What started as one man’s quest to escape his mundane banking job has flourished into the epicenter of Shanghai’s growing stand-up scene. With a dedicated venue to their name, a growing national touring circuit, and an increasingly popular podcast, Kung Fu Komedy (KFK) takes their next step forward with this month’s China International Comedy Festival.
It’s the last Friday of Spring Festival and it’s another packed house at Kung Fu Komedy Club’s weekly Mandarin comedy showcase.
When he’s not tending to the front of the door, serving up beers or performing a set in a second language, KFK founder Andy Curtain takes a few seconds to soak in the scene.
“It’s been better than we thought it would [be],” he beams talking about the Xiangyang Bei Lu venue that they opened in November. “The crowds have been awesome, there are more people signing up for open mics than ever and the comics are all motivated. They’re writing new material and are super excited about doing comedy. It’s been huge.”
The club’s success has allowed the group to launch the inaugural China International Comedy Festival on March 18-April 3. Past headlining acts Steve Simeone, Joe Klocek and Dashan will perform shows, but the bones of the festival are its English and Mandarin stand-up competitions.
With applications coming from Africa to America, 30 comics have been chosen to take part in the English edition. Preliminary rounds take place on March 22-26, while the semi-final set is hosted at The Camel (Suzhou) on March 31. The final takes place on April 2 and will be judged by Dashan, Klocek and Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) producer Amelia Chappelow.
The festival’s final weekend will host the Chinese competition with 20 participants attempting to wow prestigious judges Dashan and beloved, witty CCTV commentator Cui Yongyuan.
While he praises the quality of the submissions, Curtain notes “the value of festivals is not so much the shows going on, but having everyone in the same spot to hang out, make connections and get all these ideas.”
One of KFKs original members Drew Fralick will take part in both competitions. While he jokes that “Andy forced me to do comedy for the first two years,” Fralick has since won the Hong kong International Comedy Festival and has also performed in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
After a set where he cracks the initially skeptical crowd with an extended bit about dealing with Crazy English telemarketers, Fralick praises the Mandarin comedy nights.
“It’s really fun doing comedy in Mandarin,” he says. “The crowds are huge and brand new every time, so you can polish your material much more. With English, it’s a smaller expat market, so you have to focus a lot on writing. It’s different, but both are fun.”
Another comic who will be performing at the festival agrees. After attending a few KFK shows, Old Tian decided to give stand-up a try. While he admits his prior knowledge of the art form was limited to stars like Louis C.K., the 37-year-old engineer now performs at the club once every couple of weeks.
“You can learn a lot of skills doing comedy,” he raves. “Public speaking used to be hard for me, so doing this has helped with my communication. I’ve also made a lot of friends and just really enjoy it.”
It’s a sentiment that Curtain hopes to see more of. He credits the group Puchi for boosting the crossover. Best known for producing the hit Dragon TV talk program The ’80s Show, its writers perform standup showcases twice a week at the venue, consistently filling the club’s 120-person capacity.
“One of their main comics did a set in English and the others are sort of eyeing that,” Curtain says. “The two scenes are watching each other’s shows, and that overlap really excites me.”
“Blending two scenes that have grown independently is breaking new ground for something that is actually Chinese stand-up. By having everything under the same roof, you’re setting yourself up to get these little bursts of creativity.”
Mar 18-Apr 3. Kung Fu Komedy Club, website.
All images of Kung Fu Komedy Club by Rachel Gouk, provided by Kung Fu Komedy.
Just for Laughs
Besides the English and Mandarin competitions, the China International Comedy Festival kicks off with three shows by the ever-energetic Steve Simeone, who was crowned the “Funniest Comic in Philadelphia,” on March 18-19. For more, check out our interview with Steve.
Joe Klocek revives his Punch Lines game show, where he quizzes three audience members about the comedy set they had just seen. The show had a two-month run during the San Francisco funnyman’s last visit to Shanghai and was consistently hilarious. You can watch a past show here and check out our interview with Klocek here.
Kung Fu Komedy Club’s weekly offerings, the People’s Republic of Comedy, will also continue as usual with its Wednesday improv nights, and Puchi's Thursday showcase.
There will also be a short film contest with screenings and talks with competing filmmakers on April 2. Donnie Does’ Alessio Avezzano will judge and the deadline for submitting your original videos (between three to 10 minutes long) is March 27. Standout videos will be shown on our website following the festival. For more, check out Alessio and Donnie's Fave 5 Donnie Does videos.
0 User Comments