Founded by Shanghai based comedian and musician Mike Herd, Front Tier Comedy was originally born out of Mike recently becoming a father, limiting how often he could make in person gigs and deciding to create a series of online gigs to keep his comedy stage time up.
When the lockdown in Shanghai happened, all forms of live entertainment of course ground to an immediate halt, and this was the perfect opportunity to roll out the series, imitating what happened around the world when the pandemic effectively shut down live comedy.
Since mid March, Front Tier Comedy has hosted regular Shanghai favorites – including Alvin Liu, Li Ying, Ian B – as well as comedians based all over the world, from as far afield as California to more regional acts based in Malaysia, Japan and Cambodia, with Mike usually on hosting duties.
Week after week, the free shows have been attracting people looking to get much needed laughs during this prolonged lockdown period. The highlight most recently was when Scottish Comedian of the Year winner Leo Kearse – who has written for some of the UK’s best known satirical comedy shows including Mock the Week – headlined the showcase, providing such strong belly laughs punters had to be muted for laughing too hard!
The showcase takes place at 8pm every Saturday night via Zoom. Showcase events featuring top regional acts performing up to 10 minutes (usually 7-8 acts) are free, while headliner series shows, featuring top headlining club acts such as the aforementioned Leo Kearse, are a very reasonable RMB50.
To join the shows, add Mike on WeChat (ID: therealscottishmike or by scanning the QR code on the flyer below) to be added to a special audience group where details of each show are shared, with Zoom details shared on the night of each show itself.
[All images courtesy of Mike Herd]
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