S02E16 Samira Banks, [Unnamed language]/German/English speaker - From an unidentified country in the Middle East Winner of the prestigious So You Think You Are Funny competition in 2023, Samira Banks is a bright new star making waves on the UK comedy circuit. Her trademark jokes include her family’s journey fleeing their homeland as refugees. The crowd’s laughters are often raucous but some sensitive souls amongst them also pull their faces wondering. “Are we supposed to joke about refugees?” On stage, Samira refers to her heritage as a broad “from the Middle East.” She never specifies which specific country that is. This question thus forms the central discussion of this episode and explains why in the episode title, both her mother tongue and her native country remain unspecified. Growing up in Germany and moving to the UK for work, Samira is another guest with an international accent that is hard for others to associate it with a specific place. Samira shares her family’s stories and why a reunion of her extended family would turn into a mishmash of accents. --------------------------------- Follow Samira on Instagram Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram --------------------------------- 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 --------------------------------- 00:58 Intro 03:58 An international accent that is hard to pin down 06:58 Picking up multiple languages growing up 08:31 Why Samira chooses not to specify her home country when performing 13:09 Family history of fleeing and becoming refugees settling in different western countries 16:51 A closely-knit family and the elders’ funny views on romance and marriage 18:39 Between the English language, the German language and her mother tongue 19:48 German speakers refusing to see Samira as German 20:50 Some other complaints about German speakers 23:50 German v.s. British 25:22 Samira’s past naive assumption of anyone with accents from the north of England 27:04 Middle class refugees’ “privileges” 29:29 Difficulties of handling refugee experiences as comedy materials 31:52 What does Samira think about her position telling her parents’ life experiences? 35:59 Samira’s social media -------------------------------- Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe
How do you perform and progress on the comedy circuit, when you as a native English speaker already moved to an Asian country where the population does not speak English as their mother tongue (and there really isn’t much stand up comedy going on)? Such is the story of Sam Yarb, co-founder of the leading comedy club in Taiwan - Two Three Comedy Club 二三喜劇. Sam started by arranging road trips to cities and towns of all sizes on the East Asian island to target the scattered English-speaking expats. Gradually, along came the Taiwanese people. As stand up comedy becomes more popular and the Mandarin scene outgrows the English scene, Sam becomes the instrumental figure in bringing international acts to the island and connecting the English performers with neighbouring Asian countries. We hear from Sam how he manages a comedy club in a foreign land and Sam’s observations on the local Taiwanese v.s. expat audience The Firelight Chat podcast episode with Sam quoted in this episode: On Apple Podcast On Spotify --------------------------------- Follow Sam on Instagram Two Three Comedy Club on Facebook Two Three Comedy Club on Instagram Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram --------------------------------- 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 --------------------------------- 00:44 Intro 02:51 Sam’s accent 05:03 How Sam started performing comedy in Southern Taiwan (a short Northern v.s. Southern Taiwan debate) 06:36 Comedy road trips in Taiwan 08:51 Audience make-ups in small Taiwanese towns and tailoring materials 10:57 A self-deprecating American comic in front of a Taiwanese audience 15:50 Expat v.s. Taiwanese audiences 19:56 Taiwanese approaching stand up comedy shows with curiosity 23:07 Taiwan - China relations as comedy material? 26:12 Expat audience in Taiwan v.s. US audience 26:57 Nationality comparison based comedy materials 28:34 Being a comedy promoter/producer in Asia 30:31 How the small town gigs are organised and promoted 31:31 Writing all funny ideas that come to mind and making selections later 35:03 Sam’s Social Media and 23 Comedy Club in Taipei -------------------------------- Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe
Polish stand up comedian Kat Nip is a Berlin-based but globe-trotting performer. She runs her own comedy show in Berlin but is also a regular at comedy clubs in London, including the popular Top Secret Comedy Club. Winner of London Comedy Store gong show, Kat Nip has written for and acted in Comedy Central Poland’s “Mini-Mock” series in 2022 and 2023. She has also appeared on Arte and Buzzfeed UK. Having lived half of her live outside her native Poland, Kat’s native slavic sound is quite hard to detect. Yet her accent morphs where she moves to, so she ends up with a funny scenario of a faint German accent even if she does not speak fluent German. Kat also shares how changes in her health and lifestyle led her to reflect on her comedy materials and directions as well as her stage persona. Kat's comedy special "Traitor" can be seen on OUTtv --------------------------------- Follow Kat Nip on Instagram Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram --------------------------------- 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 --------------------------------- 00:37 Intro 01:51 Guessing Kat’s nationality based on her accent 03:45 A Berlin-based polish comedian who lived in the UK and almost everywhere, hence the confusing accent 07:45 Ending the podcast policy 09:41 Unfiltered 10:34 Polish stereotypes 12:45 More of a Berlin girl than a Polish lady on stage? 15:25 Quit drinking but continuing to do a show about jokes on drinking 19:00 Moving on from the easy jokes 21:53 Traumatic experience of performing in Polish to the kind of Polish crowd that made her leave Poland 24:46 Specific type of fellow Polish netizens that are easily offended 28:13 Is the “Polish builder” stereotype still valid? 31:12 Kat’s journey and why she left her village 32:48 Difference being a Polish comedian between London and Berlin 35:03 Comedy reflecting life’s changes (moving on from typical Berlin expat lifestyle) 39:14 Just live your life the way you want 41:43 Why choosing “Kat Nip (presents)” as stage name? 43:49 Hastag gross food on Instagram 45:07 Kat’s social media -------------------------------- Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe
As one of the founding members of Becomedy - a comedy show production team in the English as well as Italian languages in both Italy and the UK - Tiziano La Bella is a stand up comedian performing professionaly in both languages. He has appeared on Comedy Central Italia and Amazon Prime and only just recently relocated from London back to his home town Rome. Tiziano came to the UK with a clear objective to hone his craft, at a time when there simply wasn’t much stage time for stand up comics - Italy was not yet familiar with the concept of modern stand up comedy and would confuse it with their traditional cabaret. (He definitely did not come for the British weather and sky!) As a result of the migration of Italians in the UK, Becomedy has been able organise stand up comedy shows in Italian in London and Tiziano has performed more frequently in Italian in recent years, leading to more gigs booked in his native Italy. Tiziano has made use of what he learned from English stand up to shift more focus on performing in Italian and eventually decided to move back as the stand up comedy scene in Italy is now fast growing. On the eve of his relocation, this podcast invited Tiziano to talk about his accent which carries a hint of Australian English, his creative process in both languages and how he dissect the audience into four different groups. We also talked about the Italian stereotypes and how the Italian accent is the endless bottom of the joke, even though Tiziano does not find doing accents particularly offensive. --------------------------------- Follow Tiziano on Instagram Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram --------------------------------- 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 --------------------------------- 00:46 Intro 04:14 An evolving accent and now a hint of an Aussie accent 08:03 The W-word between British English and Australian English and how Americans and British audiences perceive the C-word differently 10:56 Foreign/minority comedians doing accents on stage? 12:35 Young Italians’ improved English fluency 15:13 Italian stereotypes mined by influencers on social media 16:43 Choosing the funny-sounding words and the formality level of words 20:06 Weird Duolingo scenarios 21:13 Italian immigrants not necessarily able to improve their English fluency 27:05 Forced to use English regularly during Erasmus and starting to perform stand up comedy 29:54 Start of stand up comedy journey and how Tiziano never intended to settle in the UK 32:06 Returning to Italy; shifting to content and performance in Italian 35:19 The reality of living in Roma (Garbage collection) v.s. garbage collection in Taiwan 36:07 “Is this joke about Chinese offensive?” 37:50 Italian accent being the only accent everyone is comfortable with doing 42:10 Not having a stereotypical Italian appearance (based South Italians) 44:23 Differences between performing in different languages to difference crowds 47:47 BeComedy with Italian/English shows in the UK and in Italy 49:17 Tiziano’s social media -------------------------------- Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe
Our first returning guest is Singaporean comedian Sam See, previously featured in Episode 25 of the first season. Since the last recording in January 2023, Sam has uprooted himself and relocated from Singapore to the UK as - in his own words - he has reached the ceiling in Singapore. Sam shares his gentle criticism of the comedy audience in Singapore. Sam also just finished supporting Ed Byrne on tour in 17 locations, including some well-off towns and some run down places. The bulk of this episode focuses on Sam’s approach to perform as a newly settled immigrant act in these small English towns in front of audience that are predominantly old and white. Sam is at Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year (2024) with two shows: The Asian Comedy Showcase Sam See: And I Can't Feel at Home in This World Anymore --------------------------------- Follow Sam on Instagram Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram --------------------------------- 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 --------------------------------- 00:44 Intro; why Sam is invited back 03:37 Sam moving from Singapore to the UK 05:04 The tour - opening for Ed Byrne 06:53 The reason Sam swapped Singapore for UK 08:54 Has Sam considered US or Australia instead? 09:40 First time Sam living on his own 13:17 How Sam was asked to be Ed Byrne’s tour support act 15:48 More on the actual tour 16:46 Winning over an older, predominantly white audience 19:32 Research fun facts before arriving in a new town for performance 28:16 Some British cities/towns with tricky pronunciations 29:35 Audience demographic 31:00 Singaporean audience trained Sam to always write generally 33:00 Example of Sam employing local references in his jokes 34:19 Sam’s own touring plan 37:45 Sam’s shows at 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and his social media -------------------------------- Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe