Bilingual Comedy and Craft Beer at Two Three Comedy
We weren’t sure exactly what to expect when we signed up for an event that was being held at a new comedy club on Linsen North Road — the notorious Japanese red-light district in Zhongshan. We don’t often attend open mics and had no assumptions about the quality of comedy or the club itself. But Two Three Comedy — Taiwan’s first bilingual comedy club, recently opened in December 2019 — left us feeling seriously impressed. It’s got English and Chinese language comedy 7 days a week, a full bar with a dozen craft beers on tap, and a classy-looking interior designed for socializing. What more could you ask for?
Two Three hosts comedy events every night of the week. Sunday – Wednesday nights are all free entry, with a 1 drink minimum spend at the bar. Thursday – Saturday nights are usually ticketed events — you can purchase tickets through their Facebook events page.
Here are some more specifics on the nightly shows:
Mondays: Open improv practice with Formosa Improv Group from 7 – 9pm and English language open mic from 9:30 – 11pm
Tuesdays: Chinese language open mic from 8 – 10pm
Wednesdays: English language open mic with rotating format from 9:30 – 11pm
Thursdays: Chinese language open mic hosted by Brian Tseng (host of The Night Night Show and Comedy Central Presents) from 8:30 – 10:30pm. Tickets are $400 including a drink, but they must be purchased in advance because they sell out every week!
Fridays and Saturdays: shows that rotate between English and Chinese, with improv, bilingual open mic, meme nights, and anything comedy related! Check the schedule on the Facebook events page.
Sundays: Writing Night from 6 – 8pm (a chance for people interested in comedy but not ready for an open mic to learn the craft of comedy writing).
If you’re feeling unsure on the comedy front, Two Three Comedy is still worth visiting for a couple of drinks. The polished bar at Two Three Comedy is gorgeous, with exposed brick, gold embellishments, and suave lighting. It’s clearly designed to encourage mingling and socializing, which is a nice change from some other bars in Taiwan. It’s also located in a separate room from the stage, so you don’t have to worry about keeping quiet while the show’s going on.
There’s an extensive drink menu that includes wines, spirits, and cocktails. We tried their signature cocktail (above centre) which was citrusy and well-balanced — we’d actually order it again.
The bar also has a dozen craft beers on tap, mainly from 23 Brewing Co, a popular local brewery. Their generously hopped, Citra-forward American pale ale, dubbed “#1 Pale Ale” is the star of the show — but don’t miss their Blonde Ale (“Natural Blonde”), IPA (“Hipsters Don’t Drink”), Scotch Ale (“Big Poppa”), Berliner Weisse Fruit Beers (“Partisan Passionfruit Sour” and “Partisan Cucumber Sour”) and Brut IPA (“Pure AF”).
Finally, Two Three serves a selection of bar foods including wings, pizza, and popcorn. We sampled all of these at our event and liked everything we tried. The wings were especially juicy and came with a tangy dipping sauce.
We went for the Wednesday night Open Mic from 9:30 – 11pm. It was well-attended, with most seats filling up, and the atmosphere was fun and social. The show felt relaxed but also well-organized, with each comic allotted a few minutes to perform before a light would flash to indicate their time was up. This kept everything moving at a good pace so that it never got stale. It was also easy to slip in and out of the room to grab more drinks at the bar (which we did repeatedly).
We don’t go to comedy shows often, but this open mic exceeded our expectations. This was owed in part to the host, who was naturally funny when he spoke between comics to add his own quips and give introductions. Though the comics had different levels of experience with standup, most of them cracked us up, at least a little bit. The theme for this particular night was “travel,” which was a great topic because it’s so easily relatable and generated some hilarious stories.
Overall, we really enjoyed our night at Two Three Comedy. The drinks were great, it was easy to meet people, and the show was funnier than expected. And it was free!
What’s the vibe?
Polished yet relaxed comedy club in a basement on Linsen N. Road. It has a full bar with craft beer on tap and offers English and Chinese language comedy 7 days a week.
Worth it?
Absolutely! We loved the drinks, food, and vibe. The show was fun; we met a bunch of people and shared a lot of laughs.
Would you go back?
We’re planning on it!
Last updated: February 2020
Photos provided by Two Three Comedy Club
| Two Three Comedy |
| Chinese Name: 23喜劇 |
| Hours: 6pm - 2am |
| Phone: 02 2581 5004 |
| English Address: B1, No. 286, Linsen North Road |
| Chinese Address: 林森北路286號 |
