Scottish comedian hits out after being mocked for Scottish accent in English pub

Mark Nelson is a former Scottish Comedian of the Year

BBC Scotland presenter and stand-up comic Mark Nelson.BBC Scotland presenter and stand-up comic Mark Nelson.
BBC Scotland presenter and stand-up comic Mark Nelson.

A Scottish comic has hit out after suffering anti-Scottish abuse following a performance in England.

Mark Nelson, a former Scottish Comedian of the Year, has spoken of his dismay at being targeted over his accent while he was in a pub in Bath, in Somerset.

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Elaine C Smith, Mark Nelson and Zara Gladman launched this year’s Glasgow International Comedy Festival. Picture: John DevlinElaine C Smith, Mark Nelson and Zara Gladman launched this year’s Glasgow International Comedy Festival. Picture: John Devlin
Elaine C Smith, Mark Nelson and Zara Gladman launched this year’s Glasgow International Comedy Festival. Picture: John Devlin

The Glasgow comic said he was "chilling out" on his own with a pint after appearing at the nearby venue Komedia when he was targeted by a group of drinkers, despite asking to be left alone.

Mr Nelson, who admitted he had been in two minds about whether to speak out over the incident, said the group mocked him for having an accent they said they could not understand and then encouraged other customers to join their ridiculing of him.

Mark Nelson hosted The Stand Comedy Club's online shows during pandemic restrictions.Mark Nelson hosted The Stand Comedy Club's online shows during pandemic restrictions.
Mark Nelson hosted The Stand Comedy Club's online shows during pandemic restrictions.

Mr Nelson, who revealed he had suffered similar problems in the past in England, said the abuse had knocked his confidence, telling his social media followers: “It just gets me down.”

Posting about the incident, the comic said that he wanted to "get it off my chest" because he could not stop thinking about what had happened.

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Elaine C Smith, Mark Nelson and Zara Gladman launched this year's Glasgow International Comedy Festival programme at the King's Theatre.Elaine C Smith, Mark Nelson and Zara Gladman launched this year's Glasgow International Comedy Festival programme at the King's Theatre.
Elaine C Smith, Mark Nelson and Zara Gladman launched this year's Glasgow International Comedy Festival programme at the King's Theatre.

Mr Nelson, who hosts Radio Scotland's The Good, the Bad and the Unexpected programme, has also appeared regularly on shows like Off the Ball and Breaking the News. He hosted Edinburgh Unlocked, BBC Scotland's TV show devoted to Edinburgh's festivals, this summer, interviewing the likes of Brian Cox, Miriam Margolyes and Nina Conti.

Stand-up comic Mark Nelson. Picture: Michael GillenStand-up comic Mark Nelson. Picture: Michael Gillen
Stand-up comic Mark Nelson. Picture: Michael Gillen

The comedian told his social media followers: "I didn't really know whether to put this up or not because I'm not exactly prolific with videos.

“But it's been p****** me off all day so I just thought I'd get it off my chest.

“I had a lovely gig in Bath last night at the Komedia. I'd not been down in ages. It was absolutely brilliant.

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“Before I went back to my apartment, I went out and was just going to have one pint to chill out after the gig in a quiet pub.

“There were about four p***** up folk in there that were being loud. I knew they were going to target me at some point.

"They started yelling s*** and motioning that they wanted to come over and chat.

"I'm not particularly good in small-talk situations. In those kind of scenarios after a gig I just want to be left alone to chill out.

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"I said to them that I wasn't really that interested in speaking and asked them not to cover, but they did anyway.

"Not to be rude, I started chatting to them and that's when the usual s*** of me being down south happened where they said they couldn't understand my accent.

“They then started to ridicule me for it and get other people in, basically taking the p***.”

Mr Nelson, who staged his biggest stand-up show to date at the King's Theatre in Glasgow in March, said he found it “incredible” that he had performed all over the world and England was the only country where anyone had suggested they could not understand him.

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He has previously written material for TV shows hosted by the leading English stand-ups Jason Manford and Russell Howard.

The comedian added: "I know it's not a big deal but it just gets wearing after a while, it really, really does.

"I've gigged all over the world, I've gigged in China. They didn't have a problem with my accent.

"It just gets boring and after it's happened for a while it really starts to get to you and really affects your confidence.

"So if you are ever thinking about doing it, just don't, it's dull. Just stop being ignorant."

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