<span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="30">W</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">hite Yardie, also known as Prince Harry, is fast becoming one of </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">Britain's most popular comedians. His success is a tale of modern times: his social-commentary videos on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/wyardie/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, posted for family and friends, quickly went viral.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">Viewers began clamouring for more, and it wasn't long before the 33-year-old realised he had found his calling and took up the profession full-time. Fast-forward four years and the comedian has become an internet sensation. He has also won Best Comedian at the UK Entertainment Awards for two consecutive years.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">"I didn't plan to become a comedian, it kind of happened by accident," Yardie</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]"> says. "I was just posting Instagram videos about things I noticed or that annoyed me, and my family and friends starting asking for more. I started posting more and then all of a sudden the whole thing took off. Since I decided to do it professionally, I've gone from strength to strength."</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">White Yardie speaks in full Jamaican patois. It's unexpected and somehow makes his already-witty observations even more noteworthy.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">"It's part of the reason I call myself 'Prince Harry', he explains "It is part of the surprise people get when they hear my accent. They</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">'re not expecting that."</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">Yardie's parents moved to Jamaica when he was </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">3 months old.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">"Some people think my accent is a put-on and try to catch me out, but this is how I talk all the time. It's my real accent," he says.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">It's the funnyman's fourth visit to the UAE, and this time he will </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">playing a new monthly comedy event, Stand-Up Dubai.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">"Dubai is amazing; it is a great city," he says</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">. "There is always something happening. I think it would be a nice place to live, but it strikes me as somewhere you would need to have a good job to have a nice life."</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">Yardie says the Stand-Up Dubai audience can expect a</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]"> </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">show</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]"> in which he intends </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">to reveal a bit more of his background.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">"I will be telling a little bit of my story, how I was raised in Jamaica and then came across to the UK," he says.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">It is a story that might strike a chord with many expats, </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">given the difficulties that can accompany </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">repatriation</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">. Not for Yardie, though – on his return to the UK at the age of 17, something became apparent to him.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">"It was a strange experience. I only realised I was white when I got to the UK," he says. "You don't really experience colour in Jamaica, so it was the first time I actually felt white. I grew up in Jamaican culture totally and it was all I knew; then suddenly you are dropped back to the UK. I was OK, though – I had been </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">for holidays and I had some friends here, so I did not have a hard time fitting in."</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">White Yardie </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">joins London comedian Kevin J</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]"> at Stand-Up Dubai</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">, the first of a season of </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">events on the first Saturday of every month.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">Stand-Up Dubai is on Saturday </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">at Tribeca, JA Ocean View Hotel, JBR</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">. Doors open at 7pm, show starts at 8.30pm. Tickets cost Dh80. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.thoseguys.ae/standupdubai" style="">www.thoseguys.ae/standupdubai</a></span> _______________ <strong>Read more:</strong> _______________