Female comedians offer all-women stand-up showcase

Kristen Pimley, left, and Andrea Tran / Courtesy of Curtis File, left, and Andrea Tran

By Rory Kelly

"As women in comedy, at the very least, none of us are mediocre straight white men." This is how Kristen Pimley sells her all-women comedy showcase, Ladies' Night, happening this Saturday in Seoul, with proceeds going to help single mothers.

A desire to skewer institutions and upend social norms runs through Pimley's work; she started her own satirical newspaper in college, and even attended a workshop run by the writers of The Onion, she told The Korea Times. She describes her sense of humor as "biting" and "dark," and quips "When you're from a country with no universal healthcare, comedy is a lot cheaper than therapy."

Originally from the U.S. state of Indiana, Pimley is a mainstay of the Seoul comedy scene. She started doing stand-up in February 2020, during "a very dark place" in her life. "The best part about stand-up comedy is that it allows me to rewrite my battles in my own narrative…telling jokes is my way of taking my power back," she said.

But she won't be alone onstage. Andrea Tran, a fellow American who started doing stand-up almost a year ago, will also be performing that night. She told The Korea Times that getting into stand-up "was definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made."

Tran is excited for this latest all-women showcase, because "stand-up comedy is a male-dominated field," she said. "As a result, sometimes women try to do comedy that's more appeasing for males."

Would she encourage others with underrepresented voices to try out stand-up? Absolutely. "I say, 'Just do it.' If you think you're funny…then chances are, you are. But even if you're not, keep trying 'til you are."

Both women draw from their own lives for inspiration, but in very different ways. "I think about something traumatic that happened in my life, and then try to write as many jokes about it as I can," Pimley said.

Tran, on the other hand, said, "I live a unique life that sometimes feels unbelievable, which makes it that much funnier to talk about."

Relatability is a great asset in comedy and Pimley and Tran are aware that when some groups are marginalized and unable to express themselves fully, audiences from that background might feel alienated. With Ladies Night, they want to make sure that the female population gets their turn to laugh. "It's important to bring up topics and situations that women can relate to," Tran explained.

Performing English-language stand-up in Seoul, the audience is naturally somewhat limited. But Pimley says the limitedness means there is a greater pool of experiences that comedians in the scene can draw on, since they are more likely to be universal for English-language speakers here. An example? "The first conversation I ever had in Korean," Pimley recalled, happened due to "my parents mailing me my diploma and accidentally shipping it to North Korea."

Of course, the limited population of foreign nationals presents other challenges. "Seoul is also a very transient city," Pimley lamented. "We have had a lot of strong comedians recently return to their home countries, and when that happens, we need to work hard to fill in the gaps."

This reason is why it's so crucial to hold events like Ladies' Night and encourage others to join the fold. "My goal is to provide a platform for women and other underrepresented groups in comedy and help them develop the confidence to express themselves onstage," she said.

Is that Pimley's only goal? Is success on the comedy circuit also something to which she aspires? How would she measure such a thing? "If I get more Instagram followers than my bullies in middle and high school, then I know I've truly made it," she said.

Ladies' Night Comedy Show starts at 5 p.m. on June 4 at The Studio HBC near Noksapyeong Station on Seoul Metro Line 6. The host will be Krieger and the other performers will be Rami Moon, Ishi Sharma and Jackie Kim. Tickets are 10,000 won at the door, with the money raised going toward Galwol Community Welfare Center and the Yongsan District Office, which will help in putting the money into the hands of single mothers in need of assistance.

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