S01E29 Schalk Bezuidenhout, Afrikaans / English speaker - From Kempton Park, South Africa 🇿🇦

Comedy with an Accent - A podcast by Kuan-wen Huang - Tuesdays

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Schalk Bezuidenhout was tour support for Trevor Noah and won South African Comics' Choice Awards' Newcomer and Break Through Act of the Year. This episode was recorded in May when the South African star brought his show to Soho Theatre in London for a 5-day run, filling the room with South African expats and local Brits alike.Schalk explains the stereotypes attached to Afrikaans and talks about how Afrikaans speakers are often on the receiving end of jokes in South Africa, how the Afrikaans accent can be made fun of, Nevertheless, comedy serves as the unifying factor for the multi-racial post-Apartheid South Africa by creating a shared experienceWhen gigging abroad, the white South African label used to lead the audience to automatically assume the comic has got to be racist, so much so that a disclaimer is required. Schalk explains how things are changing and why he would always identify himself as an Afrikaans South African rather than just a South African.*Apologies from your host in this episode as he mispronounced Afrikaans by omitting the "S" at the end on a few occasions.---------------------------------Follow Schalk on Instagram and his websiteSchalk will be in Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival this August! See Schalk in EdFringeFollow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram and TwitterYour host Kuan-wen will be in Edinburgh in August, too!---------------------------------00:50 Intro02:28 Afrikaans as a language (vs. Modern Dutch)05:54 Schalk prefers performing in English08:05 Languages in South Africa09:28 South Africans’ less privileged passports12:30 Schalk’s accent / comedy being one of the unifying factors in South Africa16:11 Schalk performing in front of other ethnicities in South Africa18:07 How Schalk was “forced” into learning English19:29 Picking on English South Africans19:59 Needing to warm up to switch to English22:04 A party for South Africans (other guests welcome)23:50 Changing words and slangs in the comedy set25:39 Different approaches for gigging in different cities28:36 A Public school is a Private school in the UK29:34 People tend to ask “where’s your accent from?”32:45 Afrikaans as oppressed (Anglo-Boer war) or oppressor (Apartheid)?33:24 Comedy audience automatically assumed white South African comedians to be racist36:30 The Afrikaans South African performer rather than just South African38:41 South Africans in the UK more homesick than those in Australia41:21 How many South Africans there are in the UK----------------------------------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----------------------------------Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe