Stand-up comedy becomes China's second-largest theater performance category

Box office revenues from theater performances, including stand-up comedy and stage plays, rose 16.8 percent year on year during the recent eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, according to a report released by Hujing Digital Media & Entertainment Group under Alibaba.

In recent years, stand-up comedy has become an increasingly popular entertainment form, fueling a surge in the offline performance market and providing audiences with a new option for cultural consumption.

File photo shows audience members at a stand-up comedy show at a theater in China.

"Work keeps me pretty busy and stressed. Being able to laugh for an hour in a theater during my downtime is a great way to decompress," said Chen Yao, a resident of Beijing's Chaoyang district. Watching stand-up comedy at small theaters has become her favorite way to unwind.

"There are more and more venues for stand-up comedy shows now, and the number of skilled performers is rising," Chen said. This year, she has observed the stand-up comedy market flourishing. "The theaters I regularly visit are packed almost every weekend. Tickets for solo shows by comedians I like sell out within seconds."

According to data from Beacon Pro, stand-up comedy made a significant contribution to overall box office growth in the first half of 2025, driven by a surge in professional theater performances. The number of stand-up comedy shows increased 54.1 percent year on year, while box office revenues soared 134.9 percent, making it the second-largest category among theater performances.

By mid-2025, stand-up solo shows had surpassed 1,000 performances and attracted over 600,000 audience members, according to data from Beacon Pro and Damai Entertainment, a technology-driven entertainment company. Performances drawing over 500 attendees reached more than 650, an increase of more than eight times year on year.

Stand-up comedy enjoys strong appeal among younger audiences, with data showing that those under 30 account for over 52 percent of ticket purchases.

Sun Jiashan, a researcher at the Academy of Chinese Culture, noted that stand-up comedy resonates with the emotional needs of many young people. As an emerging performance genre, it plays a unique role in providing emotional outlets for audiences and contributing to social well-being, Sun added.

As its audience base expands, stand-up comedy has spread beyond first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai to more regions nationwide, emerging as a new growth driver for local cultural and tourism consumption.

Visitors with suitcases are a familiar sight at a theater in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, where watching stand-up shows in the local dialect has become a must-do activity for young tourists.

The theater hosts about 500 shows each year, with surrounding businesses, including restaurants and shops, benefiting from audiences before and after performances.

"Today, the stand-up comedy industry is thriving across regions. More cities are home to dedicated stand-up theaters, and content creation has become more refined. This has drawn many online viewers to offline venues, forming a positive development cycle for the sector," Sun said.

To sustain long-term growth in the offline performance market, the stand-up comedy industry needs to focus on professional talent training, service refinement and brand building.

Beyond small theaters, more stand-up solo shows are now staged in thousand-seat venues, requiring operators to provide standardized support in venue management, stage design and other aspects.