Marjolein Robertson
{{Short description|Scottish stand-up comedian}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
File:Marjolein Robertson (sq cropped).jpg
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
Robertson's father is Scottish and her mother is Dutch.{{cite web|url=https://projects.handsupfortrad.scot/scotslanguageawards/scots-language-awards-2022-marjolein-robertson/|website=Handsupfortrad.scot|title= Scots Language Awards 2022: Marjolein Robertson|date=5 September 2022 |accessdate=1 November 2023}} She was born and brought up{{Cite web |title=Scottish Storytelling Centre |url=https://scottishstorytellingcentre.online.red61.co.uk/event/913:4092/ |access-date=2024-03-30 |language=en-GB}} in a Christian background in Shetland. Robertson attended university in Edinburgh. She has a diagnosis of ADHD.{{cite web|url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2022/08/20/51542/marjolein_robertson%3A_thank_god_fish_dont_have_hands|website=Chortle|accessdate=1 November 2023|title= Marjolein Robertson: Thank God Fish Don't Have Hands|first=Steve|last=Bennett|date=20 August 2022}}
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.{{cite news |last1=Moore |first1=Anna |title=The period that almost killed me: 'My mam was told, if you take her home, she won't last the night' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jun/06/the-period-that-almost-killed-me-my-mam-was-told-if-you-take-her-home-she-wont-last-the-night |access-date=6 June 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=6 June 2024}}
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.{{cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/theatre-and-stage/the-scotsman-sessions-20-marjolein-robertson-2542392|website=The Scotsman|accessdate=1 November 2023|title= The Scotsman Sessions #20: Marjolein Robertson|first=Jay|last=Richardson|date=17 August 2020}}
Career
Robertson lived briefly in Amsterdam performing improvisational comedy where she was encouraged to try stand-up comedy.{{cite web|url=https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/entertainment/4791735/marjolein-robertson/|website=The Courier|accessdate=1 November 2023|title= 'I'm oblivious to red flags': Marjolein Robertson on dating, Daniel Sloss and David Cameron ahead of Dundee gig|first=Rebecca|last=Baird|date=27 October 2023}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/features/2023/07/30/53670/how_i_spaffed_away_my_edinburgh_fringe_debut|website=Chortle|accessdate=1 November 2023|title= How I spaffed away my Edinburgh Fringe debut|date=5 August 2023}}
File:Marjolein Robertson on 30 March 2024 at the Heart of Hawick (sq cropped).jpg
In 2022, Robertson received funding to write an almanac in the Shetland dialect.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-61859131|date=20 June 2022|accessdate=1 November 2023|website=BBC News|title= George Orwell's Animal Farm to be translated into Scots}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/edinburgh-fringe-comedian-disgusted-heckler-24727698.amp|website=Edinburgh Live|accessdate=1 November 2023|title= Edinburgh Fringe comedian hits back after man makes 'creepy comment' to her|first=Sian|last=Traynor|date=11 August 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2022/08/11/51435/comic_shares_her_disgust_at_sexist_heckle|website=Chortle|accessdate=1 November 2023|title= Comic shares her disgust at sexist heckle|date=11 August 2022}} In September 2022, she won in the Scots Speaker of the Year category at the Scots Leid Awards.{{cite web|url=https://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2022/09/25/robertson-picks-up-scots-award|date=25 September 2022|accessdate=1 November 2023|website=Shetland Times|title=Robertson picks up Scots award}} The following month she reached the final of the BBC New Comedy Awards after winning the regional Scottish heat.{{cite web|url=https://www.shetnews.co.uk/2022/10/19/marjolein-makes-it-through-to-final-of-bbc-new-comedy-awards/|website=Shetnews.co.uk|accessdate=1 November 2023|title= Marjolein makes it through to final of BBC New Comedy Awards|date=22 October 2022|first=Chris|last=Cope}} In 2022 she was awarded second place in the final of the Funny Women awards.{{cite web|url=https://funnywomen.com/2022/11/25/meet-stage-award-runner-up-2022-marjolein-robertson/#google_vignette|website=Funnywomen.com|accessdate=1 November 2023|title= MEET 2022 STAGE AWARD RUNNER UP MARJOLEIN ROBERTSON!!|date=
November 25, 2022}}
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.{{cite web|title=(ISH) Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2023 shortlist|date=21 August 2023|accessdate=1 November 2023|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/news/7493/ish-edinburgh-comedy-awards-2023-shortlist/|website=Comedy.co.uk}} At the 2023 Fringe she also appeared in the historical play Me, Myself and Mary (Queen of Scots).{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/2023/me-myself-mary-queen-of-scots/|title= Marjolein Robertson|accessdate=1 November 2023|website=Comedy.co.uk}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|10775747}}
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Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Category:Scottish women comedians