Why Hong Kong’s stand-up comedians want their art to be taken seriously

Hong Kong’s stand-up comedy scene has been gradually expanding and diversifying since TakeOut Comedy Club – the first full-time venue of its kind in Asia and still the only dedicated comedy club in the city – opened in SoHo in 2007. Comedians-turned-producers today work together but independently, nurturing the next generation of talents and keeping the business of being funny afloat. This collective effort, however, is not without its challenges. “People don’t really have a lot of respect for stand-up, especially in emerging markets like here. I want to change that,” says Mohammed Magdi, the Egyptian co-founder of Backstage Comedy in Central. “I really care about comedy as a form of art, so I want the audience to respect it. This is a serious thing – it’s comedy, but it’s serious.” A home for Hong Kong stand-up Magdi began going to open mics in Shanghai in 2013 and became a full-time comedian and the manager of a comedy club in 2016. In 2019, he relocated to Hong Kong, where Live Nation Asia tasked him with opening a comedy club in Lan Kwai Fong’s California Tower. Like many others in the entertainment and nightlife businesses, which were affected by the 2019 protests and the Covid-19 pandemic, the venue was short-lived and closed down at the end of 2020. Luckily, Magdi was already acquainted with the lay of the land. In 2021, he co-founded Backstage Comedy. In 2023, when Hong Kong reopened, he moved it into its permanent home in BaseHall 02, below Jardine House in Central. The upscale food court is a far cry from the dingy bars that people often correlate with stand-up comedy. As a producer, Magdi ensures the intimate space is properly set up and soundproofed. “Stand-up is a really sensitive form of art,” he says. “To me, distraction is the enemy of stand-up, and a black box with just spotlights and no background noise has a better chance of giving the audience a good experience.” ‘You do you’ Indian-born Maitreyi Karanth, whose solo show in January, titled Matriarchy, was produced by Magdi, says the Hong Kong stand-up scene has evolved since she started out in 2018. She recalls an open mic night very early on in her career when a male audience member approached her after her set and claimed that she should not have used the word “b****” as “it’s not classy”, but “for the boys, it’s OK”. That incident was an eye-opener, teaching her that a performer “cannot listen to everybody” who feels the need to express their criticism, because that is just one person out of all the people who have watched them. “So, you do you,” she says. “Comedy is such a vulnerable art form, but once you stop being afraid, you become a very bold and fearless performer. That comes with experience, writing, confidence, being in front of people and talking to people afterwards.” A few years into her stand-up career, she began hosting a regular comedy programme at the now-defunct Quality Goods Club while producing her own shows on the side, all under her own name. She counts Jami Gong, the founder of TakeOut Comedy Club, as “a great source of support” who would always remind her to “put your head down, do what you are good at, and the rest is just noise”. More women on the mic Karanth was the only female comedian on TakeOut Comedy Club’s roster when she first started out. Today, things are different. “It is a fact that there are more guys in the business than there are girls, but there are more girls now than there were when I started,” she says. “Everybody is learning, and things have changed. It’s an extremely mixed group now. “I think, in Hong Kong, it’s not about being a man or a woman, it’s about being good. You should not just be writing for yourself. You should show that you can give back to the scene.” On March 20 and 21, she will bring Australian comedian Troy Kinne – who has presented his own sketch comedy series on national television – to TakeOut Comedy Club for his Hong Kong debut. Australian Nina McGrath, a female comedian, will open for the March 21 show. “I think the scene is very vibrant now,” Karanth says. “With competition, there is more progression. You need to have more producers for everyone to get better.” The first step to improving in comedy is to go to open mic nights, and where better to go than one of Bryan Bentley’s. The American comedian first took the stage at one in 2017, and has been producing them at The Aftermath, in Central, every Tuesday since 2018. A booming open mic scene With almost a decade in the game, Bentley has witnessed a lot of changes from the ground up. “It’s got more open,” he says. “For a while, there was only one regular open mic in a space built for performance. Now, there are way more open mics, which is awesome; there’s almost one every night of the week somewhere in the city and in Central.” He has also seen a huge influx of new talent, which means that, as the producer of one of the biggest and most consistent open sessions in town, he has had to be more selective and thoughtful about who gets to go on. Every Monday between noon and 5pm, the online form opens for submissions. Sometimes Bentley has to reject more than half of the entries. However, as a comedian who started at open mics himself, he also recognises how much “bravery, grit and gut” it takes to “get over that hurdle” of signing up; therefore, he always tries to ensure “a nice spread of seasoned comics, brand new people and male and female comics”. Until April 14, he will run a six-week comedy workshop at The Aftermath to coach budding comics on the fundamentals of joke writing, stage presence, crowd work and hosting. Each week features a different seasoned comic. “To start doing comedy, you have to get up on a stage with a microphone in front of strangers and see if you’re funny,” Bentley says. “It’s terrifying, but that’s the beautiful thing about comedy. You’re freaking out, your brain is going crazy, your heart’s all up in your throat. And as soon as you get that first laugh, all that melts away; it’s this back-and-forth volley, and it feels like this wonderful dance. “I just love the idea of going to see some stranger making you laugh and making you feel better. They always say laughter is the best medicine, and it really is.” Hong Kong audience ‘tough but fair’ Magdi points out that Hong Kong can be a tough place to crack for aspiring stand-up comics as the audience is busy, picky and especially hard to please. “I have a headliner [from outside Hong Kong] come in every month,” he says. “They sometimes comment on the Hong Kong audience being serious about having fun.” His international pick of the month this month is Melbourne-based Malaysian comic Kuah Jenhan, who will take over BaseHall 02 with his solo show, Like This, Like Dad (still), on March 14. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kuah Jenhan (@kuahjenhan) “I think Hong Kong people are very precious with their time on the weekends,” Magdi says. “When they come in here, they’re like, ‘I trust you with my Saturday night, make it worth it.’ They can be tough, but I think the best way to describe them is tough but fair. “It challenges us in a good way, because it doesn’t let you f*** around too much – you can’t get sloppy – which I really like as a performer and someone who likes to work hard. It’s very honest, so it keeps the comics honest as well.” Magdi does not hire to fill a quota. “That’s a disservice to everybody – to the talent, to the audience and to my brand … As a producer, the scene is the thing we work for. It’s about respecting the audience, respecting their time and taking this seriously.”

Why Hong Kong’s stand-up comedians want their art to be taken seriously

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From TakeOut Comedy Club to Backstage Comedy and open mic nights, Hong Kong’s stand-up scene is growing, thanks to some dedicated producers

A home for Hong Kong stand-up

From TakeOut Comedy Club to Backstage Comedy and open mic nights, Hong Kong’s stand-up scene is growing, thanks to some dedicated producers