S01E20 Stephen Buchanan, English speaker (Glaswegian accent) - From Glasgow, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

“Are you the WHSmith guy?” Stephen Buchanan is known by strangers these days for his viral sketch clips, shared so widely that he’d be stopped and recognised by random people on the street. He won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2018; he is a third of the popular podcast Some Laughs and part of the new generation of comedy talents coming out of Glasgow, a city that has produced exceptional performers from Frankie Boyle, Kevin Bridges, Larry Dean to Billy Connolly.With one of the most consistent guest’s own chuckle rate throughout the interview, Stephen talks about the working class character of Scotland's biggest city and the "Tall Poppy Syndrome" he was taught growing up as a wee working-class Glaswegian lad. Being neither the tallest nor the most capable of playing football or fight, Stephen morphed into the funniest guy in the playground to survive.Your hosts also asks Stephen about his daft, beta-male stage persona and why he does not go down the incel-pleasing trope of opinionated comedy style.---------------------------------Follow Stephen on Instagram. or TwitterStephen is a third of Some Laugh Podcast with fellow Scottish comedians Marc Jennings and Stuart McPhersonFollow your host Kuan-wen on Instagram and Twitter----------------------------------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----------------------------------Episode timeline00:49 Intro03:40 A viral clip that makes Stephen “The WHSmith Guy”06:40 Only having an accent when gigging in London08:11 Adjusting the accent level depending on the person you talk to10:03 Did Stephen have his podcast parters think about their accents when recording?11:57 BBC World Service producer changing Stephen’s references for American listeners - a “Bin” (Trash can)15:32 Changing the way he speaks performing outside Scotland18:37 Changing a working class accent for London centric Upper class audience21:49 Why has Glasgow nurtured so many great comedians?24:52 The Scottish mentality - The Tall Poppy Syndrome27:38 Stephen’s akin to Charlie in Always Sunny In Philadelphia31:50 Joking about his own height on his terms34:00 Silly mundane stuffs rather than opinionated comedy38:21 Jokes made funnier because of the accent or only funny because of the accent?41:12 Glaswegian accent voted the 3rd sexiest accent in the UK44:15 Comedians free to swear when performing in Glasgow46:24 Some (obligatory) bagpipe music47:19 Stephen’s social media---------------------------------Podcast intro music by @Taigenkawabe