Dam Yankee

Zack Newmark sits down with Amsterdam-based drag queen performer Charlene Coco, to talk about identity, fear, freedom, and what it really means to show up as yourself. Charlene Coco was voted Best New Drag in Town after her debut appearance in Amsterdam in 2019.

Charlene is the drag persona born from the mind of Charlie Robertson, a British performer based in Amsterdam who also uses drag to help offices become more tolerant and inclusive.

From performing political punk-rock drag numbers to moderating panels at Amsterdam Dance Event, Charlene shares her journey from Oxford private school to the stages of Amsterdam’s queer nightlife.

We talk about:
• Why drag still triggers fear
• The moral panic around drag & trans visibility
• Corporate diversity workshops in full drag
• Safety, backlash & being visible
• God Save The Queer – building community through performance
• Pride, politics & protecting nightlife spaces
• What allies can actually do

Chapters: 
00:00 – Taxi in Full Drag & Public Reactions
02:00 – Drag in Corporate Boardrooms
07:00 – Discovering Drag & Early Performances
12:00 – Political Performances & Punk Energy
19:00 – Winning Best New Drag Queen (2020)
21:00 – Building “God Save The Queer”
26:00 – Is Drag More Accepted Today?
30:00 – Fear, Backlash & Moral Panic
33:00 – Supporting the Trans Community
35:00 – Amsterdam Dance Event & Queer Nightlife
39:00 – Why Does Drag Trigger People?
44:00 – Cis Privilege & Taking Drag Off
47:00 – Coming Out (Twice)
52:00 – Drag in the Corporate World

Connect with Charlene Coco: 
https://www.instagram.com/thecharlenecoco/

Connect with me:  
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharynewmark  

Instagram (The Dam Yankee Podcast): https://www.instagram.com/damyankeepodcast  
Website: https://damyankeepodcast.nltimes.nl/

Amsterdam documentary director Kiriko Mechanicus on ethnic fetishes, unusual challenges, and her new documentary on the Atlanta Asian spa murders, set to debut at SXSW in Austin
When news of the 2021 Atlanta massage parlor shootings reached Amsterdam, filmmaker Kiriko Mechanicus felt a chilling connection. "I realized when I had read about this incident that it somehow also felt as if I was part of his sick desire," the Dutch-Japanese filmmaker explains. For her documentary How to Catch a Butterfly, debuting at SXSW, she wrote letters to the killer, Robert Aaron Long, but not with the intent to "demonize him... but more demonize the whole idea how we as people look at Asian women."

Long killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent, and claimed his motive was anger for his own feelings of shame tied to his claimed sex addiction. But Mechanicus sees this incident from the perspective of a culture steeped in ethnic fetishization, wher Asian women are often "reduced to this one thing, which is a butterfly that needs to be caught". For Mechanicus, this film is about reclaiming her identity and finding "personal peace."

Mechanicus delves into the uncomfortable intersection of her personal life and the motives behind the shooting. She admits that her approach—connecting a horrific mass murder to her own dating history—might seem "radical" or even "kind of cuckoo" to some.

She also looks at how it affected her when she was younger, and tried to adopt an "Asian ideal" when in relationships to be desired. But she realized by age 21, "I'm holding up a standard that is not mine."

Her work is driven by a philosophy of "saying yes." "I say yes to everything. And then I have to think about how I'm going to do it," she says. This mindset has led her from studying culinary history to filming undocumented workers for A Tomato Tragedy, and an inadvertent performance of a poem about tomatoes in front of  Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

This fearless creativity is rooted in her upbringing. Born to a Japanese mother and Dutch father, she calls her artistic household "the greatest privilege." "I think my parents are a very essential part of that," she says. "My father was a photographer and writer and my mother is a pianist and performance artist."

 

Big thank you to the partners of this episode:
Prepoos https://prepoos.com/en
FlexiSpot Netherlands https://www.flexispot.nl/
 
Connect with Kiriko:
  / kiriacademy  
Web: https://www.kirikomechanicus.com/
 
Connect with Zack:
LinkedIn:   / zacharynewmark  
Instagram (The Dam Yankee Podcast):   / damyankeepodcast  
Website: https://damyankeepodcast.nltimes.nl/

 

Amsterdam, film, Kiriko Mechanicus, Dam Yankee, Zack Newmark, documentary, documentaries, Documentary film, SXSW, Japan, south by southwest, Atlanta, Georgia, Austin, Texas, United States, Noord-Holland, Italy, Sergio Mattarella

From her childhood playing classical piano in China to her emergence as a multilingual pop talent, Irène Schrader has used music to bridge the various cultures she calls her own. Traveling from her current base in Paris back to her familiar former home of Amsterdam, it was the pivotal moments experiencing the Dutch capital's electronic scene, her parents' varied music taste, and their occasional "tough love" that gave her the confidence to pursue her artistic passion full-time.

In this episode of Dam Yankee, host Zack Newmark sits down with Schrader to discuss her latest EP, Eclipse, and the trilingual identity that defines her sound. Writing in English, French, and Mandarin is a natural extension of her "Third Culture Kid" upbringing; as Irène explains, "I started realizing that what felt more intuitive for me was to write in multiple languages because that's just how my brain works. I just, cannot stick to one language mentally, so then I figured I as well try that out with music."

Growing up enjoying French singer Françoise Hardy, but also Mandarin pop music, she said the time spent living in Shanghai affected her art greatly. "I think it was probably one of the first places where I got to discover some hybrid-ish genres, for example, Shanghai jazz, which is well, it's Shanghai jazz. It's like Chinese music, but with some Western sounds that just came from expats in the 20s and 30s that brought their jazz sound from the U.S."

Schrader also gets candid about the "imposter syndrome" that comes with balancing a multifaceted career in modeling and brand management. She recalls a transformative production workshop at the 2023 Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) that gave her the "boost to be like, okay, actually, I am a producer."

From the "temporary confusion" that inspired her new music to her definition of home as "the places where I felt the most ranges of emotion," this conversation explores the heart of an artist who refuses to be pinned down by a single border or category.

Listen to this entire episode of Dam Yankee on all major podcast platforms, or watch the full videos on YouTube. Irène Schrader shares music on several platforms, including Spotify, and frequently shares updates on TikTok and Instagram.

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Amsterdam, Paris, France, Shanghai, China, Irène Schrader, Noord-Holland, music, French, Mandarin, Groningen, Amsterdam Dance Event, journalism, modeling, fashion, Germany, music, pop music, Dam Yankee, podcast, Podcast Interview, entertainment, Zack Newmark, social media, multicultural, ethnically diverse, diversity, University of Amsterdam, marketing, communications, Noord-Holland

Comedian Nadine Froughi's viral hits blend Dutch directness with her "outsider" view

Nadine Froughi describes herself as "spiritually" Dutch, yet her comedy thrives on the friction between her adopted home and her complex, international roots. This week on Dam Yankee, the comedian sits down with host Zack Newmark to discuss her sudden ascent from the local Amsterdam scene to viral social media stardom.

For years, Froughi shared clips to a modest audience, but everything changed this past October when she tapped into a specific micro-annoyance of Dutch life. "I kept noticing when I was ordering in Dutch in cafés, people were speaking back to me in English," she sayws. "Dutch friends of mine would be irritated. 'I can't order a coffee in Dutch?' And I made like a little video about that," she explains.

"I just did an impersonation of a Dutch person realizing they have to order in English, and they're kind of annoyed about it," she continues. "And that really struck a nerve with people." The video grew her fanbase 30-fold, proving that her "outsider" observations resonate deeply with both locals and expats.

Born in England to an Iranian father and an American mother, Froughi moved to the Netherlands at age 16. She jumped right in to higher education, eventually earning a master’s degree at the University of Amsterdam. "It started to feel like home to me because I really made a choice," she says of her decision to stay and naturalize.

Now a fluent speaker, she occupies a rare space in comedy, noting: "I'm making fun of a culture and a society that I have made an effort to integrate into and be a part of."

Beyond her viral skits, Froughi is preparing to debut her new hour-long show, Daydreamer, next month, Froughi sat down with host Zack Newmark to discuss her sudden rise both online and in venues, her unique background, and her first comedy hour, premiering March 14 at Volta in Amsterdam-West. The show promises a "musical-comedy romp" exploring the no-man's land between real life and her daydreams.

Listen to this entire episode of Dam Yankee on all major podcast platforms, or watch the full videos on YouTube.

Nadine Froughi frequently adds dates to her performance calendar, and can be found on Instagram and TikTok.

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Amsterdam, Den Haag, Utrecht, Nadine Froughi, Iran, United Kingdom, England, Scotland, comedy, sketch comedy, family, Stand-up Comedy, Zack Newmark, Dam Yankee, podcast, Podcast Interview, entertainment, social media, multicultural, ethnically diverse, diversity, naturalization, University of Amsterdam, Haagse Hogeschool, marketing, communications, Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland

A €1,900 scam inspired stand-up Sjoerd Scott's law thesis, and sparked his comedy career

In this episode of the Dam Yankee podcast, host Zack Newmark sits down with Sjoerd Scott, a Sint Maarten-born comedian whose path to the stage was paved with irony. While repeatedly failing his law thesis on financial crimes, Scott fell victim to a €1,900 telephone scam. A fraudster posing as a Dutch Supreme Court official convinced him to drain his account, leaving him with just two euros.

Instead of quitting, Scott pivoted. He wrote his final thesis about the scam itself, finally earning his degree. However, the humiliation provided a "career epiphany." Realizing he was better at telling stories than writing legal briefs, he traded courthouses for comedy clubs. Scott reflects on his early "disaster" of a debut at age 16, the struggle of adapting to the Netherlands after Hurricane Irma, and how his legal training now helps him structure his viral sets.

Beyond the irony of the scam, he eventually found that the same analytical skills he used to struggle through law school work. Adding structure and building an argument were the same ingredients needed to sharpen his comedic timing and viral social media skits.

From a "terrible student" to a rising star opening for icons like Hannibal Buress, Neema Naz, and Jimmy O. Yang, Scott explains how he learned to transform personal pain into "banger" stories. His €1,900 mistake has become the defining moment of a career that has become more successful each of the past five years.

It’s a hilarious and inspiring look at resilience, the absurdity of the Dutch legal system, and why your worst mistakes often make for the best material. Listen to this entire episode of Dam Yankee on all major podcast platforms, or watch the full videos on YouTube.

Scott shares more information on his performances and schedule on his TikTok and Instagram accounts. He organizes an English-language comedy showcase every Friday at Clink in Amsterdam-Noord. New episodes of the podcast Sjoerd Scott co-hosts with Daniel Yazbek, In The Background, will also be released soon.