Django Asül

Django Asül — Biography

Django Asül, born Uğur Bağışlayıcı, is a Turkish-German cabaret performer, comedian and actor who grew up in the Bavarian town of Hengersberg; his stage work satirizes Bavarian politics and the everyday life of Turks in Germany. Trained as a bank clerk and tennis instructor, he long declined German citizenship because he wanted to be recognized as a Turkish performer, and between 2004 and 2008 he served as an honorary representative of the Bavarian state government. He began touring with solo shows in 1997 and gained national attention after appearing on RTL's 7 Tage 7 Köpfe; delivering much of his act in the Lower Bavarian dialect gave him a distinctive place on the German cabaret scene. He also wrote newspaper columns, including for the Münchener Abendzeitung, and in 2007 produced Django Asül, Türkiye'de for ZDF, a program following Turkish-Germans traveling between Berlin and Istanbul. Over his career he has won awards such as the Ravensburger Kupferle and the Bayerischer Kabarettpreis, and as an actor he has appeared in the long-running crime series Tatort.