The last time I performed in Moscow, I did it at an English-speaking show. The producer told me I can joke about whatever I want: politics, lgbt, war are all fine – but I need to be mindful of cultural references. English-speaking Russians will understand the language, but not the jokes about Erewhon.

Indeed indeed. When I’ve put up my one-woman show “If you like David Sedaris and John Mullaney, you might like this show” in Brighton, UK, one of my draft passes was about British-izing the text.

“A metal constructor kit for building excavators” becomes “a metal constructor kit for building diggers”, “thrift store” becomes “charity shop”, but also… in America the most famous thrift store is called “Good Will” but in UK it’s “Oxfam”. If you start telling British audience about self-help book you bought at a good will, they will get puzzled. Which is why ‘Kentucky derby” becomes “Ascot”, and so on.

Here is an example of an original, American bit:

And the same bit in British: