Today CheapInMadrid is talking to Expat Dan Feist. This Wisconsin native first came to Spain when he was 22. Besides teaching English and writing a bilingual column for the newspaper “20minutos,” Dan is also a comedian. He’s one of the founders of the JaJaHa! comedy troupe. They perform every month in English here in Madrid.
CiM: Why did you move to Madrid?
Dan: I came here in 2000 to study Spanish at university. My aunts and uncles had studied in Europe and had told me they had an awesome time. They said “You don’t get to see the pictures!” And I thought “I have to take pictures like that myself!” I met my wife here. I returned to the US to finish my degree. And then I came back and settled here permanently in 2002.
CiM: What was your first involvement in comedy?
Dan: My first active involvement in comedy would be a comedy workshop that the Giggling Guiri supported. They brought in Logan Murray, a long time working comedian in Britain. Actually all the original members of JAJAHA! were in that workshop. And from there we decided that we wanted to take it to the next step. And then through that we met David Poza from Multilinkual and he helped us find that first venue. And then after that hard work, persistence. Our first show as JAJAHA! was March last 2011 but we had formed the group in September 2010.
CiM: Did JAJAHA! have both standup and improv from the very beginning?
Dan: We decided to add improv from the very first show because we thought it was too onerous to do a whole show every month with new standup material. We decided to add the improv as a way of entertaining the crowd for more time and being able to use more jokes, and then we also used the improv to help create standup routines. We do it for the audience, we do it for ourselves, we do it for fun. We find a lot of comedy comes from that improv, from those quick, first-off ideas that then you develop into something.
CiM: Had you every done improv before JAJAHA!?
Dan: No not acting, not on stage. I had used it as a training method both for teaching Spanish people English and also for teaching myself standup comedy but never as a performance.
CiM: What helps you most with improv?
Dan: Don’t think. Be natural. Live in the moment. React to the situation. If you try to plan it, then it’s not improve and it’s not as funny. You gotta have a visceral reaction to what you hear.
CiM: Who are your comic influences?
Dan: George Carlin, Bill Hicks, Louis C.K., and Doug Stanhope. They’re all very brutal. It’s a very brutal, angry kind of comedy, but satirical in many cases as well. There’s a message with the comedy.
CiM: Where do you get ideas for standup routines?
Dan: Sometimes from the improv, sometimes from newspapers, conversation with anyone. Life basically I guess.
CiM: What are the top 4 differences and changes did you experience after you arrived in Madrid?
Dan: 1. What I realized when I came here is that everything is backwards. Everything seems opposite of the way we would do it. Not just the language—putting the nouns after the adjectives in English but before them in Spanish. The British are known for keeping the streets clean and their houses dirty, and the Spanish are known for keeping their houses clean and the streets dirty.
2. And the other thing is punctuality. Being 20 minutes late is still on time.
3. Even though I’m from Wisconsin, I had to get used to the drinking culture here. If you’re moving to Madrid, you need to prepare yourself. Germany, Ireland and Wisconsin are about the only places I’ve seen people drink as much as here. So you need to prep. Either abstain from alcohol for a couple of months before you come or drink a lot to build up your tolerance!
4. Also, about crime—violent robberies don’t exist here. But there are the 2 ways to steal from a Guiri. They pick your pocket or they overcharge you at a restaurant in the Plaza Mayor. Never leave your phone on the table or your purse hanging on the chair.
CiM: Can you recommend and English Services in Madrid?
Dan: Well you know, we have this wonderful English comedy night… Otherwise there aren’t too many. I’ve called to rent a driver for a family saying I need someone to speak English and they said “Oh yeah no problem” and sent a driver who doesn’t speak a lick of English.
CiM: What 5 customs have you adapted to or adopted?
Dan: 1.I say a lot of exclamations in Spanish. Like if I drop something I say “¡Ay va!” There are certain exclamations that just seem more natural in Spanish than in English.
2. I’ve adapted my eating timetables completely to the Spanish schedule.
3. I’ve adapted to the slower service. Everything’s just a bit slow. If it takes an extra week to change your phone line, it’ll take an extra week.
4. Another thing I’ve had to adapt to is the number of firecrackers. There’s a fascination with things that go boom. The other day I was watching the Barça-Madrid game at a bar and an 80 year old man kept walking outside every five minutes to set off firecrackers. You’re 80 years old! You’re not 13! When are you going to stop doing that?
5. Also, the dog pooh on the sidewalks. The next person I catch leaving pooh on the sidewalks I’m going to tell them that I will follow them home and leave a turd in their hallway.
CiM: Was it easy to make friends in Madrid?
Dan: It’s easy to make other expat friends and it’s not difficult to make Spanish friends. But it is more difficult, I think, to make good Spanish friends. I find that if they’re internationally minded—like if they watch movies in English regularly, if they watch sitcoms that aren’t on TV here, if they’re interested in being international—it’s much easier to have a good relationship with them. But otherwise you really have to adapt to the Spanish culture to become good friends with Spanish people who aren’t interested in international things.
CiM: What are you favorite hangouts in Madrid?
Dan: J and J Books and Coffee. And that’s my recommendation for anybody who comes to the city—to find Anglo friends with experience. And J and J’s is a great place to do it. The staff is always very helpful, very friendly. They always remember your name. Dave has a nice little business. Also, in the spring or summer I like to go to the Sorolla museum. It’s relatively small because it’s his house but it’s very intimate because of that and outdoors he has some wonderful gardens and fountains and it’s right here in the city. It’s kind of a safe haven, a quiet spot in the center of the city.
CiM: Tell me about your involvement with “20minutos”.
Dan: I write a monthly bilingual mini-biography for them. They are mini biographies on the greatest in history such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Einstein, Nelson Mandela, the Greek Philosophers, Cleopatra and Napoleon. In Spanish the series is called “Tipos Únicos” and in English it’s called “One of A Kinds.” I pick the person, do all the research and write it in English and Spanish. It comes out on the 3rd Friday of every month, in the print edition. Back issues can be found on the print edition version that is found on the webpage. Eventually what they want to do is publish a book for libraries, schools, learners of English, and learners of Spanish. There is the educational value of learning about the greatest in history but also the language practice. The next one, on Picasso, will be published Friday the 16th.
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