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.”
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.
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