English

By: Azad Karimi

I think the biggest motivator needs to be yourself.  If you do something but you don’t believe in it, it doesn’t passionate you and you just do it cause you « need »to or because it’s well paid then you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.

Interview

Luxebourgish- Portuguese Comedian Daniel Moutinho Bernardo

By Azad Karimi

Comedy, as Daniel says, means human connection, and this connection is the manifestation of culture.

You may not believe it, but writing a text for a comic performance is much harder and more complex than melodrama or tragedy texts. To make your audience cry, you use a set of special and conventional elements that create sadness, But you have to be very alert and smart to make the audience laugh because laughter is an almost semi-conscious reaction and for this reason, the audiences themselves cannot predict what makes them laugh. Because in many cases, the audience's reaction through laughter differs from the other person on the same funny subject. . That is, someone laughs sooner and someone else laughs later and no one else laughs, another gets angry and in some cases, even the audience hates or sobs seeing some critical comic scenes ...

By portraying the stupidity of stupid people who claim perfection, the comedians invite the audience to be more rational in their own lifestyle ...

In comedy, we laugh at people who never laugh at themselves because they think that all their thoughts, decisions, and behaviors are perfectly correct, wise, and normal but we see that they are powerless and a toy of their own foolishness and ridiculous pride.

Strong comic texts and great performances by world-class comedians have made this part of the performing arts very popular because even the most careless audiences go to watch typical stupid behaviors to laugh but in the highest possible case, the serious audience goes to watch a comedy and laughing at some human stupidity, which unfortunately there is no cure for their destruction.

Of course, these are my perceptions of the logic of comedy, and others may think differently ...

Anyway, I would prefer to invite the dear readers to the text of my interview with Daniel, a comedian from Luxembourg. Daniel is a talented young man who has many dreams for his future.

I wish success and happiness to dear Daniel.

Thank you!

Vestland-Norway

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1- Please present yourself: Name, education, Civil status and...

.Hi, my name is Daniel Moutinho Bernardo, I’m 32 years old, born in Portugal. I have double nationality, Portuguese and Luxebourgish. I live in Luxembourg for approximately 30 years now. I went to school here in Luxembourg and after school I had extra Portuguese lessons because my parents didn’t want me to forget about my Portuguese side. I wasn’t a bad student but my head was always in the clouds, very distracted. I didn’t go to college, instead, I started working pretty soon. I was 16-17 when I got my first job. Maybe it was too early, maybe it was a mistake but I prefer to think it was what gave me the motivation and mindset I have today. I’m not « too good" for a certain job and I know what it means to work hard in order to get somewhere. Like Jacques Brel once said, « I don’t believe in talent, I believe in hard work, effort, and a lot of sweat in order to achieve your goals ». I’m very lucky to have a girlfriend that supports my projects and gives me a lot of motivation. It’s a long hard way full of obstacles and it would be even harder if I was alone.

2-What is your artistic speciality?

.I like to create. Music, videos, write, try new stuff, new ways of doing things. Even as a kid I was always creating. I did impressions, beatbox or even improvised monologues on an old Fisher Price kids radio. Everytime someone asked what I wanted for my birthday or christmas I asked for music instrumemts, microphones or something where I could record myself. When I got my first job I invested in a little home studio and started recording songs. I still do some music but I found something special in comedy. When I’m writing, when I step on stage or when I’m in front of a camera a have this voice in my head that says « that’s me, that's my world, that’s what i like to do and I’m willing to put the needed effort to do the best work possible". Thath probably the reason why comedy is what got me the most recognition.

3- When and how did you become interested in this field of art?

. I guess the interest was always there. I remember as a kid I was captivated by people performing. No matter what art form, it could be singing, dancing,  painting, acting, I was always captivated and also trying to understand how to reproduce what I just witnessed. Slowly I went from copying to recreating to creating. In 5th grade I recorded a silly song about a rapping sausage. I think it was the first time I recorded a song, it wasn’t a great song but still. With my sister and cousins, we also recreated some sketches from a Portuguese comedy show and filmed them with an old camera that belonged to my dad.

4- Who was your motivator?

.I think the biggest motivator needs to be yourself.  If you do something but you don’t believe in it, it doesn’t passionate you and you just do it cause you « need »to or because it’s well paid then you’re doing it for the wrong reasons. Maybe you’ll do a good job, maybe even a great job. But you will not have the true feeling of satisfaction even when you finish a task gratefully. And you can have motivating people around you that will push you and help you improve your skills but you’ll never have the same raw and exciting motivation that you have when you do something you truly love and are passionate about. As you’ll need to do some sacrifice anyway when you pick a job, you might as well pick the one you love.

5- What was your parent’s reactions?

. They always supported me. I also have to say that I never really wait for some approval. I just do. But my creative projects were never a problem to them. I remember when I organized some hip-hop parties throughout the whole country, my father was kind of the transport guy. We loaded the car with all the cables, microphones, and sound systems. We never needed to rent a truck, that was very practical and nice of him.

6- When did you become such a professional Artist, Writer and Comedian Actor?

. I don’t think I’m a professional yet. I'm on my way to a professional level but there is still some work to do. I’m starting to have a solid ground floor, let’s build the rest of the building. I already did some professional projects but as an artist, I think I’ll call myself professional when I’ll leave my other job for the creative one.

7- Are you thankful and happy because of your activities as an Actor?

. I’m just starting in this area but I’m already thankful for all the opportunities I had till now. I’m thankful for all the super talented people I met and especially for all the knowledge I acquired from working with different artists. I always try to learn something from every experience, good or bad ones. I see every project I work on as an opportunity to show what I can do but also to learn what I didn’t know before. For me, that’s the best way to progress and to improve my craft.

8- Please tell us, what is the Comedy’s logic?

. It looks like a simple question but the more I think about it the more it gets complicated. In my opinion, it’s a question with 1000 possible answers. I could say « if they laugh you did it right if not, you did it wrong » but it’s more complex than that from a technical point of view, comedy is when the unexpected happens and it makes people laugh. For example; I’m trying to hit the baseball with a bat but instead, I throw the bat through the field and it hits the other player. Usually, most people’s reaction is laughing. That’s comedy. Is it good, bad, or great comedy, that's another question? But the logic behind a great funny story is the same as this simple baseball story. What makes it great is the layers and background you add to it. Relatable little details, personal point of view, different opinions. There are lots of things you can add to give a solid structure to your funny story and finally that unexpected surprise moment needs to be the last big explosion that makes everyone laugh and gives this satisfaction feeling but you need that big explosion for the joke to work, otherwise, it’s just a story. Maybe a great story but not a comedy.

9-What is the relationship between comedy and culture? Why should people laugh?

. Comedy is part of the culture. Comedy allows you to talk about some issues with a lighter approach. It’s a good way to establish a conversation around difficult subjects. It can lead to reflection and wake your interest for something you would otherwise miss or avoid. Comedy is communication and communication is culture.

10- How do you see the view about Art, Writing, Culture, Theatre, Cinema and Comedy?

. Art, Writing, Culture, Theatre, Cinema, and Comedy are creatures that survive by eating stories. As long as there are stories to feed them, these creatures will live. Their style may change, evolve but they will live and for a very long time because, trust me, there are lots of stories to tell.

 
11- Can you become one part of the cultural movement for motivation in youth or new generations in your country and so on?

.I believe that anyone who has the guts to create something and show it to the world is at the same time motivating others to do the same. And the more success you have the more you inspire and motivate others. The same happens in sports. If a soccer team from Luxembourg wins the champions league suddenly it will seem less unreachable for other teams and lots of Luxemburgish kids will be motivated to play soccer and aim higher than before. It gives motivation and hope. I’m proud to be part of the first wave of stand-up comedy in Luxembourg. I work hard in order to bring the Luxembourgish comedy scene to a higher level and international level. I’m confident that Luxembourg has lots of talented comedians ready to make people laugh around the world. 

12- How can you help our world become a better place to live?

.Like I already do with my Joss Den Hellen character, teach them the right attitude. This good attitude is not about being right all the time but more about accepting our differences, trying to understand other people’s opinions and experiences, accept a different point of view. Try harder to find solutions instead of just talking about the problems. And of course, more comedy, more laughs.

13- Have you more words to say or suggest for our readers?

. Thanks for reading this. I hope it was interesting and that you learned something. Find out what you really love and work hard to achieve your goals. Read, stay curious, practice, fall, stand up, try again, cry, laugh but don't give up. Oh and one last thing; don’t trust people that claim to have the secret to success. There is no secret just hard work.

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