InterviewLee Sang-jun’s New York comedy debut shows Korean humor can travel

Lee Sang-jun flashes peace signs as he poses with the audience at his stand-up comedy show at The Marquee Astoria in New York, April 25. The performance marked Lee’s first show in the United States held for Korean American residents and local audiences. Courtesy of Lee Hee-hoon

Celebrating his 20th year as a comedian, Lee Sang-jun took his show in April to a stage in New York City. There, he came to realize that laughter can travel farther than language.

“I didn’t plan it as a 20th anniversary show” Lee said in a recent written interview with The Korea Times, days after wrapping up his sold-out “Lee Sang Jun Show Live in New York” at The Marquee Astoria where he performed for some 1,400 people. “I was just working hard and suddenly realized that it had been 20 years. At some point I felt that, unless I completely changed my style, there would be nothing new left for me to show in Korea.”

That realization pushed him to look outward just as Korea’s comedy ecosystem was being upended, with major network sketch shows disappearing and many comedians rebuilding their careers on streaming platforms, podcasts and live shows. Instead of switching fully into Western-style stand-up comedy, Lee leaned into what he already knew: tightly written, audience-driven bits honed under the pressure of having to create fresh material every week.

“I don’t think of it as ‘transitioning’ to stand-up,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t even really know what stand-up comedy is. I just thought it would be a waste for the comedy I’ve built to disappear.”

His path abroad began not with English, but with subtitles. While he was slowly studying the language — “I thought it would take 10 years,” he joked — MBC C&I approached him to launch a YouTube channel, “Lee Sang-jun Show.”

“We added English subtitles on YouTube, and suddenly people overseas started reacting,” he said. “Even people who don’t speak Korean were saying they wanted to learn Korean because they enjoyed the show.” That online response convinced him to attempt a live performance abroad before his English was “ready.”

New York, however, brought new anxieties. All tickets sold out, but Lee worried that his Korea-centered sensibility might not land with longtime Korean immigrants or non-Korean audience members. He also battled jet lag.

To prepare, he flew over ahead of his staff, wandering the city alone to eavesdrop, observe and take notes. “I wanted to know what people in New York think about, what struggles they have,” he said. “When I used what I picked up onstage, they really liked it.”

Lee Sang-jun performs a highlight segment during an audience-interactive stand-up comedy show at The Marquee Astoria in New York, April 26. The performance focused on direct interaction with the audience during Lee’s U.S. comedy debut. Courtesy of Lee Hee-hoon

The show itself, performed entirely in Korean, felt different from his domestic gigs. Despite a good number of multilingual comedy shows already on offer in New York, Lee’s gig stood out as a rare, fully Korean-language stand-up set in a city where performances in Spanish, Chinese and other languages are increasingly common.

“The style was similar, but the audience was very different,” he said. “In New York, people come in really ready to laugh and enjoy themselves. I realized that the reason American comedians are so great is because their audiences are great.”

Even foreign audience members who didn’t understand Korean “just enjoyed the atmosphere,” he added. “It’s like when I go see stand-up in English — I don’t catch everything, but I go for the vibe.”

In 2006, he made his debut through a comedy show on SBS. Since then, he appeared in over a dozen television comedy shows.

The experience reinforced his belief that Korean comedy can cross borders, especially as more global fans learn the language through K-pop and K-dramas.

“Ten, 20 years from now, I think the gap will become narrower,” he said. His long-term goal is to tour the United States and beyond with a mix of languages.

Lee sees that Korea’s current comedy scene has strengths that could fuel its global push.

“I don’t know if there’s such a thing as ‘Korean comedy,’ but if we talk about its strong points, we survived in an ecosystem where, if you couldn’t write 10 minutes of new material every week for shows like ‘Gag Concert’ or ‘Comedy Big League,’ you couldn’t stay,” he said. “Doing that for 20 years, I feel like all of that is stored inside my body. At some point, it’s going to explode outward.”

Lee Sang-jun stands among pedestrians in Times Square after filming videos ahead of his first stand-up comedy performance in New York City, April 24. Courtesy of Lee Hee-hoon

For now, that ambition is matched by an equally expansive tour map. Requests are already coming in from other U.S. cities, Japan and Southeast Asia, he said.

“Before I die — and I plan to live to 120 — I want to learn English well enough to see how my comedy works with people overseas,” he said. “Except for the North and South poles, I’d like to go everywhere.”