Comedy with an Accent

“French It Up est LE comedy club français à Londres. Lancé en 2016 par Jeff Vitale, depuis rejoint par Fabrice Edouard Laroche Francoeur, le concept séduit un public francophone de plus en plus large et fait émerger une nouvelle scène d'humoristes français à Londres.”

After introducing London’s Comedy show in the Spanish language Comedy Por Favor in episode 19, we turn our attention in this episode to London’s French comedy club “French It Up”, whose shows currently rotate between the trendy Exmouth Market in Clerkenwell and nestled next to the beer garden in Vauxhall. The mastermind behind this, Jeff Vitale, talks about the specific “expat humour” and makes a careful distinction between French speakers and French expats, as a good percentage of the audience also comes from other francophone countries. He shares how he has grown and plans to continue to grow this comedy club from strength to strength in this English city that boasts enough French citizen to be France’s fifth or sixth largest city.

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00:51 Intro

02:39 An episode about a comedy show in a foreign language

04:47 French It Up audience’s specific sense of humour (expat Francophones)

07:36 Work office observations as popular joke materials

09:52 French speaking audience does not equal French people

11:58 Reasons for stopping bilingual French/English shows

15:51 Comedy materials about migration and cross cultural differences

17:00 Doubters and continuing to attract non comedy fans

19:48 Why French It Up was set up

22:57 “Intermittents du spectacle” - French government support for actors

24:38 More efforts into organising and promoting shows post Covid

27:15 Cross over with English stand up scene? French It Up’s own eco-system of performers

30:18 Not to be confused as a show in English (but talking about France)

30:53 Where the show name “French It Up” comes from

32:00 Jeff speaks too fast for non native French speakers to understand

33:04 How fluent one’s French has to be to go to a French It Up show?

35:18 The French language’s fluidity and rythmn

38:59 French It Up being a relief for nostalgia?

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Celiac, dyspraxia, sporran, ricochet, hypochondriac, cheugy, mausoleum, flab… how many of these English words do you - as a non-native English speaker - know? Similar question for the native English speakers again: any of these words that you are not aware of?

These are just a sample of words in the English language that your host Kuan-wen has acquired through doing comedy, mostly from observing other comedians’ routines. More than just getting exposed to new words, your host explains why he believes doing comedy in English has multiple advantages when it comes to learning the language, that you do not need to wait until your English is considered “perfect” before you can starting trying out English comedy.

(*Yeah, this is kind of a filler episode with no guests)

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Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram

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00:32 Intro

01:27 Outline for this episode

02:22 Reasons for another monologue episode

04:01 Learning the English language through performing comedy in English - an analogy

06:21 An advantage for non-native English speakers who perform comedy in English

07:43 Performing in English forces performers to listen to themselves how they speak

09:17 Learning a more natural/wholesome English through doing comedy

11:40 Learning about another culture - a wider group of people one gets in contact with

12:54 Musicians having lighter accents

13:34 Pursuit of specificity in comedy helps grow one’s vocabulary

14:35 List of words Kuan-wen learned from other comedians’ comedy sets:

• celiac
• dyspraxia
• sporran
• ricochet (from Ken Cheng)
• hypochondriac
• catharsis
• cheugy (from Shalaka Kurup)
• mausoleum (from Pete White)
• flab (from Adam Riley)
• necrophilia

23:48 Four comedy gigs with vastly different audiences within three days - a mixed crowd with many Mandarin speakers; a crowd of French speakers; a crowd of a provincial English town; a crowd with mixed European punters

28:48 Podcast listener statistics Jan-Mar 2025

30:58 Upcoming episodes

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If you like the episode, please share it and leave a review. For any comments or suggestions, please contact us on Instagram or email [email protected]

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Veteran London-based Romanian comedian Radu Isac returns after his last interview on this podcast in 2022. Radu catches up with your host Kuan-wen to chat about how his career plans and gigging pattern change along with the moving landscape of the comedy industry. Between this episode and the first interview three years ago, Radu released his comedy special “Keep Coughing” on Youtube and organised his own tour across continental European cities.

Regarded as the comedian’s comedian in Romania (some fans even described him as Romania’s George Carlin), Radu shares his approach performing in front of liberal and less liberal audiences, British and a more internationally mixed audience and why he thinks it is important to be able to make different crowds laugh. He talks about running the popular bi-weekly Immigrant Comedy show in London and why comedy should remain a safe space for the expression of ideas, as he has done so in his comedy special.

Radu’s comedy special “Keeping Coughing” (free to watch on Youtube)

Radu’s live comedy show “Sadly Funny" at Top Secret Comedy Club in London 6 April 2025

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Follow Radu on Instagram and his website

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00:34 Intro

02:06 Summary of Radu’s prior appearance on this podcast

03:49 Gigging less often outside London now

04:36 Radu’s vs liberal audience and comedy shows with audience less sympathetic with immigrants

07:53 An example of audience not taking Radu’s poking well

09:32 How to and who to mention the act is foreign?

10:51 Change of career goals - non-native English speaking audience and touring outside the UK

16:29 With non British audience in mind, changes in joke writing?

18:23 Casual racism from English hosts of podcasts Radu went on

20:52 Touring (gigging) in continental Europe

22:21 A released comedy special recorded in Vienna (and another unreleased version recorded in London)

24:41 Difference between UK gigs and gigs in continental European cities

29:57 Running Immigrant Comedy Show and Radu’s criteria for “immigrants”

34:00 Romanian Youtube users’ comment on Radu’s accent

36:09 On Radu’s comedy special on Youtube “Keep Coughing”

37:22 On the joke “A vaxxed anti-vaxxer”, Radu’s intention and his approach

44:16 Radu’s social media

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If you like the episode, please share it and leave a review. For any comments or suggestions, please contact us on Instagram or email [email protected]

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Given Ireland and Britain’s complex history, not least over 700 years of colonisation and dominance and the most recent thorny issue of Northern Ireland’s border during Brexit negotiation, what does a comedian’s Irish accent represent in the eyes of British audience?

There are in fact quite a few Irish comedians in the UK. Peter Flanagan is our very first guest, as in addition to his identify of a professional club comic, he is also a column writer for The Irish Times, documenting his views as a Irish diaspora living in the UK and his witty take on British politics.

Peter talked about the most memorable heckle from an English woman that was akin to a racist mime, what an idealised Irishman’s image would be and how he got used to the British public’s lack understanding in the bilateral history or even just Britain’s own history (and geography).

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An example of Peter's column in The Irish Times (note that there's a paywall)

Kuan-wen was singing a jingo for Sheila's Wheel (click for video on Youtube) - a commercial for car insurance aimed at female drivers in the 2000s.

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00:47 Intro

03:01 Out of numerous Irish comedians in the UK, why Peter is invited

04:33 An Irish accent too strong for some yet not strong enough for some

05:53 The perception of a “Dublin” accent in Ireland

07:23 Not just one accent in Ireland (and stereotypes of a generic Irish accent/Irish comedian)

09:06 A memorable racist meme heckle

11:54 Irish used to be the main group on the receiving end of racist attitudes in the UK

13:24 How Peter feels as an Irish comedian in the UK? Is it fair to compare Anglo-Irish relationship with that between Taiwan and China?

17:42 The sweet Irish accent for BBC and the idealised Irishman - Terry Wogan

20:52 Different expressions of humour: between a column writer for The Irish Times and a club comic

24:51 Making stand up comedy informative or even using it to educate the audience?

27:18 British public’s lack of understanding of their own history and indifference to Ireland

30:11 For all the Nazi jokes British comedians make, where’s the British Empire’s South African concentration camp joke?

31:40 How Peter won over Brexit-supporting audience?

34:41 Learning to be himself and not liked by some on social media

40:04 City comedy vs rural comedy

43:18 Difference between Irish audience and British audience

45:09 Peter’s social media

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If you like the episode, please share it and leave a review. For any comments or suggestions, please contact us on Instagram or email [email protected]

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Name a stand up comedian who’s like the ambassador of both the English and French cultures? Many of you probably think of her bright pink hairs straight away. Yes, you have Tatty Macleod in mind, and she really has been given the title of an honourary ambassador for the British Council and was invited to host the alumni day by the French embassy in the UK.

THE Anglo-French (or Franglais/ Frenglish) stand up comedian and social media star is well known for her hilarious online sketches on observations of both cultures in both languages. Her debut comedy hour - FUGUE - sold out its entire 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival run. The subsequent tour has sold over 10,000 tickets and counting, with the continental European leg now extended to 2025. This includes four nights at the Soho Theatre and two nights at Clapham Grand in London as well as three nights at Théâtre des ateliers in Paris - with three more nights at Théâtres des variétés in Paris booked in this May.

Among Tatty’s 600k+ followers across Instagram & TikTok, many are nomads themselves who are attracted to what Tatty personifies as a Third Culture Kid - a fluid identity and multilayers of heritage, accompanied by bi- or trilingualism. Born in Zimbabwe to British parents and raised in France by her ethnically Scottish/Welsh but culturally English mum, Tatty talks about code-switching, fine-tuning her accent to fit in and how accent, languages become intertwined with emotions and her identity in this fantastic episode.

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Tatty is on Tour in Europe in 2025. Check Tatty’s website (click here) for tickets.

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram

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00:55 Intro

02:04 A true bilingual guest and how she thinks accents reflect one’s life journey

04:35 Coming to terms with a tinge of an English accent when she speaks French now

06:36 Moving between countries - a quick summary of Tatty’s childhood and adolescence

07:41 Accents, languages, identities - and a sense of belonging

10:39 A very subtle accent but visual clues of a non French person

14:30 How Kuan-wen learned to speak French and dislike Parisians

15:40 Choosing what language to speak in v.s. being rude to foreigners?

21:09 A Third Culture Kid; a bicultural upbringing

23:41 People remain determined to ask Tatty to pick a side (between her dual cultural heritages)

26:48 Tatty’s specific fan base

30:18 What did this question/terms of phrasing “like we say in French (Comment on dit en français)” imply?

34:07 Are the cultural nomads an ultra niche group?

36:17 All identifies are relative; shall we say British or English?

39:17 Tatty’s diction when she speaks English; an accent from a time capsule

43:30 Changing one’s accent to fit in

44:54 Jokes/comedy sketches based on stereotypes grounded in reality

46:32 Tatty’s debut solo show (currently on the European leg of the tour)

49:31 Nearly didn’t do the comedy sketches online

52:00 Tatty’s social media

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! This is a one-off monologue (without a guest!!) before 2024 comes to an end. But hey. monologo(s) do also mean stand up comedy in Spanish and Italian.

This episode covers the 2024 Spotify for Podcast unwrapped to share with the listeners data of your consumption of this Podcast this year, supplemented by statistics from the podcast’s hosting platform. There is in addition a mid-point summary of season 2, with a roadmap of episode recommendations for different types of listeners.

Your host Kuan-wen then shares the original idea of the podcast, his thoughts on guest invitations - maybe a bit of frustration, too - and his recent experience of studying and brushing up his *Taiwanese for a podcast interview.

*For context, the use of Taiwanese is in constant decline in Taiwan owing to past government policies, with ever fewer people from younger generations being able to master it. Its circumstances are comparable to those of Welsh and Irish.

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00:33 Reasons for a no-guest episode

03:59 Alternative idea of the host of the podcast turning into the guest for a one-off (nah)

05:45 Outline for this episode

07:44 2024 - Season 2 mid-point review and some stats

08:45 Season 2 episode recommendations (based on the type of listeners)

17:08 Data from 2024 Spotify for Podcasters Unwrapped

18:30 More data on Podcast consumption from the hosting platform

24:50 The idea behind Comedy with an Accent since the launch - a moving Venn diagram

27:51 Criteria for guest invitations/selection

31:34 Kuan-wen’s apologies for occasional grammatical and pronunciation errors

34:04 Kuan-wen prepping for an interview conducted entirely in Taiwanese

38:17 Thoughts on producing the monologue episode

40:34 How much discussion about languages should be included in the podcast?

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If you like the episode, please share it and leave a review. For any comments or suggestions, please contact us on Instagram or email [email protected]

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

North Macedonia’s proudest export to the UK and so far the only North Macedonian comedian performing professionally on the UK comedy circuit, Vlad has appeared on BBC Stand Up for Live comedy in 2021. He took home various awards wins from Comedy Store London King Gong, Up The Creek Comedy Club’s One To Watch and The Stand Up Comedy Club’s “Get Up, Stand Up” competitions.

A sizeable chunk of the interview was given to explain why North Macedonia ended up being called North Macedonia, after years of appearing as FYR Macedonia in Eurovision, why “Macedonia” can be a tricky name to claim. Vlad explains his reluctance to spend more time on this point due to the general lack of awareness about his native land by the western word. We also explore the wider dynamics of the Balkons region and between the ex-Yugoslav neighbours and how this interacts with comedy.

Vlad also points out the double standards when Little Britain is pulled off the shelf, there is little outcry when it comes to Borat. We talk about employing stereotypes as tools for comedy and why ignorant depiction of foreigners continue to get by.

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00:40 Intro

03:09 Some introduction about Vlad’s native North Macedonia and why there is a “North” before “Macedonia”

07:03 People know little about other parts of the world why Vlad is tired of having to explain his nationality

10:46 Explain your accent at the start to build a relationship with your UK audience

15:26 The odd gig when the immigrant label irritated the audience

16:10 Could comedic exaggerations be taken as misleading factual statements?

19:22 How true are these jokes? The Serbian aunt boycotting Sex And The City joke and the Taiwanese army joke

24:05 Being the only comedian from your country on the UK comedy circuit

25:37 Is Macedonian just an extension of Bulgarian?

32:17 The Balkan discussion

34:21 Nostalgia towards Yugoslavia

37:35 The “Borat” question

44:27 Growing out of early jokes based on foreign stereotypes

48:25 Vlad’s social media

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If you like the episode, please share it and leave a review. For any comments or suggestions, please contact us on Instagram or email [email protected]

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

¿sabias que todos los meses se hace un show de monólogos de comedia en español en Londres?

One half of the masterminds behind the popular Comedy Por Favor show, Sergi Polo returns to talk about how the idea of a comedy show in Spanish in London came about and why the brand has been a massive success in the Spanish and the wider Hispanic community - with every single show sold out in advance since the first show two years ago.

With performers from Spain, Latin America and Spanish-speaking Anglophones and the mirroring audience, a Comedy Por Favor show is always a hodgepodge of conviviality and joy (and a bit of a chitchat). As everyone in the room is guaranteed bilingual person, this creates a supportive atmosphere if anyone struggles to speak Spanish at any given point.

Sergi also shares his insight and the uncertainty he still questions himself performing in different languages to crowds in different countries. The same question is extended to his online output in English as well as Spanish, where Sergi has grown his followers substantially since his last episode two years ago.

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Sergi and Soraya’s podcast (in Spanish) Los de Londres

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If you like the episode, please share it and leave a review. For any comments or suggestions, please contact us on Instagram or email [email protected]

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00:49 Intro

02:22 Why is Comedy Por Favor - a comedy show in Spanish in London - so popular? (compared to other comedy shows in foreign languages )

05:57 How the idea of Comedy Por Favor was born

06:37 The trial runs/practices in Barcelona before the first show in London

08:40 Kuan-wen’s Casio watch disrupting the interview

09:32 Warm reception by the Comedy Por Favor audience

10:54 A show that makes the audience feel they are transported back home

12:12 The chitchatty Spanish-speaking audience

14:22 Misunderstandings between Spanish spoken in different countries?

16:17 Hoping to attract more Latin American audiences

19:17 Spanish-speaking native English speakers who go to Comedy Por Favor shows

22:09 A supportive audience for non-native performers

doing comedy in Spanish

25:43 Jokes based on ideas that are funny more easily translated

27:34. Sergi learned English through performing comedy in English

28:51 Puns and comedy in different languages

29:38 How to estimate the market size for a Spanish comedy show in London? How many Spanish speakers are out there?

30:55 To create a community rather than pursuing bigger venues for bigger shows

32:11 Doing comedy solo shows/specials in different languages

37:29 A TV interview in Catalonia

38:10 Doing a show in Catalan in London on Saint George’s Day

39:29 Differences between Spanish audience in London and in Spain

41:40 Sergi’s Social Media; Los de Londres podcast

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Our third ever guest from England hails from Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire. For listeners interested in the numerous accents that exist in the UK, the Hull accent is considered one of the most distinct accents.

Louise Atkinson has provided the tour support for Live at the Apollo stars Sarah Keyworth and Esther Manito and her solo show “Mates” won the Amused Moose Best Debut Show at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023.

A proud northerner, Louise talks about what makes the Hull accent distinct, which has been named as the sexiest accent by Timothée Chalet. As the podcast now boasts more listeners outside the UK, the conversation goes into great length explaining the North v.s. South divide in England and the relevant but not entirely identical class divide in the society.

Louise talks about the local pride - Hull was selected as UK City of Culture in 2017 and has widely been seen as a tremendous success story.

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Louise’s podcast Be Fairy Afraid on Spotify; Be Fair Afraid on Apple Podcast

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If you like the episode, please share it and leave a review. For any comments or suggestions, please contact us on Instagram or email [email protected]

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01:05 Intro

03:57 Louise hates it when people from south of England question her accent

05:20 Fellow. Comedians mocking Louise’s accent

07:45 Adjusting her accent overseas in a corporate job

08:45 Accents and classism in the UK

11:20 North vs South divide in the UK

13:40 A world famous actor from Yorkshire

15:33 Northern England vs South England is not always working class vs middle class

16:52 Proud of being from Hull

18:44 “I HATE people” but perceived as “affable” because of a northern accent

21:25 The Hull accent is the sexiest accent per Timothée Chalamet in the UK; what influence makes the Hull accent distinct?

26:25 Who gets to joke about Hull being the backwater?

26:50 UK City of Culture 2017

28:54 Self-deprecating a British trait, not necessarily just for the Northerners

29:34 Performing across the UK and knowing audience from different parts of the country

32:40 The “Waitrose” audience

36:10 A few more random facts about Yorkshire and Hull

37:52 Louise’s social media

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Donatas Kveselys is the second Lithuanian comedian featured on this podcast. This episode, however, feels half-dedicated to the Kingdom and the people of Sweden, for Gothenburg, Sweden is where Donatas currently lives and where he started performing stand up comedy (in English).

Donatas is a London Comedy Store Gong Show winner. He also secured the 3rd spot in the Roast Battles’ 2024 International Western Division League table.

Having already left his Eastern European homeland Lithuania to move to Sweden for work, Donatas gave stand up comedy a go in his adopted country where the majority of population do not speak English as their mother tongues (but are known to proficient English speakers). Talking about layers of cultural and linguistic code switching!

Donatas discusses how he got to understand the reserved Swedish folks inside out from a foreigner’s perspective. He talks about doing Swedish jokes for Swedish crowds - If you don’t know already, you should definitely google “SNUS” and “SWEDEN” - but also explains why he is now travelling and gigging elsewhere in Europe for a broader reach.

Content warning - from 34:47 onwards there's a brief mention of suicidal feelings as part of a discussion on anxieties

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If you like the episode, please share it and leave a review. For any comments or suggestions, please contact us on Instagram or email [email protected]

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01:02 Intro

04:12 A Lithuanian comedian performing English stand up comedy in Sweden

05:18 An East European accent

07:13 The odd foreign performer who performs in English at Swedish comedy shows

10:18 Lithuania in Swedish people’s eyes

12:57 Dissecting the “Chernobyl Survivor” joke and Lithuanian stereotypes

16:21 Lithuanians’ views of HBO’s series Chernobyl being shot in Vilnius

19:20 A white comedian with a foreign accent vs a Swedish comedian from ethnic minority backgrounds

23:45 Lithuanian as an East European language but not a Slavic language - it’s a Baltic language

25:11 Swedish people in Donatas’ words

28:30 Jokes for Swedish audience only; “SNUS” in Sweden

30:41 Travelling around to perform to difference audiences

32:03 What does Donatas like about performing for the Swedish audience

33:10 Bad at imitating his comedy idols, finding his own voice

34:47 Penchant for dark humour

37:35 Returning to his home country to perform in Lithuanian?

40:09 Donatas’ social media

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe