Spring Break
Comedian signs about life between two worlds
By: Siobhan Daniel
Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: News
A comedian used sign language to convey his experiences as a hearing person growing up with deaf parents Saturday night before a packed audience in the South Ballroom of the Student Union Memorial Center.
Keith Wann, a child of deaf adults, or CODA, performed "Watching Two Worlds Collide," a show about the merging of deaf and hearing worlds from the perspective of a child in the middle of it.
The audiencewas made up mostly of interpreters, CODAs and the deaf. Across the room, signing and talking went on before the show began.
"I have seen a part of Wann's performance on the Internet, and I heard he is really entertaining in person," said Sydney Corbett, an American Sign Language interpreter.
Brandy Resnick, a UA alumna and ASL interpreter, has seen the videos of Wann perform and said, "He is hilarious."
This was the first time Resnick saw him perform live, and she said she was looking forward to his interpretations of music.
Wann used ASL to interpret many songs, including Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back." He explained that his love of music comes from his parents blasting the radio in his ears as an infant, when they were trying to discover if he was hearing or deaf.
When children are first born, hearing parents cry if they find out their child is deaf, he signed.
Deaf parents cry when they find out their child is hearing, he added.
As a child, Wann signed, his parents wanted the doctor to pierce his eardrums so he would be deaf like them.
"I remember when I was a little guy, I wanted to go the deaf school," Wann signed. "My mom said, 'You're hearing. You are going to the hearing school.'
"I answered, 'I don't wanna go to hearing school. That is discrimination.'
"My mom said, 'Too bad, you're going.' "
Keith Wann, a child of deaf adults, or CODA, performed "Watching Two Worlds Collide," a show about the merging of deaf and hearing worlds from the perspective of a child in the middle of it.
The audience
I remember when I was a little guy, I wanted to go the deaf school. My mom said, 'You're hearing. You are going to the hearing school.'
-Keith Wann,
comedian
"I have seen a part of Wann's performance on the Internet, and I heard he is really entertaining in person," said Sydney Corbett, an American Sign Language interpreter.
Brandy Resnick, a UA alumna and ASL interpreter, has seen the videos of Wann perform and said, "He is hilarious."
This was the first time Resnick saw him perform live, and she said she was looking forward to his interpretations of music.
Wann used ASL to interpret many songs, including Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back." He explained that his love of music comes from his parents blasting the radio in his ears as an infant, when they were trying to discover if he was hearing or deaf.
When children are first born, hearing parents cry if they find out their child is deaf, he signed.
Deaf parents cry when they find out their child is hearing, he added.
As a child, Wann signed, his parents wanted the doctor to pierce his eardrums so he would be deaf like them.
"I remember when I was a little guy, I wanted to go the deaf school," Wann signed. "My mom said, 'You're hearing. You are going to the hearing school.'
"I answered, 'I don't wanna go to hearing school. That is discrimination.'
"My mom said, 'Too bad, you're going.' "
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Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
jeanne walker
posted 11/29/07 @ 9:47 PM PST
Good story! Keith Wann lets us know that whether hearing or deaf, the love of your parents wins in the end. I would love to see Keith do his routine. I am a beginning A. (Continued…)
deafise
posted 1/13/08 @ 10:55 PM PST
hey, im an asl student as well. I love his show. He is great! I have collect many videos for deaf people deafloves com
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