Comedy with an Accent

“Your existence is an act of politics” Italian stand up comedian and playright Xhuliano Dule only knows it so well.

Our *third Italian-speaking guest is able to claim dual cultural heritage, as he originally comes from Albania across the Adriatic sea. He arrived in l’Italia as a small child on a speedboat with his parents, similar to many of his compatriots who searched for a better life in the 1990s.

Growing up as an immigrant in a rather consevative and not particularly culturally sensitive land, Xhuliano now jokes about the stereotypes that were once imposed on him. He is now the first immigrant comedian that was featured on major Italian comedy TV programme.

Ahead of his book launch and amidst his comedy tour, Xhuliano did this rare interview in English. This deeply political comedian talks about the curious mix in the eyes of Italian audience, that he is an immigrant background what an accent from the Veneto region - one that is considered the rudest and most racist.

He shares how his jokes and his takes on political satire triggered death threats in his DMs, and this intellectual performer explains his observation of the Italian society, how it reflects in the comedy scene and how he decides on his approach to jokes.

*in this episode, your host Kuan-wen Introduced Xhuliano as the second ever Italian speaker on this podcast. It was a mistake. Previous Italian guests include Luca Cupani and Tiziano la Bella
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Follow Xhuliano on Instagram
Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram
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00:55 Intro - what kind of people learn Italian these days?
05:31 Growing up in Italy as an Albanian immigrant kid
06:29 An accent associated with the most racist Italian region
08:19 Albanian stereotypes and the film “Taken” (and some other stereotypes)
10:27 Linguistic diversity in Italy and how the Italian language was “chosen” and how almost no one speaks it
15:35 Not visible Albanian heritage
17:14 The Albanian “Invasion” in the 1990s according to Italian newspapers
20:57 Italy not having the same level of cultural sensitivity as the UK; how this is reflected in representation in stand up comedy and Xhuliano’s more aggressive approach addressing racism
27:05 Racist slang (“maranza”) used naming government legislations in Italy
27:44 What the Italian society really means with label “non-EU citizens” (“Extracomunitario”) to substitue “immigrants”
33:51 Context of a joke that that may seem crass (brave gay men during the AIDS crisis in the 80s)
36:19 In hot water for jokes going viral
40:32 When one’s existence is an act of politics
43:38 Conservatism and religion in Italy and the consequent censorship
46:51 Italian’s conjugation and the rhyming opportunities
48:32 Xhuliano’s social media and upcoming book/tour/comedy special (“Remuntada”)
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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

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