Laughing in two languages: An American stand-up takes on Czech humor

They say you haven’t truly mastered a foreign language until you’re able to tell a joke in it, preferably a good one. If that’s the case, Brian Lennon has gone above and beyond to disprove the stereotype that Americans are unable or unwilling to learn anything else than English.

“Originally, I started doing standup comedy in Czech language just to improve my Czech”, he tells Expats.cz.

A California native and former LA-based actor, Brian moved to Prague more than ten years ago, getting into standup comedy, first only in English and, three years ago, taking the gamble to try out his material in Czech as well.

Through well-known and successful local comedians Tigran Hovakimyan and Jiří Jakima, he was given a first 5-minute set during an open-mic event at Ty kávo!. “I was so nervous I almost didn’t go on. It felt like it was the first time ever I was doing comedy”.

Going native

But people laughed and people cheered, and Brian went on to perform at the monthly events organized by Na stojáka, one of the most visible Czech comedy groups, eventually earning him a regular paid spot.

What first started off as a way improve his Czech morphed into an entire new career path. Still alternating between gigs in Czech and English, Brian has appeared on notable TV shows like Czechoslovakia Has Talent and is set to tour the country this year with the popular collective and English-language show Czechmates – where a diverse group of comedians dissect, analyse and joke about life as an expat in the Czech Republic.

According to him, making it in the field while only performing in English is much harder, partly because mixed international audiences coming to see those shows won’t have the same references or cultural background, making it near-impossible to tailor jokes that everyone can get.

On the contrary, being able to do whole one-hour long shows in Czech – especially as a non-native – made him enter a less-crowded but significant niche that makes it possible to make a good and decent living out of it.

“If you had told me 11 years ago that I’d be at this stage, I wouldn’t have believed it”, he says. “It feels kind of surreal. People used to tell me it’s useless to learn Czech but now, I see there was a real reason for it. Give me a year or two, and I think I’ll be able to do this full-time”, Brian tells us, adding that his dream would be to become the first American to have his own show on Czech television.

The greatest comedians, for him, are the ones who can navigate between a vast range of topics and genres, from George Carlin to Bill Burr, Joan Rivers or Louis CK.

“I talk about anything I want to talk about, I don’t censor what I write”, Brian says. Newcomers with little material aren’t so lucky, but comics with a few years under their belt have enough jokes in store to adapt to audiences, sometimes on the spot.

“Any good comedian gets to the venue early to watch the audience, see what they’re like, what they seem to enjoy or don’t respond to. I’ve literally changed my material the second before going on stage, or while doing my bit, depending on what’s working”.

Years after being – unsuccessfully – discouraged from learning Czech, “I absolutely love doing Czech sets for a fully Czech audience. The reaction is huge when I talk about my experience in the country. I think the fact that I love Czech people and culture really gets through in my comedy”. He also admits that Czechs seeing him struggle slightly with the language has an “endearing” element to it and might play a part in his comedic appeal.

“I’m almost more confident in Czech than in English now, because I know I stand out more”.

Jokes can’t simply be literally translated from one language to the other, and some tweaking – taking into account linguistic peculiarities and cultural specificities – are needed to safeguard overall comedic effect. “Czechs might indeed have a darker sense of humor”, he admits. “I mean in English we say someone ‘is barking up the wrong tree’. In Czech, he’s ‘crying on the wrong grave’”.

Being able to make people laugh in your mother tongue is one thing. Doing it in two languages that have virtually nothing to do with one another is a whole different affair. “For example, I used to make jokes, in English, about my inability to even pronounce correctly or remember the name of the street I lived in. A lot of foreigners and expats can relate to this. But obviously, you can’t expect the same laughs if you don’t tweak the joke for a Czech audience”, Brian gives as an example, out of many.

Which brings us to one of the fundamental tenets of comedy. “You have to be willing to bomb. You have to accept you can’t be funny all the time”. For Brian, seeing his personal heroes and some of the best standups in the world fail and falter while trying out new jokes was eye-opening. “It’s freeing to see people better than you bombing, and almost arrogant to get upset because of it”.

Although standup comedy is gaining a bigger audience also in Europe and Czechia, many know it not from live skits but from Netflix and other streaming platform specials – shows that are carefully edited and reordered.

“Live comedy is different, much tougher”, Brian tells Expats.cz. “You’re going to be doing really well for 15 minutes, and then maybe bomb for the next 5 minutes. All the audience sees is the finished joke, but people need to realise how much work goes into crafting great ones”.

But that’s a level of comfort that only comes with experience, and by simply getting out there as much as possible, Brian says. “When you reach a whole other level of confidence, you can continue being funny while bombing. If the audience sees you’re scared, upset or not having fun yourself, that’s the biggest turn-off”.

At the end of the day, “you simply have to remember you’re a comic. You’re here to make people laugh and bring the energy”. Years after starting off in the biz, “being on stage is a really comfortable place for me to be”.

But a fine balance needs to be found. “You can’t be too relaxed. You have to bring some nerves and tension to your act, but that’s very different than actually being nervous”.

You can follow Brian and watch some of his sketches, in both Czech and English, on Instagram. Or head to Metro Comedy Club Prague this Thursday, Feb. 13, for his groundbreaking Czech-language show ‘Američan v Česku’.

He will also perform his English-language show Czechmates on March 21, at Divadlo Dobeška in Prague 4, with more dates to be announced.