Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Stand-up comedy gains foothold in Korea
Comedian Jung Jae-hyung is the CEO of the stand-up comedy show “Comedy Alive,” that runs weekly in southern Gangnam at “Comedy Haven.” Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
By Anna J. Park
By Anna J. Park
A new wave of comedy for Korea is gaining a foothold here ― stand-up. It is a comedic genre where a solo comedian interacts with the audience through dialogue. While this comedic style has a wide-reaching popularity in the West and was developed there over a hundred years ago, stand-up is new to Korea and is still in its burgeoning period.
“Comedy Alive” is one of those pioneering stand-up shows, currently running weekly performances at Comedy Haven, a comedy club exclusively for stand-up in Seoul's southern Gangnam district. The show features eight stand-up comedians every week in a 90-minute performance, including the show's host and CEO Jung Jae-hyung.
Jung, 30, now greets his audience every weekend at the club as a stand-up comedian, but he used to do the television comedy show on KBS “Gag Concert” for many years, since his debut in 2014.
“I wanted to try out a new form of comedy that can help me express my own perspective to the audience,” Jung said.
He said, comedy-writer-turned comedian Yoo Byung-jae's stand-up comedy recorded in summer 2017, now available on Netflix, also inspired him to pursue the genre. With fellow comedian Lee Yong-ju, he launched “Comedy Alive” June last year at Comedy Haven.
A “Comedy Alive” poster
Kim Young-hee, 35, who debuted as a comedian in 2010, has also been appearing in the show since February.
“I feel there's no restriction. It's a genre that can express everything as I planned to. Also you don't need any makeup or costume. The only thing needed is yourself and a microphone. Such freedom fascinated me,” Kim told The Korea Times.
“What is interesting is that I've received different responses from my audience at every performance. I learned that the result of the stand-up routine is more closely linked to audiences' unique taste or my condition on the day of the show. It is very different from theatrical comedy shows on TV,” Kim added.
Choi Jung-yoon, 33, is another regular stand-up comedian at the club. Growing up in the United States, she has enjoyed stand-up for a long time, but never had the courage to do it herself.
“I never thought I would do stand-up comedy. I even had stage fright,” she said.
But once she participated in the club's open mic a few times, she finally decided to do what she had dreamt of for so long. She even authored Korea's very first introductory book on stand-up, “Standup Now New York,” last May, after spending a couple of intensive months in the U.S., visiting famous stand-up clubs and meeting renowned comedians herself.
Choi explained that stand-up is different from monologues or other genres of comedy, as it is based on a concrete structure of “premise” and a “punch line.”
“It needs a lot of planning and research to complete one joke. Stand-up in the United States has been evolving for over a century now, yet it's still in the beginning phase in Korea. Thus we are still searching for the limits of jokes and how much Korean audiences can accept and enjoy,” she added.
Comedian Kim Min-su performs stand-up at Comedy Haven. Courtesy photo of Comedy Alive
The founder of “Comedy Alive” Jung said he hopes his show can contribute to diversification in Korean society.
“TV comedy shows tend to target general audiences, but we focus on a more individualistic approach. As audiences are smaller, those who'd like to enjoy stand-up can find their own favorite styles of stand-up comedians,” he said.
He calls his show “grassroot stages,” hoping such venues can shed new light on the comedy industry in Korea, with new sorts of fresh ideas about laughter.
“Comedy Alive” stand-up comedians pose for a photo with audience members at Comedy Haven. Courtesy photo of Comedy Alive