Why Doing Stand-Up in Bangkok Is Nothing Like Back Home

Back home, stand-up is brutal, competitive, and soul-crushing. But at least you know the rules. In Bangkok, the rules are made up, the players change weekly, and sometimes the audience didn’t even realize they bought tickets to a comedy show.

Here’s why comedy in Bangkok is its own ridiculous adventure:

1. The Audience Is a United Nations Fever Dream

In New York, you’ve got jaded locals. In LA, it’s wannabe actors. In London, it’s drunk hecklers who think they’re funnier than you and probably is.

In Bangkok? It’s a German backpacker, an Australian divorcee, a group of Thais out for dinner, and three digital nomads who thought they were at a networking event. You’re not telling jokes — you’re moderating an accidental UN summit where half the room doesn’t get the reference and the other half is too jet-lagged to laugh.

2. Jokes Don’t Translate (Literally)

That killer Trader Joe’s bit? Dead here. That “college roommate” story? No one cares. You quickly learn that half your material means nothing outside your home country.

Bangkok forces you to strip down to universal themes: food, dating, sex, family. And if you can make this chaotic, multilingual mashup of an audience laugh? You can probably crush anywhere.

3. Stage Time Is Everywhere — and Nowhere

Back home, you fight to get three minutes on a mic in a dingy basement. In Bangkok, you can get stage time almost any night — but it might be in a bar where the blender is louder than the sound system. One night you’re killing in front of 80 people; the next, you’re begging tourists to stop playing pool during your closer.

Adaptability isn’t optional here — it’s survival.

4. Friends Are Scarcer Than Stage Time

Here’s the real kicker: in a big city, you bomb, you go home, you find your crew, you keep grinding. In Bangkok, the scene’s so small that friendships and alliances aren’t just helpful — they’re everything.

But here’s the problem: options are limited. Back home, you can avoid the scummy comics and still thrive. In Bangkok, the pool’s shallow — you either end up swimming with people you’d never choose as friends, or you’re floating alone.

That’s why drama hits harder here. When someone screws you over, you can’t just slide over to the next club down the block. There isn’t one. Comedy here isn’t just about jokes — it’s about fighting to keep your integrity.

5. The Hustle Has Different Muscles

In New York, you hustle agents. In LA, you hustle casting directors.

In Bangkok? You’re hustling bar managers, flyer printing shops, and drunk tourists. You’re part-comedian, part-promoter, part-international relations officer. You’ll learn how to convince a venue that comedy will sell more drinks than karaoke — and most times you're right..

The Payoff

So why do it? Because at the end of the day, I get to do stand-up comedy. Sometimes I even share the stage with amazing comics from all over the world — people I never would’ve met if I’d stayed in one city. And the audiences here? They’re the best in the world. Diverse, curious, open-minded, and ready to laugh at anything from culture shock to universal truths and I want to see if they like my jokes.

That’s why I keep coming back to the mic, I'm a comedian.

— FunwithLex