Mark's Neighborhood pop-up shows — May 5–7
- Asian Comedy Fest, not a theater pop-up called “Mark’s Neighborhood,” is running May 5–7 at Sugar Mouse NYC, the venue at 47 3rd Ave. - The key detail is scale: six shows across three nights, starting at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., with 70-plus AAPI performers. - It matters because the fest mixes stand-up with variety acts and ties this year’s New York run to Immigration Social Services.
The thing at 47 3rd Ave next week is not a live-theater pop-up called “Mark’s Neighborhood.” It’s Asian Comedy Fest 2026, a three-night comedy run taking over Sugar Mouse NYC in the East Village from Tuesday, May 5, through Thursday, May 7. That matters because the listing floating around is easy to misread — “St. Mark’s neighborhood” is the location shorthand, not the event name. The actual story is a packed AAPI comedy festival with six shows, a big lineup, and a community angle built into the booking. ### So what is this, exactly? Asian Comedy Fest is a New York-based festival centered on Asian and Pacific Islander performers. This year’s NYC edition is its seventh, and it’s set up as a concentrated three-night run rather than a single showcase. The festival’s own materials pitch it as the city’s largest and longest-running comedy fest lineup is broad instead of built around one headliner. ### Where did the “Mark’s Neighborhood” confusion come from? Turns out the confusion is mostly a wording problem. Time Out’s listing says the festival will be held at Sugar Mouse lounge in the “St. Mark’s neighborhood” at 47 3rd Ave. If you skim that fast, “Mark’s Neighborhood” can look like the event title. But it isn’t. The venue is Sugar Mouse NYC, and the festival is Asian Comedy Fest. ### What happens on each night? The structure is simple — two shows per night, one at 7 p.m. and one at 9 p.m., across May 5, 6, and 7. That gives the run six total shows and a little more than nine hours of programming overall. There are also full-night passes for at least some dates, which makes this feel more like a mini-festival campus than a one-off club booking. ### Who’s on the bill? The festival is using featured names to anchor each slot. May 5 starts with Aaron Chen at 7 p.m. and Youngmi Mayer at 9 p.m. May 6 has James Tom and Sureni Weerasekera at 7 p.m., then a variety show at 9 p.m. featuring Asian AF and Kathleen Kim. May 7’s 7 p.m. show features Mic Nguyen and Adam Mamawala. Across the whole. ### Is it all straight stand-up? No — and that’s one reason this stands out. Most of the slots are stand-up, but the festival is also leaning into improv, musical comedy, alt formats, and variety-show energy. One listing even calls out puppetry in the mix. Basically, this is closer to a sampler platter of comedy scenes than six versions of the same showcase. ### What’s the venue like? Sugar Mouse is a relatively new East Village venue at 47 3rd Ave that mixes game-hall and lounge vibes with live performance programming. Time Out previously described it as a live music, dance, and immersive event space, which makes sense for a fest trying to do more than put comics in front of a brick wall. Those shows. ### Why does the community piece matter? Because the festival is not framing this as just an entertainment booking. Time Out says this year’s charity partner for the NYC shows is Immigration Social Services, and other listings repeat that the run is meant to support Chinatown tying the week to local support work. ### Bottom line? If you were expecting a theater pop-up called “Mark’s Neighborhood,” that’s not what’s happening. What’s actually on deck is Asian Comedy Fest at Sugar Mouse — six shows, May 5–7, with a deep AAPI lineup and a stronger community angle than the original blurb suggested.
