S01E26 Evaldas Karosas, Lithuanian speaker - From Rokiskis, Lithuania 🇱🇹

Evaldas could have stayed in his native Lithuania and earned much more from doing comedy. After all, he started performing at a critical time in Lithuania when anyone who decided to perform was almost automatically a professional comedian.Instead, the hopeless romantic fan of stand up comedy came to the UK and started again from bottom of the barrel - doing open mic gigs all over the place to work his way up. All these because he saw a visiting pro and concluded he had to leave to get good. Your host Kuan-wen reunited with his victor - they both participated in a new act competition in Manchester in 2019. Your host came second; this episode's guest was the rightful winner. Evaldas talks about how he worked on his English to soften the accent and how he gets annoyed when the audience make notes of his accent rather than focusing on his jokes. He talks about the "East European" label as seen by audience in the UK, as most Brits know very little about his home country. You will also hear Evaldas' nuanced view on comedy sketches on social media, including his own ones, and the use of social media for comedians in general. Apart from comedy, the discussion also includes his take on the legacy of Russian/Soviet occupation in Lithuania---------------------------------Follow Evaldas on Instagram and Youtube Evaldas also produced a very interesting documentary on his experience of participating in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as a new-ish comedian. See the documentary here. Follow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram and Twitter---------------------------------00:53 Intro02:11 Evaldas’ seemingly American accent04:58 Lithuania and Taiwan’s “Small Country Syndrome”06:38 Evaldas would rather people focus on his jokes than on his accent (even if it is a praise)09:01 Private English lessons in the past and continue to work on his English pronunciation11:16 Being half Russian but not embracing the Russian side of heritage13:52 Comedy audiences from Eastern Europe15:36 Russian or English as foreign language in Lithuania17:34 Why Evaldas moved to the UK (Manchester first, then London)19:22 Lithuania’s fast-growing comedy scene23:31 The regional “East European” identity26:30 Not yet addressing a harsh and poor East European childhood on stage27:26 A preference over American style comedy30:43 Evaldas’ committed approach to comedy sketches on social media32:17 Social media as a comedian’s necessary evil in this day and age----------------------------------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