Comedy with an Accent

Evelyn Mok is well known for being the former co-host of the (now retired) Rice to Meet You Podcast and the creative mind behind multiple popular sketches. The Swedish native is also one of the highest-profile comedian of East Asian heritage in the UK, who now spends her time between both countries.

Evelyn talked about how the feeling of being "other'ed in Sweden in her childhood prompted her to mimic a near perfect American accent as an escape. She also shared the cadence employed earlier in her comedy career - partially a remnant of getting out of a stage character and partially her understanding at that time of how funny should sound like.

This episode also includes Evelyn's reflection on her relationship between stand up (more specifically doing stand up in the UK) and depression and why it can be a complex mix. She has prioritised taking care of her own mental health and is now a in better place again to pursue her love for stand up.

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For any comments or suggestions, please contact us on Instagram or email [email protected]

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Episode timeline

00:48 Intro (& some chitchat)

05:19 Where did Evelyn’s get her near perfect American accent from and why was young Evelyn determined to mimic the American accent?

08:45 Why ethnic minority immigrants are more likely to try stand up comedy

09:55 Can Evelyn’s American accent fool native speakers?

11:05 When Evelyn’s Swedish sound slips

13:00 Different Nordic sounds and stereotypes (inc. some Eurovision chat)

16:54 Evelyn might not have to explain her accent but needs to address her background - because of her ethinicty - if she wants to mention Sweden

21:25 Evelyn’s old “cadence” - the way Evelyn used to speak on stage - and the character she used to employ

24:58 How “Funny” sounded to Evelyn

30:21 Depression; how it affected Evelyn’s stand up

33:12 From a character to a stage persona to finally be her true self

37:44 Evelyn can only manage this American accent

41:07 Is Evelyn more fluent in English than in her native Cantonese?

41:52 Re-discovering her Swedishness and Asianness -

45:15 Looking back on a therapy like—episode

47:27 Evelyn’s social media

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

“Are you the WHSmith guy?” Stephen Buchanan is known by strangers these days for his viral sketch clips, shared so widely that he’d be stopped and recognised by random people on the street. He won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2018; he is a third of the popular podcast Some Laughs and part of the new generation of comedy talents coming out of Glasgow, a city that has produced exceptional performers from Frankie Boyle, Kevin Bridges, Larry Dean to Billy Connolly.

With one of the most consistent guest’s own chuckle rate throughout the interview, Stephen talks about the working class character of Scotland's biggest city and the "Tall Poppy Syndrome" he was taught growing up as a wee working-class Glaswegian lad. Being neither the tallest nor the most capable of playing football or fight, Stephen morphed into the funniest guy in the playground to survive.

Your hosts also asks Stephen about his daft, beta-male stage persona and why he does not go down the incel-pleasing trope of opinionated comedy style.

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Follow Stephen on Instagram. or Twitter

Stephen is a third of Some Laugh Podcast with fellow Scottish comedians Marc Jennings and Stuart McPherson

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram and Twitter

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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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Episode timeline

00:49 Intro

03:40 A viral clip that makes Stephen “The WHSmith Guy”

06:40 Only having an accent when gigging in London

08:11 Adjusting the accent level depending on the person you talk to

10:03 Did Stephen have his podcast parters think about their accents when recording?

11:57 BBC World Service producer changing Stephen’s references for American listeners - a “Bin” (Trash can)

15:32 Changing the way he speaks performing outside Scotland

18:37 Changing a working class accent for London centric Upper class audience

21:49 Why has Glasgow nurtured so many great comedians?

24:52 The Scottish mentality - The Tall Poppy Syndrome

27:38 Stephen’s akin to Charlie in Always Sunny In Philadelphia

31:50 Joking about his own height on his terms

34:00 Silly mundane stuffs rather than opinionated comedy

38:21 Jokes made funnier because of the accent or only funny because of the accent?

41:12 Glaswegian accent voted the 3rd sexiest accent in the UK

44:15 Comedians free to swear when performing in Glasgow

46:24 Some (obligatory) bagpipe music

47:19 Stephen’s social media

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

"What's your mother tongue?" A simple question.. Cansu Karabiyik, our guest this week, replied, "That's a complicated question. I don't really have a national identity anymore."

As a Kurdish/Turkish Danish citizen who studied abroad first in America then at Cambridge University in the UK, Cansu is an example that national identity and our relationship with a language may not always be straightforward.

Cansu in this episode talks to your host Kuan-wen about how she had to adjust her comedy performing style since moving across the pond from London to New York. With such a complex background, how she selectively chooses bits about her to include in her introductory lines to provide the context for subsequent jokes. Your host and the guest also had a gentle dig at the Cambridge University and the world famous Cambridge Footlights club (hopefully all justified after you watch the video - see link below!)

Cansu debating "Cambridge Footlights have NOT ruined British Comedy" (cringe...)

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Follow Cansu on Instagram.

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For any comments or suggestions, please contact us on Instagram or email [email protected]

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Episode timeline

00:42 Intro

02:14 A Kurdish comedian from Denmark who parents are from Turkey

05:04 Changes to Cansu’s accent since she moved from the UK to New York

06:51 British humour v New York audience

12:42 Kurdish v Turkish v Danish, which one is Cansu’s mother tongue?

14:22 Kuan-wen draws parallels between his Taiwanese and Cansu’s Kurdish

15:23 Cansu’s confusing accent to others

17:12 Unconscious bias to link ethnicity to choice of languages

18:35 How Cansu works with her confusing accent performing comedy

21:33 English is a language reserved for comedy jokes

23:10 Cansu’s straight talking from Danish and Middle Eastern cultures

25:50 Being “other”ed in Denmark and the Danish Ghetto Laws

30:05 Differences between Kurdish people in Turkey/Iraq/Syria/Iran

32:46 Cansu’s Cambridge and Cambridge Footlight experience---------------------------------

Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

[Notes for our non-Mandarin-speaking listeners, this is a one-off special episode recorded in Mandarin. We will be back to our normal bi-weekly episode in English on Jan 31st]

先祝各位聽眾一聲新年快樂，兔年行大運。

上一集以英文訪問來自美國波士頓，但在中國以相聲和單口喜劇走紅的艾杰西（Jesse Appell）。錄音當天，我們以中文分別又錄製了這一集。本集中文內容集中於主持人冠文與杰西討論中國與台灣所用中文的差異、杰西闡述他中文如何學到如此入骨的歷程、以及中國相聲「說、學、逗、唱」四大要點。

看看杰西的中文好得多驚為天人

杰西於中國電視節目表演內容

Ahead of the Chinese New Year, we are rejiggling the podcast's format slightly. Our guest this week is Jesse Appell, a native English speaker from Boston, USA who performs stand up comedy in Mandarin and whose career started in China. This reverses our usual format of interviewing non-native English speakers who perform English stand up.

Known as 艾杰西 in China, Jesse has performed on Chinese TV and apprenticed over 7 years under the late Chinese Xiang Sheng* Master 丁广泉 （Ding Guang-Quan）Having started as a Fullbright scholar researching Chinese humour and performance, Jesse has an astonishing command of the Chinese language and has in your host Kuan-wen's view picked up a lot of mannerisms of a typical Chinese speaker from Northern China.

Jesse shares his experience of performing in front of Chinese audiences. He explains how he has had to adapt to their expectations, when anything he covers risks being interpreted as "What an American has got to say about China"

The pandemic also unexpected forced Jesse to move back to the States, a situation that he described as "being an exile in my own country" and "no one else would believe except for the Chinese Immigrants"

A bonus episode recored in Mandarin will be released on Chinese New Year's Day 21 Jan.

*Xiang Sheng is a traditional performing art in Chinese comedy. See more on Xiang Sheng

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Follow Jesse on Instagram or his Youtube Channel. If you use the Chinese Weibo, you can find Jesse as @艾杰西

Jesse's tea business has a separate Instagram account

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram and Twitter

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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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Episode timeline

00:53 Intro

02:14 UK vs “Europe”? Or Rest of Europe?

03:32 Jesse’s impeccable accent (Beijingers like) when he speaks Mandarin

07:27 Back in USA, Jesse having to deal with Americans’ lack of knowledge in China (including Chinese Americans)

09:30 Forced to move back to USA by accident - exiled in his own country

11:33 Jesse’s assessment of different comedy crowds

14:43 What Jesse can and can’t say as an American performing in China

17:04 When an audience’s expectation of a comedian is not neutral

18:42 Chinese not used to meeting caucasians speaking fluent Chinese in real lives

21:55 Jesse’s tea business and coming to the Baltic states and to the UK ‘en route’

25:54 On differences between Asians and Asian Americans; on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”, Margaret Cho, “Fresh off the Boat” and the Vietnamese character Dong in “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

34:03 Audience not bothered by Jesse doing a thick Chinese accent

34:45 Different personalities when different languages are used?

38:52 Advocating doing comedy in a foreign language

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! The first episode in 2023 took your host to the Land of Song on the British isles - Wales. Steffan, more often in his Welsh tongue, is a Radio host, TV presenter and household name in his native Wales. Steffan also performs throughout the UK in English, a language he only became fluent in his teens.

The Swansea native's love for his culture and his langue is evident throughout this interview.

Steffan shared how he thinks in Welsh, how his skills at translating between the English and the Welsh languages help him deal with occasional glitches on stage and why he is fed up with lazy jokes about the Welsh language. So fed up is he that he wrote a whole show mocking the English language - those lazy "jokes" are not about Welsh but simply about a language you don't know.

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Follow Steffan on twitter, Instagram or join his Facebook group

Steffan's Rats in Boilersuits: The Torchwood Podcast

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram and Twitter

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Kuan-wen mentioned a set from the Welsh comedian Rhod Gilbert and the Welsh singer Browen Lewis.

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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Episode timeline

00:50 Intro

02:09 Rhod Gilbert’s comedy portrayal of Cardiff

02:51 Growing up copying the Received Pronunciation accent; English fluency only in his teens

07:48 Thinking in Welsh; mastery over English as second language

11:09 Occasional glitches

12:55 Autism and accents

15:04 When the comic forgets a specific English word

16:33 Translating skills (The Welsh Language Act 1993)

18:59 An example of a glitch

20:57 Just admit you forget the word

22:53 Tougher gigs to perform to Welsh audience

30:28 Less stereotypes and more nuances for home crowds?

32:28 Audience shouted Sheepshagger

34:04 Accessibility to home culture and mother tongue

39:23 First show at Edinburgh Fringe Festival was secretly about languages

45:00 Battles to save the Welsh language

46:16 What is a microwave in Welsh?

46:53 Steffan’s social media and podcast

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Bon Nadal! Feliz Navidad! Our last guest in 2022 is our third Spanish-speaking guest - also the podcast's first Catalan speaker - the self-titled "Lovely Boy From Barcelona" Sergi Polo.

Fresh from being nominated for the prestigious Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year, Sergi is a regular at the popular Angel comedy in London who is known for his snappy, sharp and witty gags. Just check his Instagram page for the reels and you'll get an idea.

Your host Kuan-wen had an interesting discussion with Sergi on their differing views when it comes to mockery of accents. Sergi does not mind it; in fact, he further welcomes jokes and comedy based on stereotypes. He does reveal some of Spain's curious attitudes on racism, legacy of colonialism.

Asian listeners, buckle up; listen in to find out how "Takeshi's Castle (風雲!たけし城)" is translated in Spain.

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Follow Sergi on Instagram

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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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Episode timeline

00:41 Intro

01:06 Sergio is Spanish (Castilian); Sergi from Barcelona is Catalan

03:24 “My Spanish accent is beautiful”

07:07 Spanish words written the way they are pronounced and the “Acento”

10:46 The accent helps Sergi stand out and be different from other comedians in the UK

13:56 No problem having his accent mocked

16:00 Sergi’s relaxed view on Manuel from Fawlty Towers

17:00 Catalans like to make fun of themselves

19:45 Spanish fine with the F word or the N word between friends if they know there’s no malicious intent

21:56 Racism in Spain, the Spanish version of Takeshi’s Castle

24:12 Franco in Spain; Taiwanese attitude towards a past dictator

27:02 Do younger Spaniards have much less strong accents in English?

29:18 Sergi in fact having a Catalan accent in English

30:02 How the Catalan language is being kept alive

32:38 An example of a joke that is either offensive or based on truth

34:51 Sergi’s social media

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Baby comic Jin Hao Li is still studying at the University of St Andrews, but he already amassed a remarkable win at the legendary Comedy Store Gong Show in London and got through to the final of Chortle Student Comedy Award this year; A fellow veteran comedian described him as "You are a baby who is walking - but you are not supposed to!"

The Singaporean comedy prodigy explains in this episode why he does not carry the usual sound of Southern Chinese dialects like many fellow Singaporeans do. Jin Hao talks about code switching and how his Singlish is only revealed with boys back home.

Even though he adores Singlish and Singlish humour, he is just unable to perform his surreal style of comedy in the Singlish accent and retains instead this "privileged international student" accent.

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Follow Jin Hao on Instagram

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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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Episode timeline

00:53 Intro

05:03 An Atypical Chinese Singaporean who does not have a dialect

08:12 Singlish accent v privileged international student accent

10:55 White British putting on a “Black-ent”

13:17 Learning English through Coca-Cola-lisation

18:22 Chinese Singaporeans preferring a separate label from Mainland Chineses

19:49 Chinese Singaporeans with Southern Chinese heritage (Hokkien v Cantonese v Hakka v Mandarin)

20:46 The Manchurian people and the language (Northeast China)

22:03 Jin Hao confused between “Elderly” 長輩 and “Seniors” 前輩 in Mandarin

25:29 Jin Hao’s inability to write jokes in Singlish

28:23 The “Speak Good English” Campaign in Singapore

29:39 Why do some people refuse to think of Malaysia and Singapore as English-speaking countries?

35:35 Jin Hao performs in a non-Singlish accent in Singapore

37:33 Moving from China to Singapore

39:58 Jin Hao’s social media

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Your host Kuan-wen describes Freddi as one of the best kept secrets to comedy audience in the UK and the US.

Freddi has been a veteran on the Berlin stand up comedy scene, one of the largest in a non-English-speaking country in Europe thanks to the large number of expats in the city. In fact, it should be two scene"s", since Freddi used to perform both in German and in fluent English and the two only have a limited amount of crossovers. Most expat comedians perform only in English; more German comics perform in German.

When Comedy Central sought localised content across the globe, Freddi got on national TV in astonishing speed, as she and her generation of Berlin comics just got enough experiences at the right place and the right time. Then the pandemic happened and Freddi decided to give up performing comedy in German.

Your host Kuan-wen reunited with the "old friendly acquaintance" of his to discuss her journey and how she made up her mind. Freddi shared her insight into stand up comedy remaining a underground-ish sub culture in Germany for now. Freddi also explains how she finds it difficult to joke about her faith to Germans or to joke about sex club culture outside Berlin.

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Follow Freddi on Instagram

To get a flair of Freddi performing in German on TV

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram and Twitter

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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 email [email protected]

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Episode timeline

00:37 Intro

02:36 Freddi’s very American accent and its origin

05:51 German colonialism

08:08 Credential to joke about the Nazi grandfather

10:46 The make up of comedy audience in Berlin

14:19 Political Cabaret (Politisches Kabarett) in Germany

17:27 German audience not getting modern stand up comedy

18:59 Why Freddi gave up performing stand up in German

21:49 German audience not receptive of discussing someone’s faith in public

28:13 Changes in Berlin’s comedy scene

34:09 Not necessarily easier for the comedian to tell and write jokes in their mother tongue

39:23 Sex club culture referenced in Freddi’s Berlin jokes lost in translation in Edinburgh Fringe Festival

43:00 Freddi’s relationship with her (ex-) Christian faith

46:53 Is German an ugly-sounding language?

48:14 Freddi’s social media and her full German name

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

India's stand up comedy star Sahil Shah has been in this business for over a decade.

He has been at the forefront of India's modern stand up comedy scene and has pretty much grown with the scene. It started with comedy sketches uploaded to Youtube, later packed out live shows. This year, he performed for the first time at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the UK - including a week at the Comedy with an Accent showcase - and was scouted by Soho Theatre to bring his own show to London.

On the eve of his second night performing at London's Soho Theatre in October, your host Kuan-wen reunited with the energetic performer from Mumbai to record this episode.

Sahil explains how the rich languages and the sheer scale of India give rise up to a variety of stand up comedy scene"s" in different language zones. As an act who performs only in English, he shares why he prefers to have jokes' set ups in English but reveals his punchline in Hindi. He nevertheless adjusts his performance style when facing non home crowds and discusses the difference between the comedy audiences in India and in the UK.

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Follow Sahil on Instagram , Twitter and Youtube

Sahil's first comedy special on Amazon Prime Childish Behavior

East India Comedy on Youtube

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram and Twitter

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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 email [email protected]

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Episode timeline

00:44 Intro

06:47 Languages Sahil speaks

10:05 Languages in India and languages switching in Mumbai

11:43 Set up in English, punchline in Hindi

17:55 Different performance strategies for non home crowds

20:53 Mindful of one’s own accent to adjust the speed and to enunciate

24:38 When someone “put on” an Apu accent

28:57 Indian audience clapping at comedy shows

33:31 The stand up comedy scene in India

36:27 Caste and comedy

41:51 Any plan for Sahil to perform comedy in Hindi and/or Gujarati?

42:42 Comedy at its funniest with localism; the bit about the chappal

46:41 Sahil’s social media

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe