Every year, we receive hundreds of submissions for the NYC South Asian Comedy Festival. A lot of them come from performers who are newer to stand-up and aren’t quite sure what the path looks like — how you go from wanting to do this to actually getting on a stage, building material, and eventually getting into rooms like ours.
This is the guide we wish existed when we started. It’s specific to New York City and specific to being South Asian, because those two facts shape the path in ways that a generic “how to start stand-up comedy” article doesn’t address.
First: The Honest Reality
Stand-up comedy in New York City is not easy for anyone. Joel Kim Booster, who got his start on the NYC circuit, described it plainly: “Going to open mics is miserable; it’s one of the saddest things you’ll ever do. It takes months and months and months before anyone will remember your name.” That’s not discouragement — it’s information. The people who make it through are the ones who show up anyway.
For South Asian comedians specifically, there’s an additional layer: you may find yourself in rooms where the audience has never seen a performer who looks like you, and where the cultural references in your best material don’t land. That’s not a reflection of your material. It’s a reflection of the room. Finding the right rooms matters.
Step 1: Start Writing Before You Step Onstage
The fundamental skill in stand-up comedy isn’t delivery — it’s writing. Start a notebook (physical or digital). Write down observations, frustrations, things that made you laugh, things that made you angry, family stories, cultural absurdities. Don’t try to write jokes yet. Just write the raw material. Your specific experiences as a South Asian person in New York City — in Jackson Heights, in Curry Hill, at a family function in New Jersey, on the subway — are material that no one else has. That specificity is your advantage, not your obstacle.
Step 2: Find the Open Mics That Work for You
New York City has hundreds of open mics. Not all of them are right for a South Asian comedian, especially a newer one. Some rooms are genuinely diverse and supportive; others are overwhelmingly homogeneous and not designed to make you feel welcome. Here are the rooms that have a track record of being good environments for diverse performers:
Laughing Buddha Comedy — Multiple locations across the city, daily mics, recognized as some of the best-run open mics in NYC for over 15 years. The hosts are professional and the format is consistent. Good for newer comedians who want a supportive structure.
UCB (14th St) — Upright Citizens Brigade runs both stand-up and improv open mics. The student community is intentionally diverse and the open mics have historically been welcoming to performers of all backgrounds. The bucket format gives everyone a fair shot at a spot.
New York Comedy Club’s Comedy Mob — Free Sunday open mic at 5:30 PM on East 4th St. Known for being genuinely diverse and unpredictable in the best way. “NYC’s most unpredictable open mic — 10+ comics, rapid-fire sets, and zero filler.”
Broadway Comedy Club — Home of Laughing Lassi, Broadway Comedy Club’s open mics and showcases are familiar territory for South Asian performers. Being in the building matters; the bookers notice who shows up consistently.
St. Marks Comedy Club (East Village) — A newer room that’s built a reputation for booking diverse lineups and treating comedians well. Their open mics and showcases are worth watching.
Step 3: Do the Circuit for at Least a Year Before Submitting to Festivals
We say this plainly in our submission guidance, and we mean it. Festival submissions from performers with fewer than six months of stage time are almost always not ready — not because the person isn’t talented, but because stand-up comedy is a craft that requires repetition. A year of regular open mics in New York City will change your material, your delivery, and your understanding of what actually works in a room in ways that no amount of thinking about it will.
The performers who make it onto our festival lineup are almost all people who have been on the circuit for multiple years. They have developed their South Asian perspective into something that is both specific and universal — material that connects with a South Asian audience and is also just good stand-up comedy by any standard.
Step 4: Get on South Asian Shows Before Festival Submissions
Laughing Lassi at Broadway Comedy Club is the most important monthly South Asian stand-up show in New York City. It’s been running for years, featured in Time Out NYC, The New Yorker, and India Tribune, and it serves as a visible stage for performers in the desi comedy scene who are ready to move beyond open mics.
Performing on Laughing Lassi — or any other South Asian monthly showcase — before submitting to a festival serves two purposes: it gives you experience in front of an audience that is specifically there for South Asian comedy (very different from a general open mic crowd), and it establishes your presence in the community that the festival is built to serve.
Step 5: Submit to the NYC South Asian Comedy Festival
We open submissions for the NYC South Asian Comedy Festival annually. What we look for: a recording of a live set (not a Zoom recording, not a home video — an actual live performance in front of a real audience), a bio that tells us who you are and what your comedy is about, and evidence that you’ve been doing this consistently enough to have developed a point of view.
We receive submissions from performers across every South Asian background — Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Nepali, Afghan, Indo-Caribbean — and from across the country, though we prioritize the New York circuit. If you’ve been putting in the work on the NYC open mic scene, we will see your name.
The path is long. The path is worth it. And New York City, in 2026, is the best place in the country to walk it if you’re a South Asian comedian.
See who made the 2026 lineup → | Get tickets to the festival →