[ An earlier upload of this episode at 7am (GMT) on Tuesday was the unedited recording by error (now deleted). The correct edited version has been re-uploaded. ] Making headway to big comedy clubs’ paid spots within two years of arriving in the UK, Blank got into almost all the major Comedy New Act Competition finals and collected gong show wins like a dedicated Pokemon player collecting the Poke gym badges. “Blank is an incognito bilingual stand-up comic,” so goes her comedy profile on some of London’s top comedy clubs’ websites. It is not by accident she’s named Blank; it’s a deliberate choi ..read more

Describing her accent as “a beautiful mess”, comedian Micky Overman’s show “The Recipe” was amongst the best reviewed shows at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023. The excellent show is now free for viewing on Micky’s Youtube channel and forms the basis of this interview. Micky has one of those accents of a proficient non-native English speaker that not everyone can work out what her mother tongue is. Despite this, unsolicited advice still found its way to Micky, that she should play up her foreignness and even present herself as a Dutch cliché on stage. Except it is clear to Micky she does comedy fo ..read more

Guido Garcia Lueches is a theatre maker, actor from Uruguay. His one man show “Playing Latinx” - though categorised as Theatre rather than Comedy in last year’s Edinburgh Fringe - packed in so many jokes that it was probably funnier than many shows under “Comedy” had to offer. To be fair, the show was also marketed as “Half stand up”, but to its creator, genre is not something he’d bother. It’s whether the audience gets his intent that counts. The show weaves in multiple Latino stereotypes and is first and foremast silly. But beneath the silliness and stupidity lies a message that is mostly de ..read more

In Philipp’s comedy set, he likes to open with “Hi, my name is Philipp. I come from Austria, America and Slovenia.” In real life, sometimes Austrians do not see him as Austrians (He left Austria at the age of four), Slovenians may not seen him as Slovenians, Americans might find something a bit off about him. Those Americans not familiar with an English accent might even think his accent is English. A breakout star turned a regular at many best known comedy clubs across the UK, including The Comedy Store and Top Secret Comedy Club, Philipp could be mistaken as another American act who moved ac ..read more

Best known as the mischievous private investigator on Channel; 4's Joe Lycett's Got Your Back, Mark Silcox is an accomplishment stand up comedian in his own right, even though he claims not to be a very ambitious comedian himself. For comedy "is just a way of spending time with friends" Apologies for the delay in publishing this week's episode Mark's distinct deadpan and at times anti=comedy style makes him many comedians' comedian. Mark talks about not being listened to or taken seriously by students in his semi-retired day job as a supply teacher, also the only immigrant in his own family ..read more

Alice Frick is a comedian, writer, producer originally from Vienna, Austria, who is also the show runner of "Laughing Labia", an all-female line up comedy show and one of the longest-running LGBTQ+ comedy show in London with a loyal following. Alice talks about the articulation lessons she has been having and how her English went from American-sounding to more obviously German when she decided to switch to British pronunciation. We also learn why Alice is happy to go with the Alpine Milk Maid stereotype and why certain stereotypes about Austria seem to be based on an element of truth. This epi ..read more

Comedy powerhouse Arielle Souma is the very first French guest on this podcast after more than thirty episodes (FINALLY!). Unapologetic, unfiltered and oozing “I don’t give a f**k” energy, Arielle is known for her commanding stage presence and her punchy, intense and impactful comedy delivery. Arielle talks about keeping her English simple and accessible, thus easier to understand for non-native English speakers in the audience. Also, some of those long words are just too pompous for her liking. Arielle also talks about how English works better for her rhythms as a language than her native Fre ..read more

Gino Christofaro is the podcast’s first guest whose home city is not indicated in the episode title. He simply cannot name one. Being an embassy kid, Gino never had a childhood home like many of us do. Gino has been featured on Comedy Central Germany’s Roast Battle and is a now TV writer in both English and German for Comedy Central, ZDF, Paramount+ and Amazon. Born in São Paolo, Brazil, Gino was brought “back” to Bonn, Germany then moved with his parents to Saudi Arabia, Argentina…. just to name a few. Not in once place has Gino stayed for more than three years. He had one year to make good f ..read more

This is a special episode recorded in Mandarin with our Chinese guest Jamie Wang from last week. For the non-Mandarin-speaking guests, our regular episode in English will be updated next Tuesday April 9th at 7am. （It's the normally bi-weekly schedule so this bonus episode does not come at the expense of regular English episodes！） 延續上一集，本節目特別用中文額外錄製一段主持人 Kuan-wen 與來自上海的表演人 Jamie Wang 訪談內容。Jamie 回顧自己如何站上舞台開始表演單口喜劇，又為何偏好透過英文表演。Jamie 也談到語言特性以及就喜劇的節奏和喜感，台灣所用中文與中國所用中文間的區別。 另外本集也未通篇針對喜劇討論，Jamie 在聊的過程中分享在台身為陸生/中國學生一點心得、台灣人基於媒體塑造形象對中國人可能偏扁平化的認知。 --------------------------------- 在 IG 上訂閱追蹤本集來賓 Jamie ..read more

How do you perform stand up comedy when half of the audience sees you as the enemy at worst, or not knowing what to think of you at best, in a language that is neither your or the majority audience’s mother tongue? Given the complex relationship between China and Taiwan, how does one position herself when they are known as “The Chinese comedian” in Taiwan? Jamie Wang is a student from Shanghai, China, who came to Taiwan for her master degree but became the rising star of the relatively small English stand up comedy scene on the predominantly Mandarin- and Taiwanese-speaking island. She opened ..read more