Cem Yilmaz: Diamond Elite Platinum Plus

I think the audience is divided into two: 1- Those who compare it with previous similar works and ignore creativity and effort (which audiences can't enjoy almost any production they watch). 2- Those who just go with the flow and experience the journey of the story told, (if you are in this category it means that you laughed well 3-5 times, which may have exceeded 10 or even 20 for me). So, anything less than 8 points would be unfair, +1 also my own opinion because we laugh at very few things sincerely these days. It's EXTRA VALUABLE in this respect.

I want to leave a final word to first category: "Some people feel the rain, others just get wet." Ha bu da böyle biline.

Too many contradictions he told in this 1.5 hours. Is it okay to stand up comedian can say contradict things because it's joke? No. Even lets say it's fiction charecter. Even this charecter should keep a line. Contradictions: "I can't take vacations. It was 1985 last time I went vacation." After this statement he tells jokes happened while he was vacationing on 3 millions euro cost yacht. And he claims he is very an average income guy. Jerry Seinfeld, Lewis C. K they talk about money too in their shows but never claims they average Joe. They say they are rich. If someone telling you lies for sake of jokes it's insulting.

His take on the people who wish to help others if they win lottery " if you are a good person what are you doing at lottery ticket line". I didn't know that buying lottery ticket makes you bad.

A lot of complaining / jokes about his fans who try to talk to him or take a selfie with him. Jokes are funny if you can get common ground and so you can say "yea it happened to me or I witness same situation. So no one has these problems. Obviously he lost touch with common people.

It's always difficult to watch Cem's standup shows after seeing the heights he had reached in his previous shows. The expectation levels are set high. This show does fall below par some of his previous work but, it's still enjoyable.

Like most of his previous work he pokes fun at cultural behaviours. There were funny ones and not so funny ones. There was even a moment where one of his jokes failed and there was an awkward silence.

He didn't engage with the audience as much as he used to. There was only one interaction which didn't end up being a laugh out loud moment.

Overall, I did enjoy it and would recommend it.

Lately, Turkey has been going through very hard periods of time regarding economics, politics and social peace and acceptance at the top of the worldwide pandemic. Most professionals would refuse to perform under these circumstances because Turkish society has been experiencing such a breakdown over politics at every aspect of life and suffering polarization and hate. It is definitely not easy to make such people laugh under these conditions for sure. I am lucky that I live in the US so I did not miss the greatness of this show. Some Turkish people think he lost his connection with the Turkish people because he has started talking about the wealthy and rich. I am not sure what kind of nationality wealthy and rich people in Turkey are and why they are not considered as 'people' but it was so funny to hear about their life and challenges. My favorite part was where he brought awareness to the homophobia in Turkey. Cem Yilmaz is not only a stand up he is also a very talented drama artist. He can make any voice and imitate any person in this world. He uses his body language, mimics, gestures, his voice and vocals, his incredible ability to mimic others, dance, sing, etc. In such a way only drama artists employ. Anyway... he made me laugh a lot and that's what matters to me the most. No one in Turkey is as happy as 20 years ago including his unrelenting political opposers since he is known for his undeniable respect for Ataturk. Cem reflects this widespread cloud of discontent and unhappiness over the country in his performance without any hesitation. He is an artist not a politician so he shares his protests through his art.

The show isn't too bad. But it does feel like Cem's just "funny" ranting instead of doing stand up. If you're not Turkish or very well versed in Turkish culture this isn't for you. You might enjoy Cem's previous stand up though.

The funniest bit was the last joke about Nasreddin Hoca. Probably the best weed joke I've heard in ages. Considering weed isn't socially acceptable in Turkey I was surprised he included the bit.

All in all I really enjoyed it. I love Cem and his stand up. He's basically the only stand up I even know from Turkey but Esp some of his older stuff is brilliant. I hope netflix keeps making more Turkish content. On a sorta unrelated note I really appreciate that they have Turkish subs etc even in countries outside of Turkey that have large Turkish minorities. As my parents who don't speak English love the fact that they can watch foreign shows with Turkish subtitles and dubs.

If you're looking to learn about Turkish culture. Comedy is never really a good way to learn about a culture (as a beginner). You're better of watching something else since you won't understand most of his jokes or humor. If you're trying to learn more about Turkish culture and you're already pretty deep into it, then this might help.