Prepare to be tickled with laughter next month as the Magners International Comedy festival -- Asia's largest comedy festival -- will be back for its fifth rendition, welcoming comedians from all over the world to bring laughter to the Land of Smiles. With Thailand's international comedy scene growing bigger and faster than ever, acclaimed US comedian Doug Stanhope will be heading the event as part of his Asian tour.
Any true fan of dark and uninhibited humour will know who he is. He's been lauded by Ricky Gervais as "the most important stand-up working today", and Chris Rock said he's "the most dangerous comedian in the world".
Gracing the comedy stage on March 17 at the Westin Grand Sukhumvit, the veteran comedian is known for fiery social commentary, confrontational rants and brutally honest storytelling that isn't afraid to offend.
Fuelled by his anger and outrage at Western civilisation's slide into apathy and stupidity, he's the one stand-up comedian still honest and daring enough to talk about topics deemed untouchable. His sets are vulgar, opinionated and cathartic -- in that he speaks the unspeakable that goes through everyone's minds. And because of that, he's not for everyone.
"When I started, I was just a know-nothing dick-joke guy with a mullet," he recalled. "I was 24 years old, with no point of view and nothing to say. It wasn't until 95 or 96 that I started doing something that felt more like an art form than a centrepiece for a bachelor party. That's when I started to take true stories and craft them so they worked on stage, rather than just telling them in a bar. I stopped making stuff up and I stopped doing jokes that I didn't really believe in, and started working on stuff that I meant."
With his unhinged humour, his material in Thailand is bound to be shockingly hilarious. And if you're interested, get our tickets as soon as possible, because VIP seats are already sold out. If you think Russell Peters is edgy, wait till you get a load of Stanhope.
