2020 was such a year to anyone on earth – so was it to Saigon Teu (meaning the Humorous Saigon). In March 2020, no one came to the night shows of Saigon Teu, except the group members’ friends. In April 2021, the Youtube channel of Saigon Ten has more than 247,000 subscribers with 84 videos while there are more than 694,000 people following their page with approximately 2,700 reactions to each of their show schedule.

How has Saigon Teu come to these days?

Saigon Teu is a group of the young people who are passionate in standup comedy. The youngest member is currently 20-year-old college student while the oldest is the owner of multiple startups in Vietnam. The prominent members, also co-founders, of the group includes Uy Le, the talented standup comedian who was awarded internationally; Phuong Nam, the newbie, trendy comedian on social media, and Tung BT whose cafe shop was the first place Saigon Teu put on their show.

Standup comedy was started in Vietnam probably a decade ago. It is not a new thing but it did not attract the public attention as much as in the COVID time. One of the oldest standup comedians here is Dua Leo (meaning Cucumber, yep!) He joined YouTube and repost the first clip of his show in 2009. He is currently more known as a YouTuber rather than a standup comedian (although Dua Leo is still active with his role as a comedian in multiple events and shows)

Why is Saigon Teu attractive to the young people in Vietnam?

They are more than a group of artists (comedians are artists too!) – they are a group of friends who share jokes and would love to encourage others to practice jokes. Vietnamese obviously love jokes! No one in the country does not know Truong Giang, Tran Thanh, Hoai Linh, or Xuan Bac – they are MCs who are well-known comedians. Yet, they interact with their co-workers when performing in the show – audiences are the third party watching the fun most of the time.

To Saigon Teu, their audience are potentials of being standup comedians. To them, being humorous is a lifestyle in which one needs to observe the life and enjoy the tiny, spectacular moment of life. Phuong Nam once shared in his show “How to fall with prestige?” His girlfriend once fell when walking on the street with him. He joked “I decided to simply lie on the street with her. Then one guy came and rolled his eyes saying what we were freaking doing. I asked whether he wanted to lie down with us, too, cuz the street is the public asset. We did not mind sharing it with him, you know. Chill until my girlfriend was ready to stand up back.”

Whoever has fun when staying at home all day through weeks and even months? No one, literally. Being a bit humorous and sometimes sarcastic to such boring long-lasting time would somehow make this time memorable. I think that is why Saigon Teu is popular – they are spreading the positive, weird but fun lifestyle. They run the weekly shows, put up comedian challenges, and come up with lessons of Standup Comedy in Vietnamese. Why to survive with the normal perspective when life puts us on the swing all the time?

Saigon Teu = passionate young people in Vietnam

Saigon Teu represented the group of passionate young people in Vietnam who were willing to promote the field that not everyone dare to walk into. 2020, somehow, was a spectacular year to the group when they gained the recognition that they deserve and spread the literal joy to more and more people.

Learn more about them via their first anniversary video.