Polyglot Comedian Brings 12-Language “Masterclass” in Failure to Manchester Fringe

MANCHESTER, UK – This July, traveling polyglot comedian Erica Jean brings her interactive show, MISTRANSLATED: How to Learn a Language (Badly) in 60 Minutes, to the Greater Manchester Fringe at Gullivers Lounge. Fresh from a tour across Southeast Asia and a successful run at the Tallinn Fringe, Erica Jean offers a hilariously chaotic exploration of what happens when the “gift of gab” goes globally wrong.

As more and more content is generated by AI, MISTRANSLATED stands in sharp contrast as a celebration of the human mistake. Erica Jean—who performs stand-up in seven languages including Japanese, Spanish, and Indonesian—proves that you don’t need fluency to connect with people; you just need the courage to look like an idiot. 

“Mistakes make life interesting,” says Erica Jean. “The show is for anyone who forgot their secondary school Spanish or has tried to order a beer in a country where they only knew the word for ‘napkin.’ This show brings people together to dredge up those shared language-learning traumas and turns them into a masterclass on how to fail better.”

From false friends in French to traumatizing Thai pharmacists with nonsensical requests, the show mixes storytelling with interactive crowd work. Audiences are invited to share their own “language fails,” ensuring every night is a unique linguistic experiment. 

MISTRANSLATED has been developed over two years of testing in 15+ countries. Described by producers as “a breath of fresh air,” the show avoids mature themes in favor of witty, quirky, and universally relatable comedy. The show is 99% in English, with mixed-in words from over twelve languages.