Recently I
had the pleasure and privilege of appearing on a couple of shows with the
presenter Kristine McKay, an American lady who had flown in from Utah, I
believe.
This was the
first time I’d worked with Kristine, and immediately I was struck by her
enthusiasm, her professionalism, and her sense of humour – she’s a really good
laugh, and I look forward to hopefully working with her again very soon.
We had lots of laughs during the show but for me the funniest bit was seeing how well Kristine dealt with the differences in the language. On the face of it most of us think, ‘well, us Brits speak English and Americans speak English so what problems could there possibly be?’
We had lots of laughs during the show but for me the funniest bit was seeing how well Kristine dealt with the differences in the language. On the face of it most of us think, ‘well, us Brits speak English and Americans speak English so what problems could there possibly be?’
The answer is…
lots of problems! And all hilarious!

Well done
Mary Poppins!
A little while later, the differences in our language came again to haunt Kristine as she read out an email from a viewer who lives in Oxfordshire. When she came to pronounce the name of the county it sounded like ‘Awksfoo-ardshy-er’ and she looked to me for help. When I told her ‘Oxfordshire’ she pulled an agonised face and said, “You guys are killing me!!!” At that point I was laughing so much it was hard to concentrate!
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The lovely Kristine McKay |
It was Oscar
Wilde who once said, “We have really everything in common with America nowadays
except, of course, language." And
at that point I’m sure Kristine would agree as she tried several times to
pronounce the word ‘autumnal’ and didn’t quite manage it!
I reckon at that
point poor Kristine was harbouring warm thoughts about getting on that plane
back to Utah as soon as possible, and as if Kristine hadn’t suffered enough, she then
had to read out another email… faced with the prospect of having to pronounce
the word ‘Hartlepool’, she looked horrified, shrugged, and passed the email
over to me…
I was seriously impressed about how
well Kristine handled these difficulties and she used her considerable comedic
talents to full effect. Hers was a Master Class in how to deal with a tricky
situation on live television. It was
great to see her in action.
It was George Bernard Shaw who said
England and America are two countries separated by a common language. You were so right George!
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