Comedy with an Accent

Our latest focus on distinct accents on the British isles turns to Northwest England. Our guest Kathryn Mather comes from Rochdale, historically part of Lancashire but now part of Greater Manchester. “Likkle girl down in hospical” - have you heard that one before?
Kathryn was crowned winner of Frog and Bucket World Series in 2017 (Manchester’s prestigious comedy club’s new act competition) and was placed third in Leicester Mercury Comedian of the year in 2019. She and your host Kuan-wen started comedy around the same time and did all those dreadful open mics together, as you can tell from their banters they have known each other for a long time. Kathryn shares why she chose to relocate to Southern England - for the weather! What a shocker - and how the same joke based on Northern stereotypes gets reactions for very different reasons in the south or the north of England.
People still mock her accent. When asked who does so? “The southerners!” The conversation ends on the class divide in the UK and how the comedy industry’s take on working class representation still fails to tackle the structural issues. Kathryn explains why she rarely mentions her working class background - for she feels fraudulent, based on the society’s twisted definition of a working class family. Kathryn also explains how the privilege works for performers from a more affluent background and candidly why she wished she’d never started doing comedy.
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Follow Kathryn on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/beforenowafterthen/

Kathryn’s Historical Hot or Not podcast on Spotify and on Apple Podcast

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/kuanwencomedy/
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00:49 Why can’t English people speak another language most of the time? Kathryn’s self-defence
08:24 Moving down south from northwest England and losing the accent
10:44 Southerners making fun of Kathryn’s accent
12:58 “Likkle Girl down in hospical”; examples of Lancastrian/Mancunian accents
15:36 Is mocking someone’s accent just (acceptable) banters (if between friends)? Are British bantz mean-spirited?
22:21 “It seems like I am the only act without any accent tonight!”
24:05 London centrism and the North (of England) ignored: how accent hierarchy reflects structural regional disparities in the UK
27:40 How Kathryn accounts for her Northern identity when gigging in different parts of the UK
31:32 The bad press Rochdale is somehow known for
33:41 Why Kathryn chooses not to mention her working-class background often? How she sees the portrayal of being Northern and working class on the comedy scene
42:49 Case in question: In what ways is it tougher for a comedian to make it when they don’t have much money or born with certain privileges
47:30 Some more upbeat final message
50:12 Kathryn’s social media
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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

A year end review based on 2025 Spotify Unwrapped and the podcast platform statistics, released on the penultimate day of 2025!
In case you are not a stats nerd on where the podcast is consumed, this monologue episode also includes a brief discussion on the Bennet scale, also called the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity. The framework was developed to analyse how people react to cultural differences and can be a useful tool when someone experiences cultural shocks. Your host came across this framework listening to an *international career coaching podcast (in Mandarin) and interprets this framework as a stand up comedian.
Wrapping up this monologue episodes, your host Kuan-wen shares his observations on changes to comedy rooms after a far-right rally in London.

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Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/kuanwencomedy/
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00:32 Intro
03:11 2025 Spotify Unwrapped
07:50 2025 statistics (July to December) from the podcast platform
11:55 Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (Bennet Scale)
14:37 Six intercultural sensitivity stages
20:09 What if the audience is at a different of intercultural sensitivity for a foreign stand up comedian?
22:50 A non comedy example of mutual cultural understandings when it comes to toasting
25:45 Accents v.s. speaking English “wrong”
30:40 Changing political climate/Impact of Tommy Robinson rally in the UK on comedy shows
37:49 Some final encouraging words

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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 https://www.instagram.com/comedywithanaccent/ or email [email protected]
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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Language itself should be a neutral issue; but it never is in the real world. Dimitri Bakanov is a London-based Ukrainian comedian. He is also a native Russian speaker, having lost the full fluency of his Ukrainian when he moved away with his family at the age of 11. When languages are tangled with identity, life throws in a big warfare on top of the existing nationalist tensions, things get complicated.
Dimitri talks about his accent (when he speaks English) that can fool other foreigners but remains nonetheless foreign in the ears of the Brits. Having come to the UK as a young child, he is no longer able to “do” an East European accent naturally. But he would not have even if he could, as explained in this episode.
The fairly anglicised accent of Dimitri’s also reflects a more westernised life style/value system, as he remarks on certain cultural differences between him and some other immigrants from Ukraine. The use of language becomes a more evident issue after the second Russian invasion of in 2022, as his native tongue is considered the language of the aggressor, the use of which is deemed unpatriotic by many of his compatriots.
Dimitri explains in this episode his curious and complex relationship with the land he was born in and left as a child and shares his thoughts why as a comedian, he does not mind having an irreverent persona on stage when talking about the war in Ukraine.
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Follow Dimitri in Instagram
Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram
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01:07 Intro
02:39 Anglicised pronunciation of Dimitri’s name
03:50 A Russian-speaking Ukrainian
05:28 An accent that non-native English speakers believe to be British but actual British people know it’s foreign
08:29 Incapable of doing “an East European” accent; timing of learning English
11:07 When native English speakers not knowing their language (eg your vs you’re) and foreign English learners getting too pedantic
14:57 Wouldn’t do a great East European accent even if he could
17:54 How comfortable Dimitri feels claiming the “Ukrainian comedian in the UK” label?
19:04 Cultural differences/clashes with some other Ukrainian immigrants
21:26 Do comedians “have to” explain their accents? Dimitri’s take
26:28 Strong Ukrainian accent when Dimitri speaks Russian
29:16 Impacts of Russian invasion on Dimitri’s comedy career and choices he made on stage
31:26 Not wishing to lecture the western audience the war support
36:15 Divided reactions from Ukrainian audience with the irreverent jokes
37:47 How Media fishes for someone to be on TV in the case of an invasion
39:02 Dimitri’s complex relationship with Ukraine
44:17 Dimitri’s complex relationship with the Ukrainian language
49:55 How the timeline of the Russian invasion is defined in western Media
50:42 Summary and caveats
53:39 Life goes on in Ukraine despite the war
55:52 Dimitri’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 [email protected]
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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Is it possible to perform stand up in yet another language (aka not English, not your mother tongue, also less fluent) but relying solely on translating whatever existing materials in English you have? Technically - yes. Though some jokes are simply not translatable. Some can be translated but it would not make sense or would not work. Some might still work but the effect could be heavily discounted. There are your host Kuan-wen own experiences.
The third instalment of your host’s monologue geeks out on foreign languages and comedy again. He summarised a few thoughts from performing at French It Up Comedy Club by accident (Season 2 Episode 26) and dabbling in a few sentences in Italiano at another night called Italian-ish.
The podcast will have a short summer break as your host is bringing another solo show to Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We will be back in autumn and have a nice summer break!
*The mix-up of languages and feeling unsure about the fluency level became even more evident through editing this episode. Your host said “the habitants of London” when in hindsight, it probably would have been more natural to say “the inhabitants of London’. Then he realised it’s because he was jumping back and forth between English and French. In French, they are more used to saying “les habitants”
Also, he is still not sure if it should be “J’ai l’air de lesbienne”, “J’ai l’air lesbienne’ or “J’ai l’air dune lesbienne”?? Any French speaker that can shed some light on this?
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Kuan-wen’s 2025 Edinburgh Fringe show Andrews Are The Worst
(This will be performed in Scotland, where their Patron Saint is St Andrew 😆)
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/kuan-wen-andrews-are-the-worst
Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram
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00:32 Intro - summary of what this monologue episode is about
02:10 Why another monologue episode?
04:19 Discussion on comedy and translation in prior episodes
05:09 English being the comedy language for most guests on this podcast
07:25 Performing in a second foreign language - Your host Kuan-wen’s experience of performing at French It Up Comedy Club
09:39 Kuan-wen’s estimate of his fluency in either language
13:56 Some joke types are not cut out for translation (eg puns)
17:51 Different social norms for the speakers of another language
19:45 Unsure about whether the exact words are used
24:42 A phonetically sounding word may not sound funny anymore in another language
29:00 Less capable of riffing in French on stage
29:57 Jokes written specifically in French
31:55 What would a French native speaker fluent in English prefer?
33:55 Cross-language puns
37:18 Conclusion
41:28 How multiple languages co-exist in one’s brain? Kuan’wen’s own example - the distance between some languages seems to be wider
45:02 Cities where comedy shows in different languages are available
46:45 Latest podcast statistics
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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
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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Mike Rice is probably THE guest this podcast has had so far who proved to be the best at impersonations and accent mimicry. During the course of this interview alone, he improvised a South London, a posh West London, a stereotypical Essex woman and a generic American accent. In his comedy routines and comedy special on Youtube, Mike has done a German accent in the context of WWIII jokes and he has also done an Indian accent. Did the last one cross the line? Between Mike’s inclination for dark jokes, there’s a lengthy discussion why it may not have and Mike’s intention with his jokes.
Mike explains the catholic hangover in the Irish parlance and how he went from semi-consciously ditching his Irish accent to pick up an American twang in the USA to embrace his Irishness and appreciate the beauty of how his father talks and what growing on a farm means.
Slightly further from the usual focus on accents, identity of this podcast, Mike accounts for his rebellious teenage years and the depression in his twenties, how he changed his outlook in life and how he balances a creative soul that isn’t afraid of showing vulnerability with an upbringing where he was expected to toughen up.
Mike’s podcast: Mike and Vittorio’s Guide to Parenting
Mike’s special on Youtube: An Irish Disgrace & Nasty Character
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Follow Mike on Instagram
Mike’s 2025 Edinburgh Fringe show
Mike is going on tour starting from November 2025. See his Instagram for tickets

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram
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01:00 Intro
04:37 People making remarks about the Irish accent
05:23 An accent from rural Ireland and the catholic hangover
09:24 Mike’s family dynamics
11:24 Mike trouble-making teenage years and the school trip to Andorra (Part 1)
13:36 A discussion on using “That’s gay” as a punchline to a joke
17:09 When does a joke go too far? The intention and the context of a joke
19:22 Personality developed to deal with the environment
20:45 On doing accents
25:05 The school trip to Andorra (Part 2)
28:00 Rebellious teenager but also a sensitive soul
31:24 Pain and unhappiness in his 20s
34:50 Mike’s podcast output
35:42 Mike not seen as an outsider despite his accent
38:09 From disliking his Irishness to embracing it; an inferiority complex from not being able to wash away the farm smells
43:54 An advantage to be an Irish act in metropolitan England
45:37 Gigging in continental European cities
46:19 Irish descendants
47:38 Mike’s use of the English language and the books he read
51:19 Mike’s online following and his consistent stage/podcast/real-life persona
53:53 Mike’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 [email protected]