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

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 comedywithanaccent@gmail.com

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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

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram

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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 comedywithanaccent@gmail.com

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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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Follow Peter on Instagram and facebook

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram

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 comedywithanaccent@gmail.com

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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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Follow Tatty on Instagram

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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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

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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Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram

Follow Comedy with an Accent on Instagram

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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 comedywithanaccent@gmail.com

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe