Marjolein Robertson is a Scottish

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

and actress from

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

. She was ''Scots Speaker of the Year''. She has appeared at the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

and her 2023 show "Marj" was nominated for an award.

Early and personal life

Robertson's father is Scottish and her mother is Dutch. She was born and brought up in a Christian background in

. Robertson attended university in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. She has a diagnosis of

ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple ...

. Since she was 16, Robertson has suffered from

adenomyosis Adenomyosis is a medical condition characterized by the growth of cells that proliferate on the inside of the uterus (endometrium) atypically located among the cells of the uterine wall (myometrium), as a result, thickening of the uterus occurs. ...

, 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. In 2019 Robertson moved to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, but returned to Shetland when she could no longer perform during the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Whilst the country was in

lockdown A lockdown () is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison protocol that us ...

she performed comedy online and worked in care.

Career

Robertson lived briefly in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

performing

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

where she was encouraged to try

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

. She made her

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

debut after only a handful of gigs and would write and practise her act in Shetland on her own to an empty room. In 2022, Robertson received funding to write an almanac in the Shetland dialect. 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''. In September 2022, she won in the Scots Speaker of the Year category at the Scots Leid Awards. The following month she reached the final of the

BBC New Comedy Awards The BBC New Comedy Award first took place in 1995, and it is considered to be one of the top UK comedy newcomer awards. It was axed in 2006, being replaced by a nationwide talent hunt that places its emphasis on sketch writing and filmed perfor ...

after winning the regional Scottish heat. In 2022 she was awarded second place in the final of the

Funny Women Funny Women is an online and in-person workshop community dedicated to the support of female comedians. It was founded by Lynne Parker (Funny Women), Lynne Parker in 2002 as a reaction to misogynistic comments from a comedy promoter. Funny Women h ...

awards. 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. At the 2023 Fringe she also appeared in the historical play ''Me, Myself and Mary (Queen of Scots)''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Marjolein 1990 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Scottish women comedians Scottish stand-up comedians People from Shetland