, Oakland comic Inanç Karacaylak opens his debut special by sizing up a room he tells has never seen so many white people, adding that he hopes the tape ends up on Netflix rather than Fox News. Filmed on April 16, 2025 at Oakland music venue The Sound Room, where Karacaylak co-hosts the monthly StorySlam show, the special went up free on YouTube in February 2026 to modest viewership alongside his SF Sketchfest 2026 appearance. Originally billed for taping as Aggravated Ethnic Merman, the set relies on loose crowd work and stories from his life as a Turkish-born abstract painter and ocean kiteboarding instructor. Highlights include lugging a board bag through Des Moines and Kansas City airports before getting U.S. citizenship, getting called “Mr. Al-Qaeda” at the beach, and pretending he hates immigrants now that he has papers. The material stays unstructured and conversational, drifting through audience banter about “great Caucasians,” pro-choice wordplay, and a dedication to his grandmother and a minister named Dr. Hal Reed.

Notable bits & set list

3 bits

  1. Life as a foreign exchange student from Turkey navigating language barriers

  2. Anecdotes from his career as an ocean kitesurfing instructor

  3. Challenges of becoming a U.S. citizen as a brown guy

How it plays

On stage
Storyteller blending quick wit with improvisational crowd work
About
Immigration and citizenship, Language barriers, Life as a foreign exchange student, Kitesurfing

Backstory

Taped at The Sound Room where Karacaylak co-hosted the monthly StorySlam Oakland; reflects his background as a Turkish immigrant and ocean kitesurfing instructor.

Details

Released
Taped
2025, The Sound Room, Oakland
Where
YouTube
Topics

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