The Magners International Comedy Festival

The Magners International Comedy Festival

Stand-up comedy has been making us Vietnam-based, English speakers split our bellies and laugh our socks off for near on five years now. Thanks to Saigon International Comedy, Stand-Up Saigon, the Hanoi Comedy Collective and more recently Diana and Brian Do Shows as well as a whole host of open mic nights, the comedians and promoters have been pulling out the comedic stops to get you, the unwitting punter, to laugh.

Not content with past success, throughout March a number of players on the Ho Chi Minh City comedy scene are working together to up the ante with the first installment of the Magners International Comedy Festival.

The Big V

Kicking off on Tuesday Mar. 15 at Saigon Ranger will be the Vietnam finals of the Big V Comedy Competition. With three amateur comedians selected to perform on the big stage, the show will be hosted by Northern Irish stand-up Martin Mor, the biggest beard in comedy. An all-star, game show-style panel will be put together headed up by Canadian comic, Lars Callieou, and with VND10 million worth of prize money at stake, expect this to be a heated and very amusing affair. Naturally, with three professional comics in town, we’re going to need a headliner, and rounding off the night will be Colombian Irish UK comic, Matthew Giffen. Brought up in London on a diet of cocaine and potatoes (sic!), expect his act to be explosive.

The second show on Wednesday, Mar. 16 at Phatty’s (46-48 Ton That Thiep, Q1, HCMC) starts at 8pm. Entrance surcharge is VND200,000 (before Mar. 8) and VND300,000 after. To buy ticket for this show, please click here