“Just putting in the time year after year, it's become a cornerstone of the Brooklyn comedy scene,” says Andrei Buna, who has run the free weekly Sunday Show at Alligator Lounge in Brooklyn for about three years. “It's been the doorway for me to start producing and hosting other shows.” He’s hosted over 200 shows there and also co-produces and hosts the monthly Ask Comedians Anything at The Gutter, where audience members submit questions for comedians after their sets.

We spoke to two figures in Colombia’s comedy scene. Juan Peláez is a stand-up comedian in Bogotá who has been in the country's scene for more than 14 years. He's known for blending music with stand-up and has become a recognizable figure in Colombian comedy. Minna Lopez is chief marketing officer of the ticketing platform FreeTicket, which brought thousands of fans to Colombia’s first street shows.

The Birth of Colombian Stand-Up

Juan Peláez: When I started, stand-up was just for famous people. The only people you saw doing stand-up were actors or people already on television. There were no open mics. There was no underground scene. There wasn't really anywhere for ordinary people to perform stand-up comedy.

There were two big moments in the evolution of stand-up in Colombia. The first was a 2010s YouTube show Con Ánimo de Ofender (With Intention to Offend). It followed ten comedians performing in the streets with just one cameraman recording everything. It became incredibly popular. Everybody wanted to become a comedian after that.

That's when the first open mics and the underground stand-up scene really started in Bogotá. Now I think there are about 100 comedians in Bogotá and around 200 across all of Colombia.

Minna Lopez: With Free Ticket, we tried to give everyone access to stand-up comedy. We created a system that gave away free tickets so people could see new shows at new venues in Bogotá. We were performing for people who had never even heard of stand-up comedy before. We could guarantee audiences for new comedians who weren't well known. People came to a show without even knowing stand-up, they just came to laugh. They ended up discovering new comedians at our venues.

Juan Peláez: You could never imagine performing for 1,000 or even 3,000 people as a new, unknown comedian. That opportunity was great for all the new talent in the scene.

What Makes Colombian Comedy Different

Juan Peláez: We have two superpowers. The first one is we perform on the street. The first movement of the scene was in the street. We performed in the street, we had maybe 3,000 people sitting and listening to us. That was a great school for us doing stand-up.

Minna Lopez: It started in the streets, in parks. At the end of the performance, they would ask people for money.

Juan Peláez: The second superpower is Colombia has a big culture of storytelling. We use that strength in our stand-up scene. I think we've developed our own voice in stand-up comedy. Of course, there are comedians who are heavily influenced by the United States, and our clubs are often built to look like American comedy clubs.

We're still discovering what our own voice sounds like, that's what's happening now. There are comedians who talk about politics, the government and even drug trafficking. We can joke about those topics without any problem. Right now there's also a big wave of dark humor. Every comedian wants to be the bad guy, telling the darkest truth in the dirtiest way.

The Comedy Scene Today

Minna Lopez: In Bogotá you can find comedy every day of the week. In many other cities, if you're lucky, you'll find a show twice a month. Bogotá has become the center of stand-up comedy in Colombia.

Juan Peláez: Bogotá, Medellín and Cali have strong stand-up scenes, but on Colombia's coast it's different. The most popular comedians don't really do stand-up. They tell short regional jokes instead of personal stories. It's a completely different comedy tradition.

I make a living from comedy, writing, performing, creating formats. There are many ways to make a living now, and comedy has kept growing over time. It's difficult, but it's possible.

  • Ray Lau tests if he can sell out a comedy show with no social media and only word of mouth in a new YouTube documentary. Watch here.

  • Matt Grobar interviews Josh Johnson on Comedy Means Business, where Johnson discusses his creative philosophy behind his special and balancing writing and performing an hour of weekly material. Watch here. 

  • Deniz Göktaş, a Turkish stand-up comedian whose recent special surpassed 13 million YouTube views, was jailed after authorities accused him of insulting President Erdoğan and denigrating religious values in his special. Prosecutors have moved to block access to the special. Watch his special (in Turkish) here. 

  • Louis C.K. shares on a podcast that he wrote a tag that became part of Jerry Seinfeld's classic milk expiration date joke when he was 19. Watch the clip here.

  • KevOnStage argues in a conversation with Joel Byars that being funny and being bookable are no longer the same thing, as comedy clubs increasingly prioritize comedians who can sell tickets and bring their own audience. Watch here. 

  • Perry Strong argues that comedians no longer need a Netflix special to build a successful career, pointing to comics like Ali Siddiq who have built audiences by consistently releasing stand-up on YouTube. Watch the clip here.

  • Ari Shaffir and Greg Fitzsimmons criticize how crowd work is increasingly rewarded on social media as opposed to traditional stand-up.

  • Madonna performed a surprise 40-minute stand-up set at a New York comedy club.

  • Count Binface is emerging as an unlikely challenger to Nigel Farage in the upcoming U.K. election, with the comedian's satirical campaign gaining enough momentum that bookmakers have shortened his odds of pulling off an upset.

  • Keegan-Michael Key revives his iconic East/West Bowl sketch introducing fictional names inspired by players at the FIFA World Cup.

  • Matt Ruby shares advice for comedians on handling difficult crowds. 

  • RPG Adventures released a free collection of comedy games and writing exercises to help comedians brainstorm jokes.

  • Jed Rosenzweig analyzes Byron Allen's Comics Unleashed's first month at CBS. He finds that repeat episodes retain 90% of their first-run audience (vs. 57% for Jimmy Kimmel Live! reruns), adults 18-49 make up just 11–12% of viewers, the audience has stabilized in the high-600,000s after an initial launch bump, and Allen's block is retaining only 38% of the audience that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert drew during the same period last year.

  • The Emmy nominees for Outstanding Comedy Series are Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Hacks, Margo's Got Money Troubles, Nobody Wants This, Only Murders in the Building, Shrinking, and Widow's Bay. Hacks led all comedy series with a record-breaking 24 nominations. Full list of Emmy nominees here. 

  • Kareem Rahma's Subway Takes earns its first Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Short Form Comedy category, a rare recognition for creator-led internet programming.

  • Connor Storrie earns his first Emmy nomination for hosting Saturday Night Live.

  • Saturday Night Live extends its record as the most Emmy-nominated show in television history with 11 additional nominations.

  • The Television Academy nominates Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series.

  • Netflix is quickly expanding into low-cost podcasts and short-form vertical video as it responds to slowing engagement and increased competition from YouTube. Matthew Belloni thinks this is a strategy to boost viewer engagement with less expensive programming.

Specials, Signings, Tours

  • New specials from Bo Dacious (Prime Video/Apple TV, July 14), Jon Gagnon (Prime Video/Apple TV, July 14), Laura Merli (Prime Video/Apple TV, July 21), Mary Beth Barone (Netflix, July 28), and Kazeem Rahman (YouTube, July 31). 

  • Sam Morril releases his 2024 special You’ve Changed on YouTube. Watch here.

  • Chelsea Handler launches the Dear Chelsea Network through a multi-year partnership with iHeartPodcasts.

Festivals This Month

Festival Submissions

  • Big Sky Comedy Festival · October 6–11, 2026 · Billings, Montana. Stand-up festival featuring more than 10 shows, a team-based competition, industry bookers, and accommodations for selected comedians. Submission fee: $35. Submission deadline: July 15, 2026. Submit here.

  • Limassol Comedy Festival · September 30–October 4, 2026 · Limassol, Cyprus. Free daily meals and discounted accommodations. Submission fee: €30. Submission deadline: July 15, 2026. Submit here.

  • IF Cincy · October 15–17, 2026 · Cincinnati, Ohio. National improv festival showcasing ensemble performances and workshops for improv groups from around the country. Submission fee: $20. Submission deadline: July 15, 2026. Submit here.

  • Rule of Three Comedy Competition · August 22, 2026 · Windsor, Ontario. Six-comic competition with a $500 cash prize judged by randomly selected audience members across one-liners, crowd work, and storytelling. Submission fee: Not listed. Submission deadline: July 15, 2026. Submit here.

(Full list on our website here, updated weekly. We also partner with Inside Comedy to track submissions! )

Comedy Jobs

Casting Calls / One-Offs

(Full job/gig list on our website here, updated weekly)

That’s The Jokebook — your Sunday comedy update. Have something to share? Message us at [email protected]. 

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