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Polyglot comedians

  Tags: Theatre | TV | Polyglot
 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots Post Reply
DaraghM
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 Message 1 of 7
11 October 2012 at 9:46am | IP Logged 
I'm curious. Are there many polyglot comedians ?

I was watching an interview with the British comedian Eddie Izzard and he mentioned that he has done routines in English, French, German, Russian and Arabic. As far as I know, he's quite fluent in French and German. I'm not sure if he's actually learnt Russian and Arabic.

Though not quite a polyglot, the Irish American comedian has an interest in languages, and did a television series where he learned to speak Irish. In a recent interview, he mentioned that he'll be learning Chinese as part of his new series.

Are there any others ?

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microsnout
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 Message 2 of 7
11 October 2012 at 11:09am | IP Logged 
Yes, there is Sugar Sammy (Samir Khullar)

"He does comedy and is fluent in English, French, Punjabi and Hindi."

I wanted to see his bilingual show "Your're Gonna Rire" last winter in Montreal but they were all sold out.

Edited by microsnout on 11 October 2012 at 11:11am

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montmorency
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 Message 3 of 7
12 October 2012 at 1:23am | IP Logged 
There is a German comedian who plays the UK comedy circuit. He has supported Stewart Lee in the past.

Unfortunately, I can't remember his name, but it may come to me.
...
ah yes, this must be him:
Henning Wehn


There was a TV stunt in which 3 or 4 "celebs" learned enough of a foreign language to be able to "perform" in it. 2 of them did live TV broadcasts, and a comedian did a standup show to a French audience. I think it was Marcus Brigstocke, in, oh yes "Excuse my French". However, I don't suppose that really counts.




Edited by montmorency on 13 October 2012 at 1:00am

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Splog
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 Message 4 of 7
12 October 2012 at 10:54am | IP Logged 
My favourite is Russell Peters - an Indian living in Canada. His observational skills on different cultures and his mimicry of accents and idioms are exceptional.
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Mani
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 Message 5 of 7
12 October 2012 at 11:12am | IP Logged 
montmorency wrote:
There is a German comedian who plays the UK comedy circuit. He has supported Stewart Lee in the past.

Unfortunately, I can't remember his name, but it may come to me.
...
ah yes, this must be him:
Henning Wehn (link fixed)


Ah yes, "Don't mention the War" Henning ... He's also giving a brief introduction to German on the BBC Languages website.

montmorency wrote:

There was a TV stunt in which 3 or 4 "celebs" learned enough of a foreign language to be able to "perform" in it. 2 of them did live TV broadcasts, and a comedian did a standup show to a French audience. I think it was Marcus Brigstocke, in, oh yes "Excuse my French". However, I don't suppose that really counts.


I think Rhod Gilbert had to do a standup show as his final test in "The Big Welsh Challenge".

But honestly, I can't think of any polyglot comedians, bilinguals yes, but polyglots ...

As for bilinguals there are for instance the American comedian Gayle Tufts in Germany who's doing her routine in "Denglish". (And she's so right about Germans and bread!) and Michael Mittermeier played for 1 or 2 years in comedy clubs in New York ...

Edited by Mani on 12 October 2012 at 1:14pm

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montmorency
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 Message 6 of 7
13 October 2012 at 1:20am | IP Logged 
Mani,

(Thanks for fixing my link...thought my link problems were behind me...just goes to show one should never become complacent... :) ).


So how do German speakers react to her Denglish? The audience seemed to like it, but I wondered if they were being polite. I think her pronunciation would get on my nerves after a while.


At least Henning Wehn doesn't resort to German ... I suppose he knows no one would understand it here :)



EDIT: We have a couple of well known Iranian comedians here, a lady, Shappi Khorsand, and a gent, Omid Djalili. However, I think they both grew up here, and would count more as bilingual rather than polyglot I guess.




Edited by montmorency on 13 October 2012 at 1:29am

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patuco
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 Message 7 of 7
20 October 2012 at 5:58pm | IP Logged 
Splog wrote:
My favourite is Russell Peters - an Indian living in Canada. His observational skills on different cultures and his mimicry of accents and idioms are exceptional.

He's hilarious and his accents are outstanding, but I don't think that he counts as a polyglot.


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