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 Rancid Comedy and 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 Friday, Mar. 4 at deciBel, will be the Big V Comedy Competition for amateur stand-ups living in Vietnam. Hosted by local comic Tat Lay, each aspiring comedian will get three minutes on stage to strut their gag-filled stuff. A panel of judges will pick out the top three, of whom the winner will be flown to Singapore to compete in the regional finals on Friday, Mar. 11.

All three finalists will then return on Tuesday Mar. 15 to perform at Saigon Ranger for the Vietnam finals. 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. 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 Big V Comedy Competition will kick off at deciBel (79 Phan Ke Binh, Q1, HCMC) on Friday, Mar. 4 at 8pm. The entrance surcharge is VND100,000. For further info email brianjarmstrong41@gmail.com or diana.a.bailey@gmail.com.

The Magners International Comedy Festival is supported by Saigoneer, Word Vietnam, Kingston Hotel and Jameson’s. For more info, click on comedyfest.com.sg or facebook.com/saigoninternationalcomedy