Marjolein Robertson is a Scottish stand-up comedian and actress from Shetland. She was Scots Speaker of the Year. She has appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe and her 2023 show "Marj" was nominated for an award.
Early and personal life
editRobertson's father is Scottish and her mother is Dutch.[1] She was born and brought up[2] in a Christian background on Shetland. Robertson attended university in Edinburgh. She has a diagnosis of ADHD.[3]
Since she was 16, Robertson has suffered from adenomyosis, causing abnormally heavy and debilitating menstrual periods. She has incorporated her experience and frustration with getting proper care for her condition into her comedy routines.[4]
In 2019 Robertson moved to Glasgow, but returned to Shetland when she could no longer perform during the Covid-19 pandemic. Whilst the country was in lockdown she performed comedy online and worked in care.[5]
Career
editRobertson lived briefly in Amsterdam performing improvisational comedy where she was encouraged to try stand-up comedy.[6] She made her Edinburgh Fringe Festival debut after only a handful of gigs and would write and practise her act in Shetland on her own to an empty room.[7]
In 2022, Robertson received funding to write an almanac in the Shetland dialect.[8] At the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival Robertson performed a one-woman show at The Stand comedy club entitled Thank God Fish Don’t Have Hands.[9][10] In September 2022, she won in the Scots Speaker of the Year category at the Scots Leid Awards.[11] The following month she reached the final of the BBC New Comedy Awards after winning the regional Scottish heat.[12] In 2022 she was awarded second place in the final of the Funny Women awards.[13]
At the 2023 Edinburgh Festival, Robertson performed an eponymous one-woman stand-up show Marj. The show was nominated for best show at the (ISH) Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2023 alongside acts such as Ed Byrne, Luke Kempner and Paul Foot.[14] At the 2023 Fringe she also appeared in the historical play Me, Myself and Mary (Queen of Scots).[15]
References
edit- ^ "Scots Language Awards 2022: Marjolein Robertson". Handsupfortrad.scot. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "Scottish Storytelling Centre". Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ Bennett, Steve (20 August 2022). "Marjolein Robertson: Thank God Fish Don't Have Hands". Chortle. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ Moore, Anna (6 June 2024). "The period that almost killed me: 'My mam was told, if you take her home, she won't last the night'". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ Richardson, Jay (17 August 2020). "The Scotsman Sessions #20: Marjolein Robertson". The Scotsman. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ Baird, Rebecca (27 October 2023). "'I'm oblivious to red flags': Marjolein Robertson on dating, Daniel Sloss and David Cameron ahead of Dundee gig". The Courier. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "How I spaffed away my Edinburgh Fringe debut". Chortle. 5 August 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "George Orwell's Animal Farm to be translated into Scots". BBC News. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ Traynor, Sian (11 August 2022). "Edinburgh Fringe comedian hits back after man makes 'creepy comment' to her". Edinburgh Live. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "Comic shares her disgust at sexist heckle". Chortle. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "Robertson picks up Scots award". Shetland Times. 25 September 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ Cope, Chris (22 October 2022). "Marjolein makes it through to final of BBC New Comedy Awards". Shetnews.co.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "MEET 2022 STAGE AWARD RUNNER UP MARJOLEIN ROBERTSON!!". Funnywomen.com. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "(ISH) Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2023 shortlist". Comedy.co.uk. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "Marjolein Robertson". Comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2023.