Alice Frick is a comedian, writer, producer originally from Vienna, Austria, who is also the show runner of "Laughing Labia", an all-female line up comedy show and one of the longest-running LGBTQ+ comedy show in London with a loyal following.

Alice talks about the articulation lessons she has been having and how her English went from American-sounding to more obviously German when she decided to switch to British pronunciation. We also learn why Alice is happy to go with the Alpine Milk Maid stereotype and why certain stereotypes about Austria seem to be based on an element of truth.

This episodes concludes on The Anti Self Help Book written and published by Alice, a body of work that mocks the self help book genre (as pointed out by Alice, there's no regulation in publishing a self-help book) while gathers Alice's otherworldly thoughts, jokes and anecdotes.

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Alice's Anti Self Help book can be found on Amazon (Kindle version/Paperback)

Follow Alice on Instagram and Youtube

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram

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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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00:45 Intro and some German grammar chat

02:27 A comedy show in German in London

04:43 An Austrian having a dig at Germans

07:42 Two immigrants complain about the English greeting “How are you?”

11:45 Alice’s Articulation lesson

17:56 Some tongue twisters

18:26 Accents and actor casting

24:17 Laughing Labia - an all Female line up comedy show

29:06 Unsolicited feedback from fellow Male comedian

33:57 A stronger accent on stage

40:34 Alice's more subtle humour outside the "milk maid" character - The Anti Self Help Book

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Comedy powerhouse Arielle Souma is the very first French guest on this podcast after more than thirty episodes (FINALLY!). Unapologetic, unfiltered and oozing “I don’t give a f**k” energy, Arielle is known for her commanding stage presence and her punchy, intense and impactful comedy delivery. Arielle talks about keeping her English simple and accessible, thus easier to understand for non-native English speakers in the audience. Also, some of those long words are just too pompous for her liking.

Arielle also talks about how English works better for her rhythms as a language than her native French. The cheeky French comic claims it makes sense to pronounce various words à la française, since that’s the origin of those English words. Unless it’s words like paedophilia that requires a bit of phonetic precision.

As a mixed-race black woman raised by a white French family, Arielle talks about her hilarious over-compensating “trying to be more black than black” phase in the past. Surprisingly, the UK black comedy circuit does not particularly welcome her with open arms, just because her blackness does not fit in the several archetypes. She may be too confusing to tick a box for the industry and too saucy for the mainstream media, but if you are a London comedy club regulars, chances are you will get blown away when Arielle rocks up at the show.

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Follow Arielle on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram

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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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01:08 Pre-recording chat (trashing Ivorians and Nigerians)

03:07 Intro

04:43 Unfiltered and blunt

05:54 A French accent and using it

09:49 Arielle prefers her name pronounced in English

10:30 Opening a comedy set by addressing the French accent

11:29 An African identity in addition to the French identity

12:45 A black girl raised by a white family

16:11 How Arielle raised her son to be proud of the colour of his skin

17:03 Pros and cons of a French speaker learning English

18:26 What kind of English pronunciation does a non-native speaker pursue?

20:12 An example where Arielle had to correct her pronunciation to ensure the audience understand her

22:09 Keeping the words used simple

25:04 A boxing-like comedy rhythm

27:13 On swearing

31:21 Racism in France v.s. in the UK

39:06 Being othered on the black comedy circuit in the UK

42:36 Too spicy for mainstream media?

46:14 Running a French comedy show in London

48:58 Arielle’s social media

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe

Gino Christofaro is the podcast’s first guest whose home city is not indicated in the episode title. He simply cannot name one.

Being an embassy kid, Gino never had a childhood home like many of us do.

Gino has been featured on Comedy Central Germany’s Roast Battle and is a now TV writer in both English and German for Comedy Central, ZDF, Paramount+ and Amazon.

Born in São Paolo, Brazil, Gino was brought “back” to Bonn, Germany then moved with his parents to Saudi Arabia, Argentina…. just to name a few. Not in once place has Gino stayed for more than three years. He had one year to make good friends, another year to enjoy the friendships only to lose those friends later. Now Berlin-based, Gino identifies more with New York that dominated his childhood TV and where he started performing (but he is not even an American to call NYC home).

A running gag in this interview is how Gino pays so much attention to his hairs, which your host mocks as a “First World Problem”. But the hair issue runs deep and reflects the childhood anxiety of a constant outsider always trying to fit in a new environment. The “embassy kid” journey forged Gino’s unique cadence in his mother tongue and influenced his approach to stand up comedy and to the audience.

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Gino is going on tour in April! Check out Gino’s shows here

Follow Gino on Instagram

Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram and Twitter

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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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00:42 Intro

02:16 What is his name “Gino” short for?

03:11 A German Brazilian (of Italian descent)

05:54 A New York English accent and a “weird” German accent

08:13 Gino’s hair issues (one key theme throughout the interview)

10:18 On Gino’s Jersey/New York accent again

10:52 A little rant on Little Italy, Italian New Yorkers, Albanians

14:25 Why Gino was constantly during his childhood

16:15 On Gino’s hair issues again

18:57 Where does Gino consider to be home? Berlin or New York?

20:17 An identity-less guy, a German perceived to be faking American

22:31 Identity-less or little traits of all different places?

26:06 How much does Gino have to explain his identity at the start of his comedy set?

28:26 Gino’s German-ness questioned

29:27 A comedian’s attire and audience’s expectation

32:03 From anxious comic to not caring about what people think

39:20 Sadness and depression and how it’s reflected in his comedy (and social media)

45:23 The German (language) comedy scene

47:21 What Gino represents as an English comedy performer

52:27 Does liberal Berlin give Gino a false sense of comfort?

54:20 Gino’s social media

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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe