Will Korea's barely-there stand-up scene stir to life?

Korea Herald

13 hours ago

Netflix tried to launch stand-up comedy in Korea years ago. Here's why it didn't work and why it might work now
When Netflix launched its first Korean stand-up special in 2018, the strategy seemed solid. The plan was to sign big-name comedians, tap into their star power, and introduce local audiences to a genre that had taken off in the US.
But the jokes didn't land.
The debut, 'Yoo Byung-jae: Discomfort Zone,' received a lukewarm response. The follow-up specials, 'Park Na-rae: Glamour Warning' in 2019 and 'Lee Su-geun: The Sense Coach' in 2021, didn't perform any better.
None generated the kind of buzz Netflix had hoped for.
By 2022, the company had quietly backed away from stand-up in Korea. At the time, Yoo Ki-hwan, Netflix Korea's director of content, said, 'The genre just wasn't familiar to Korean viewers.'
But comedians now helping shape Seoul's emerging stand-up scene believe the problem wasn't the audience. They say it was the lack of an ecosystem.
Stand-up ecosystem: Small clubs, open mics and live audience feedback
In the US, stand-up routines are sharpened in small clubs over years of trial and error. Jokes are tested live, rewritten and tested again.
In Korea, the comedians featured on Netflix had almost no experience performing stand-up in front of a live audience. What ended up on the screen were essentially rough drafts.
'The problem was showing untested jokes to the public,' said Song Ha-bin, a regular stand-up performer at Meta Comedy Club in Seoul. 'The best material gets shaped onstage. You have to bomb a few times to find what works.'
Kim Dong-ha, another Seoul-based comic, put it this way: 'Just because someone is a comedian doesn't mean they're built for stand-up. It's like assuming a soccer player can jump into a basketball game.'
At the local comedy club Meta Comedy Club in Hongdae, performers like Song, Kim and Lee Je-gyu now follow the American model of development. The club hosts shows five nights a week, giving comics a space to try new material in front of real crowds.
'You write something funny, try it in a small room, see what works and cut what doesn't,' Lee explained. 'Then you do it again. And again.'
That process seems to be paying off.
Online success and its limits
Comedians are sharing the bits that work online, and many of those clips are going viral.
One of Song's recent routines, about men reluctantly tagging along with their girlfriends to Olive Young, a popular Korean cosmetics chain, has racked up more than 2.4 million views on YouTube.
'The jokes we upload weren't written in one sitting,' Song said. 'They've been shaped by real reactions. Now people laugh online, and then they want to see it live. So they come to our shows.'
The comics say they've seen a gradual but real shift in how audiences respond.
'When we started, a lot of people didn't even know what stand-up was,' Song recalled. 'We used to hear things like, 'You can't joke about that in Korea' or 'This format just doesn't work here.' But now, people are more open.'
Jang Su-yeon, an office worker in Seoul, is among those Koreans warming up to the genre.
'From time to time, I've come across American stand-up clips with Korean subtitles on YouTube,' she said. 'For a while, it was mostly Korean American comedians, but lately I've been seeing more from white comedians.'
She was referring to Matt Rife, whose fan-run YouTube channel, created by a Korean viewer, has more than 90,000 subscribers, with its most popular video clip garnering over 6 million views.
'Honestly, I started watching them because they seemed like a fun way to study English. And over time, I think I got used to the rhythm and style,' she added.
Naver blogger Yazidor also shared a similar experience. She and her boyfriend started watching American stand-up clips on YouTube shorts, eventually leading them to attend a live show at the Artzit Comedy Club in Seoul.
"Two hours had flown by because we were laughing so much," she wrote. "If you're into stand-up comedy, I definitely recommend seeing it live."
Banking on growing signs of acceptance for live comedy, comedian Song is now dreaming bigger. He says he wants to help build a genuine stand-up culture in Korea.
'I want to hear people say, 'Let's go to a comedy show after work,'' he said. 'That's the vibe we're working toward.'
Still, challenges remain.
Lee noted that many younger Koreans prefer to watch comedy online rather than attend live shows.
'Setting aside time, going to a specific venue, buying a ticket and being expected to drink — that whole model can feel like a barrier for younger audiences who are used to consuming content online and are less tied to Korea's drinking culture,' he explained. 'For now, that (online-to-offline flow) actually works in our favor. But looking ahead, we need to start thinking about how to make live comedy more accessible to them (offline).'
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