pepijn’s comedy club Tag

November 6, 2025 In Blog

Shapiro PePijn Host Review

Greg Shapiro – Pepijn’s Comedy Club Host – Reviewed by ArtsTalk Magazine

6 November, 2025

This season I’m returning as the programmer and host of PePijn’s Comedy Club in The Hague. And we just got another great review!

Some highlights from ArtsTalk Magazine:

“Comedy is a funny thing …This was demonstrated last night at the PePijn comedy club in The Hague.”

“The evening was MC’d by …the ever suave Greg Shapiro. …His relaxed, easy-going style got everyone in the mood.”

“There was a lot of interaction ..it was always good natured and created a really good, friendly atmosphere and everybody had a good night out.”

https://artstalkmagazine.substack.com/p/stand-up-comedy-in-english-at-theater

I’ve been doing this gig since 2022, and I think I’m getting good at it. But I can’t claim credit… There’s such a wealth of talented English language standup in the Netherlands! And more and more, there are professional traveling comedians passing through. It’s hard NOT to create an excellent lineup every month.

I try to aim for diversity in my lineups. When the host is always a white guy (me), it’s easy to fall into the trap of having yet another standup night dominated by white dudes. And if they’re funny, they’re funny. But why not look a little harder? There are a lot of diverse voices who are not only hilarious, but they bring this variety of perspectives and life experience to the show. To my mind, that is what makes it worthy of Theater PePijn.

In the past, I have had a bisexual Afghan/Dutch comedian (finalist of the Dutch Camaretten awards), an Egyptian woman who works for an EU think tank, a Ukrainian refugee, and a former dominatrix.

This past month I had Ram Adithya Arangi (India), Kaili Smith (Australia) and Sharon Em (Irish), whose solo show was nominated for best debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Our next show will be on 26 November. This time I do have another white American male on the lineup. But it’s Matt Castellvi, whose comedy chops are legendary. I also have Faris Abusada, who is Palestinian, Christian and hilarious. And then there’s the Persian-American Cid Clementine, who is also intrumental in creating an English-language scene in The Hague.

Want to come?

PEPIJN’S COMEDY CLUB IN ENGLISH

https://www.diligentia-pepijn.nl/theme/pepijns-comedy-club-t7gc

See our previous review from 2024:

Shapiro Comedy Review Pepijn

March 21, 2024 In Blog

Shapiro Comedy Review Pepijn

21 March, 2024

GOOD NEWS!
a) Another solid review for the comedy nights I’ve been programming at Theater PePijn in the Hague.
https://artstalkmagazine.nl/english-stand-up-at-theater-pepijn-in-the-hague/

AND – b) next season we’ll be more frequent with one English comedy night per month. …Meanwhile, the next Pepijn’s Comedy Club in English will be 26 June…
https://www.diligentia-pepijn.nl/agenda/4432/various-stand-up-comedians/pepijn-s-comedy-club-in-english

Clearly, the Hague needs Comedy. English Comedy. That said, last night’s audience in the theater were 70% Dutch. As host, I did my favorite audience warm-up, which is a role-play. I ask the audience to pretend their Americans. Loud Americans. Americans in Las Vegas. If you ask Dutch people to make a lot of noise, you can only get them to go so far. But if you ask them to incorporate their opinions of other cultures, they give 110%.

Our first comedian was Nira Tal. Her opener is so sharp, and then she gets into Life in the Netherlands, being married to a Dutchman, solid set.

Next up was a friend of mine from Berlin, Rohit Bhatia. A former crime reporter from Mumbai, he now lives in Germany and brags about being “one of the few Indians in Europe that does not do IT.”

The Talent Spot was for Glodi Lugungu, who is no stranger to Theater PePijn, but this was his first time performing in English. English is his third language, and yet he managed to do some crowd work! His set brought the unexpected, magic.

Our headliner was Desiree Burch, who has been crushing it on British TV: BBC, Live at the Apollo, Too Hot to Handle on Netflix. But I got to know her from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. And I was the first person to hire her to come to “The Continent.” In fact, the last time I had her come tour the Netherlands with me was 10 years ago in 2014. In Pepijn. It was like a homecoming.

For more Pepijn Reviews

GREG SHAPIRO RETURNS TO PEPIJN

June 10, 2023 In Blog

GREG SHAPIRO RETURNS TO PEPIJN

10 June, 2023

Greg Shapiro returns to host Pepijn’s Comedy Club in English for Season 2023-24.
Shapiro’s first season hosting at Theater Pepijn featured top comedians, sold-out theaters and great reviews. Additionally, next season will feature extra dates:

CLICK HERE FOR DATES IN 2023-24

See below for some quotes from the latest review:
(full article here: https://artstalkmagazine.nl/comedy-in-english-at-pepijn-in-the-hague/ )

‘STAND-UP COMEDY IN ENGLISH AT PEPIJN IN THE HAGUE’

Michael Hasted, ARTS TALK MAGAZINE 14th April 2023

Stand-up comedy is a funny thing; funny peculiar – and, of course (hopefully), funny ha-ha. This was demonstrated last night at the Theater Pepijn comedy club in The Hague which was staging its now regular English comedy night. …consisting of comedy ambassadors from America, China, Romania and India. That in itself could be the basis of a good joke – “An American, an Indian and a Romanian walked into a pub . . . “, but I digress.

Greg Shapiro as Host of Pepijn’s Comedy Club in English

The evening was MC’d by the doyen of English language comedy in The Netherlands, American Greg Shapiro. His relaxed, easy-going style got everyone in the mood and this was continued by the first act, Mohna Joshi, an Indian lady of a certain age who one would have thought was a very unlikely candidate for stand-up. But although much of her act was about her sex life and problems distinguishing between her vibrator and the TV remote control, it was all very laid back and in the best possible taste. More aggressive, but equally focused on her sex life, was Romanian Luana Elena Matei. The second half of the show consisted of Sid Singh and Weina Ma, the only, and I say this with no fear of contradiction, young Chinese lady performing stand-up comedy in English in The Netherlands.

(photos: Greg Shapiro)

I had rather gone off small club stand-up in the UK because it got rather too boisterous, too much drunkenness and too much vulgarity but last night at the Pepijn was a very civilized affair. …One thing that puts some people off in stand-up is the fear they will be picked on, with the comedian insulting or humiliating them. Nothing like that last night; it was a really good atmosphere and everybody had a good night out. More English nights are planned at the Theater Pepijn so if stand-up is your entertainment of choice, there you go.

Previous shows in Comedy Club Pepijn:
https://gregshapiro.nl/blog/greg-shapiro-pepijns-comedy-club/

Greg Shapiro’s shows this month:
https://gregshapiro.nl/greg-shapiro-upcoming-comedy-shows/