Could you ever imagine no longer having a fixed place you call home, not even having a storage space to keep your belongings, that you are just constantly on the road, crossing borders at times, moving from one city to another?
Such is the life style of Victor Patrascan, a truly nomadic comedian who has been on the road since 2020, all for his love for performing stand up comedy. In 2022 alone, he has traveled to 27 countries across 2 continents and performed in 70 cities.
In the first episode of this podcast’s long due second season, your host was reunited with this old friend of his when Victor came to the UK for a few shows. Well respected by his peers, Victor’s line was quoted by three other guests from foreign backgrounds, all of who were previously featured on this podcast:
“Before I came to the UK, I was just a guy. Now I am a Romanian.”
Victor used to be a London-based act, until despairs caused by Covid lockdowns energised him to sell his belongings and start travelling and performing in continental European countries. He now performs to a mixture of local and expat crowds, although the majority of them are not native English speakers.
In this episode, Victor talks about the differences between his old days of gigging in the UK and now on the road. There is a significant amount of disagreement between your host and Victor in this episode, as they have varying views on the boundaries of stand up comedy. But what they have in common was to agree to disagree agreeably.
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Follow Victor on Instagram Victor is touring, find him when he comes to your town
Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram and Twitter
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Prelude - explaining why the episode is released late
Intro - chitchat
Victor’s home town; Romanian immigrants in Europe
Where’s the line when you mock and criticise another country?
Agree to disagree agreeably
A comedian who is constantly touring
Is there a trade off being constantly on the road?
Proud of his own accent, “This is who I am”
Having to explain his accent and he’s Romanian facing the UK audience in the past
Fair game to mock someone’s accent at a comedy show?
Racism faced in continental Europe for being Romanian; some credit to the UK
Ever feeling lonely on the road?
Now performing to other foreigners
Difference of use of English between continental European and UK audiences
Crowd work (audience interactions) - social media clips
Ultimately it’s about being funny
Victor’s social media
Both people on the left and right sees Victor as if he had horns
Being funny and/or being philosophical
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Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe