The Alternative Expat Guide to Luxembourg: Portugal Edition

Luxembourg has many communities. Bankers. Eurocrats. People who will do anything to put distance between themselves and their family.

But one group has quietly, diligently, and with remarkable good humour held this whole country together. For one night, they're done being quiet about it.

The Portuguese are taking the stage.

That's right. The people who built your apartment block, staffed your hospital, and then had the audacity to also be funnier than you, they now want forty-five euros for a ticket. Kidding. But they do want your full attention.

This is a standup comedy show about expat life in Luxembourg's most beloved, most numerous, and most likely to offer you a pastel de nata community. What's it like to leave Portugal for a country where it rains sideways and people consider a 12-minute queue at the post office "basically Tuesday"? What happens to your accent, your identity, your relationship with bacalhau? These are the questions. The answers involve games, silliness, and at least one moment where you turn to a stranger and go "oh my god, same."

Alexandra Neves, Joana da Costa and Marta Correia are three comedians who have collectively felt every feeling about living here — the absurd bureaucracy, the three official languages (mansplaining being the third one!), and the mysterious pride Luxembourgers feel about a country the size of a medium car park. Holding it all together (barely) is MC, Jess Bauldry (UK).

It's also being recorded live (audio only). So if you laugh at something you probably shouldn't, that's going in the archive. Congratulations.

About the performers

Jess Bauldry is a writer and comedian who claims to have quit being a people pleaser, but let’s be real, she’s still saying “yes” to things she hates. These days, she’s hard at work perfecting her resting bitch face. Just kidding, she still smiles at strangers in grocery stores like a weirdo. 

She is also a co-founder of Festrogen Festival and has taken 2 shows to the Edinburgh Fringe.

Alex Neves is Portuguese from Lisbon. A psychologist who’s still not sure if she might actually be a psychopath, she came in search of the “golden dream” of Luxembourg, but got lost on public transportation and doesn’t know if she’s still in Luxembourg or in “Little Portugal.”

Marta Correia is an atypical Portuguese moved to the backwater duchy in the early 90s and her dream was to leave and never return. The dream didn’t come true, so she ended up resorting to standup to keep whatever was left of her sanity.

Joana Costa brings bubbly energy and a fun stage presence to the night. After 2 years performing comedy in Luxembourg, she’s built a playful and recognisable style on the local scene. Performing in English, French, Portuguese, and Luxembourgish, Joana mixes cultures and observations in her standup.

Show in English · Bring a friend · Leave your residence permit at home (it won't help)