While strictly speaking not a stand-up comic, due to his situation, it is the very fact of being wheelchair-bound which Janar draws on for inspiration for his material, which he has been perfecting on a lengthy nationwide tour that started last summer and is nearing its climax, Pealtnägija reported.

Originally from Tarvastu, Viljandi County but raised in the village of Särevere, near Türi in Järva County, Janar's life took an unexpected turn on that fateful day, July 9, 2011, when he was just 14 years old.

This was: "A bad accident, that's how I'd put it. That same place where I usually went swimming — there was some metal object in the water and I jumped straight into it. I came to, and wasn't able to swim. A friend helped me out. It wasn't a surprise what had happened — it was clear it was a neck injury. It turned out to be a C4–C5 spinal cord injury, which means everything from about the chest down is affected," he told Pealtnägija.

At first, there was some hope Janar might eventually walk again, and with the help of doctors and physiotherapists, he even made small initial improvements. Today, however, he says he has come to terms with spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

"Most things I can't do — cook, boil water, lie down, get dressed, wash. You need to plan for everything with an assistant who helps with these things. A lot of it is just planning," he explained.

Despite all this, Janar lives a very active life. Some years he trained as a software developer, took additional courses, and worked for several years at an IT firm in Tallinn — until he found his true calling: Comedy on stage.

This followed Estonia's stand-up comedy boom, which first got underway around a decade-and-a-half ago.

"Stand-up was getting really, really popular in Estonia at one point. I went to watch and thought, I'd actually like to be that kind of cool guy too," he said of the genesis of the idea.

Janar had attended plenty of gigs, even as some venues were not particularly wheelchair-friendly.

"He just kind of appeared at some point. He literally went to every ticketed event he could physically access. Eventually, he summoned up the courage to start trying it himself," recalled fellow comic and friend Daniel Veinbergs.

Sitting down rather than standing didn't make going on stage for the first time any less terrifying, Janar said, noting he had: "A proper panic attack. It was about 27 degrees outside, so very hot. This was a small room full of people, and you start wondering — am I having a panic attack or is it just the heat?" he recounted. In the event, it went about as well as maiden open-mic slots can go. "It went okay. That's how my stand-up journey began."

Then, in the summer of 2024, Peterson quit his IT job and has since focused entirely on comedy full-time. He writes his own material, hones it during performances, is a regular at open-mic shows, and has gotten to be a sought-after opening act on the tours of many of Estonia's most well-known stand-ups.

There's just the one issue that often limits — or even prevents — his performing at many venues even as it is a source of material: The wheelchair, and the fact many open mics take place in small, sometimes subterranean spaces.

"We honestly hadn't even thought about it before: That Janar couldn't attend many of the open mics, just to practice. This only became an issue once we actually had a wheelchair comedian — how does he even get into some basement bar?" said stand-up and friend Roger Andre.

For example, last December, when Peterson performed as Veinbergs' opening act at the Genialistide Club in Tartu, it took at least four people, some special rails, and lifting straps to get him, not down, but up, to the second floor, to perform.

"Alas, comedians are those kind of people who, while they may be very funny, sometimes don't have the most logical of minds. So you have to explain — look, these ramps are placed in such a way, but I need to ride both wheels along them," Janar explained.

Now, Janar is also trying to address accessibility issues as only he can, with a new project titled Ligipääsetav stand-up-tuur ("Accessible Stand-Up Tour"). For this, he has assembled a troupe of comedians, many of them starting out, for a tour of as many as 50 locations across Estonia, from Kambja and Kärdla to Laekvere and Lihula. The grueling tour began last August and will continue to run until the end of this month, and "accessible" here has a double meaning: As well as highlighting the issue of access for wheelchair users, it also references access to good stand-up in more out-of-the-way places.

"We're like stand-up missionaries, I'd say. There's my hometown of Mustla, where people said they hadn't seen this many people in the hall for years. We know these people live here — we've seen them in the store — but they don't come to clubs or theater performances. It's a completely different crowd we bring into that hall," he noted.

Pealtnägija joined the troupe on a trip to Kiisa, just outside Tallinn, on day 35 of the tour. The tour manager and headliner, i.e., Janar, had to set off from home three hours ahead of the show, immediately revealing the logistical challenges of getting to a venue, and the frustration of having to sit at all times.

"If you've got to go to a show on Saaremaa, just picture it — you go there but sit the whole time. It's very exhausting when you don't get to move around at all," he said.

Half an hour before the Kiisa set, Janar has a quick soundcheck, runs over the evening's itinerary with fellow performers, and positions a specially-made, 3D-printed microphone holder in his hand.

"Stand-up is a genre where your biggest flaws or weaknesses become strengths — whatever makes you different. If you're in a wheelchair, overweight, or whatever else, the audience relates to such imperfections," Veinbergs noted. "In Janar's case, it's like a superpower — he can say completely outrageous things on stage."

Peterson admitted that while he hasn't deeply analyzed whether his humor helps him cope with his situation, he believes it most likely does.

"I don't really have anything else to do but laugh at some things. Some people say it's sad to watch — and that's true, it most likely is — but there's nothing you can do about it. It is that sadness which is exactly what makes you laugh," he said.

As for his plans for the future, Janar remains philosophical, saying he is focusing on taking things show by show.

"It could easily be the case that I can't do this anymore. Anything could happen — maybe my health won't permit me to perform. I have grasped very well that traveling can be exhausting, and I'm not sure how long I can keep it up. But in this short time, I've had so many opportunities, fulfilled so many dreams. I don't even know what else there is to do but enjoy it and keep doing shows."

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