Martin Durchov has never done any podcast interview - not until this episode popped his podcast cherry. You can find his Instagram profile, but be warned there’s not a single comedy-related content on it.

The Bulgarian native is one giggly and happy chap, described by your host Kuan-wen as a very “settled” immigrant in the UK. Even his accent mellowed over the years he stays in the UK - a fun fact your host found out when he checked Martin’s stand up clips in preparation of the interview and noticed the accent shift pre- and post- Covid.

Martin talks about the wider “East European” brand, how Bulgaria often gets lumped together with its neighbour Romania, what national stereotypes he incorporated into his comedy routines and how he gradually edit down the percentage of jokes based on his nationality. He learned early on that it is better as a performer to address the obvious, for him that is the accent and the hairs on his arms.

For listeners who are gigging comedians, Martin also shares why he Is not set on pursuing the comedy career progression even though he had a very promising start pre-pandemic (winning the Comedy Store gong show, getting into the final of So You Think You Are Funny and getting paid work within a year or two)

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You can find Martin on Instagram, but there might not be any comedy-related content there….

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/kuanwencomedy/

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01:10 Intro

04:14 Citing his accent and foreignness as the opening joke but unaware of the accent at the start

08:19 “It’s good to mention obvious things”

11:43 Bulgarian stereotypes as an East European country and why it tends to be bundled with Romania

19:45 Bulgaria Searches For Talent

23:29 Getting requests to do certain jokes

24:42 Between jokes and portraying your own country’s image

27:00 A gentler and silly stage persona

30:58 Martin’s accent mellowed over the years

32:22 Not pursuing comedy career progression and not into the social media game

37:14 On being the face of one’s own small country

41:36 Foreignness does not weigh much on Martin’s mind

44:04 Without hearing Martin accent, others not able to work out where he’s from

45:28 Not having too many connections with Bulgaria in the UK

49:06 Martin’s (non-)used 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 comedywithanaccent@gmail.com

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Shalaka is a self-proclaimed nerd with a PHD in trains whilst loading herself with Millennial angst. Those are supposed to be the most interesting and unique things about her. However, just because she’s from India, the audiences in the UK expect her to talk about being Indian or South Asian.

In this episode, Shalaka eloquently explains her own code switching, detailing her accent automatically adjusts based on the people she talks. This is the result of a racist “friend” at Uni constantly mocking her accent for years. As a first generation immigrant, she is also surprised by the gap between how the British Indians’ idea of India and the India she knows from growing up in Bangalore.

Her ethnicity becomes an easy target for the sometimes lazy opponents during Comedy Roast Battles, which only serves Shalaka as she excels in this specific format of comedy shows (UK Roast Battle Champion and International Roast Battle MVP).

You can catch Shalaka at the following work-in-progress shows:

May 24th - The Boathouse, Cambridge Fringe (tickets)

June 6th - Canal Café, Chichester Fringe (tickets)

*Your host Kuan-wen referenced Ronny Chieng's bit on The Daily Show, the idea being "Indians are not Asians (in America)" It was a topical line when Rishi Sunak became the UK's first Prime Minister of Indian heritage. See the clip here.

Another reference is to Russell Peters. We cannot find the exact clip but there is a similar clip of crowd interaction from Russell Peters mocking a Taiwanese American (or maybe Canadian) for having an Anglicised name. See the clip here.

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Follow Shalaka on Instagram

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram

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01:00 Intro

03:25 Not insisting on the correct pronunciation for her name

04:30 Hilarious caption typo in Shabaka’s Comedy Central clip

05:55 Code switching - Shabaka’s accent changes depending on who she talks to

09:48 What do people (in the UK) mean when they say “Asian”?

11:29 Shalaka’s different way of speaking at South Asian gigs

12:46 An idea of India frozen in time

17:03 Attitude towards women also frozen in time

21:28 People’s view on India from British Indians vs from Indians

25:30 Clownery of your own culture in front of audience that are not South Asian

27:33 Shalaka’s light Indian accent is the result of befriending someone racist to her

32:05 More self-reflection on her accent

34:18 Minority comedians mimicking an accent that is not genuinely theirs

39:58 How Schlaka’s ethnicity is used as attack lines during Roast Battle matches

42:04 White racism not as hurtful as Indian to Indian racism

45:34 Not focusing on being the Indian comic; not pandering

50:33 Shalaka’s own memory of India also has a gap with India today

55:31 Shalaka’s social media

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

“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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Follow French It Up Comedy Show on Instagram

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram

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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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If you like the episode, please share it and leave a review. For any comments or suggestions, please contact us on Instagram or email comedywithanaccent@gmail.com

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe