Hayrettin Onur Karaoğuz has spent seventeen years moving between internet video, prime-time television and advertising; in 2026 his unscripted YouTube programme Kaos Show reached a third season and its stage version is working through Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands.

A student film that did the work of a broadcaster

Hayrettin Onur Karaoğuz was born in 1984 and went through school in Bakırköy, on the western edge of Istanbul, finishing at Yahya Kemal Beyatlı High School in 2000. He enrolled at Kadir Has University in 2004 to study advertising and graduated in 2008 — a detail that matters, because the thing that made his name was closer to a campaign than to a comedy set.

In his final university year he shot Kızsız Adam, released in 2009, playing the lead, Alper. It circulated as internet video at a point when Turkish comedy still arrived almost entirely through television channels, and it found an audience of young viewers without a broadcaster's help. The following year he appeared in Gelecekten Bir Gün, released in 2010, as Tolga.

The style that came out of those early clips has not changed much: absurd premises, sudden reversals, and jokes built out of a situation rather than written as material. Reference entries on him settle on the same shorthand — comedian, actor, presenter, advertising face — and date his professional work from 2009.

Brands, channels, and a spell in Los Angeles

Advertising absorbed him early and has kept returning. He fronted Turkcell work in 2009, the Doritos Hisseli Tatlar campaign in 2010, Fanta across 2013 and 2014, Yeni Rakı, and a Saloon Burger campaign as recently as 2024. For a decade and a half this has been the steady half of the career.

Television came next, and in the shape the industry expected of a young internet name: his own programme, Hayrettin, ran on Star TV from 2011 to 2012, followed by Harry on ATV in 2013. In 2014 he moved to Los Angeles to carry on making video content, which pulled him out of the Turkish broadcast rota for a stretch.

Acting work followed on his return. He played Cumali in Vezir Parmağı and Necati in İlk Öpücük, both released in 2017, and took the role of Ercan in the TRT 1 series Kalk Gidelim from 2018 to 2020. He appeared as himself in Menajerimi Ara in 2020, then led Tozkoparan İskender from 2021 to 2022 and its web spin-off Tozkoparan İskender: Gölge in 2023. Competition formats took two years of that period: Exatlon Challenge Türkiye in 2019, then Survivor 2021 on TV8, which he joined in January 2021 and left on 16 February 2021.

Kaos Show: the format that fits him

In 2024 he launched Hayrettin ile Kaos Show on his own YouTube channel, and it has done more for his standing than anything since the early videos. The premise is a studio talk show with the script removed — guests drawn from both social media and mainstream Turkish celebrity, sketches that collapse mid-way, games, and long stretches of improvisation. Earlier seasons brought in Safiye Soyman, Mahmut Tuncer and Serdar Ortaç; the episode with Ortaç went up on 27 February 2026, and a May instalment with Ajdar Özel followed on 20 May 2026.

That mix of guests is also what the show gets attacked for. On 17 June 2026 the rapper Murda dismissed it publicly, arguing that its entertainment consisted of filming people he considered simple-minded and turning them into celebrities, and telling its audience not to lecture him about art or intelligence. Hayrettin's reply was short and unaggressive: his guests' minds were not lacking, they had good hearts, and Murda was welcome in the studio to see that for himself.

The third season moved the production onto a new studio floor at House of Performance in Istanbul, taped in front of a ticketed audience. The first live recording took place on 29 September 2026 and sold out; the opening episode, with Bülent Ersoy as guest, was published on 8 October 2026. The second taping followed on 14 October and went out on 23 October 2026 under the title Kaos Alev Alev. The season was trailed with a line that reads as a statement of method — this time the plan is not to manage the chaos but to surrender to it.

Where he stands at the end of October 2026

The current position is unusual for a Turkish comedian of his generation: no television channel in the picture, a self-published weekly show, and a stage version of that show touring culture centres rather than comedy clubs.

The Istanbul date on 31 October 2026 at Bostancı Gösteri Merkezi was sold out on Biletix, and ran as a double header with houses at 17:00 and 21:00. Behind it sits a run of sixteen further dates on sale, almost all of them in medium-sized Turkish cities: İzmir on 22 November, Nevşehir on 25 November at the Kapadokya Kültür ve Sanat Merkezi, Aksaray on 26 November, Kırşehir on 27 November, Balıkesir on 1 December, Bolu on 5 December, Bursa on 7 December at the Merinos AKKM Osmangazi hall, Kocaeli on 8 December, Kırklareli on 9 December, Sivas on 16 December, Tokat on 17 December, Malatya on 18 December, Sakarya on 20 December and Ankara on 25 December, with two open-air-season dates already loaded for Şanlıurfa on 30 April and Gaziantep on 1 May 2027. Entry prices across that run start between 855₺ and 3,420₺ depending on the city.

Two European dates sit inside the same window and are sold through local promoters rather than Biletix: Trixxo Arena in Hasselt, Belgium on 15 November 2026 at 20:30, with tickets from €67.20 to €134.40 through Ticketmaster.be, and the RAI Theater in Amsterdam on 12 December 2026, also at 20:30, at €66.75 to €111.50 through Eventim. Both are seated rooms and both are pitched at the Turkish-speaking audience in the Low Countries.

What the stage show actually is

Kaos Night is sold explicitly as not stand-up. The listings describe a performance with no pre-written script, dialogue that develops in the room, surprise guests who are never named in advance, and games played with the audience rather than at it — an audience that is told in writing that it will not be a passive one.

Practical details are tighter than the format suggests. The Sivas date on 16 December 2026 opens its doors at 20:00 for a 20:30 start, with tickets from 1,710₺. The age policy is consistent across the run: under-14s are not admitted and 14- to 18-year-olds must be accompanied by a parent. Audience filming and photography are banned, while the show itself is recorded professionally and buying a ticket counts as consent to appear in that footage — which, given that the YouTube programme is taped in front of a paying crowd, is less boilerplate than it looks. No running time is published for the touring show.

The weak point of a format that depends on who walks on is the same as its selling point: the surprise guest is the draw, and audiences who were hoping for a particular name have said so afterwards. Late starts have drawn complaints too. What the promoters have stopped promising is a set — the pitch is the room and whoever ends up in it.

The show, now

Kaos Night is marketed as the opposite of a prepared set: no script, improvised dialogue, surprise guests withheld until they appear, and games that pull the audience into the show. Rooms are seated culture centres and theatres rather than clubs — Bostancı Gösteri Merkezi in Istanbul on 31 October 2026 sold out and ran twice in a day, at 17:00 and 21:00, while the Sivas date on 16 December 2026 opens at 20:00 for a 20:30 start with tickets from 1,710₺. No running time is published. The show is 18+ in practice: under-14s are refused entry and 14- to 18-year-olds need a parent with them. Audience recording is prohibited, but the night itself is filmed professionally and the ticket terms treat purchase as consent to appear in that footage, which fits a touring show that feeds the same YouTube programme taped in front of a paying crowd at House of Performance. Support acts are not billed; the unannounced guest does that job. Entry prices across the Turkish run start between 855₺ and 3,420₺ by city, and the two European dates — Trixxo Arena in Hasselt on 15 November 2026 and the RAI Theater in Amsterdam on 12 December 2026, both at 20:30 — run €66.75 to €134.40. Audience grumbles cluster on two things: a start later than the time printed on the ticket, and a guest list that did not include the name they had hoped for.

Researched from en.wikipedia.org · tr.wikipedia.org · biyografiler.com · biletix.com · biletix.com · biletix.com · tgrthaber.com · kirklarhabergazetesi.com