What does it take to build a stand-up comedy career independently in Europe?

In this episode of The Show Must Go Wrong, I’m joined by Romanian comedian Dragos to talk about tough crowds, touring Europe, and building an audience from the ground up.

We get into performing crowd work in Romanian, shared Eastern European experiences, and how Dragos approached comedy early on with a clear plan for success. We also talk about balancing producing and writing, building an hour of material, and the realities of touring independently across Europe.

From Flixbus horror stories to terrible venues, bad shows, and the early grind of stand-up comedy, this is a behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to make comedy work outside the traditional industry system.

We also get into social media, crowd work clips, and how comedians are building audiences online today.

If you’re into stand-up comedy, touring stories, and comedy behind the scenes, this episode is for you.

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🎟 Go see Dragos live! Grab tickets here: https://dragoscomedy.com/

Follow & find more Dragos here: https://www.instagram.com/dragoscomedy

https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@DragosComedy⁩ https://www.tiktok.com/@dragoscomedy

🌍 Come see your host Pat Moore live & request a show in your city:

https://linktr.ee/patmoorecomedy

bit.ly/PatMooreLiveShowAlarm

Follow & find more of Pat here: https://www.instagram.com/patmoorecomedy

https://www.youtube.com/@PatMooreComedy

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⏱️ Chapters:
0:00 Introducing Dragos
2:37 Bad shows & staying Independent
10:01 Tough crowds, crowd work in Romanian, and shared eastern european experience
19:05 How Dragos started comedy & his plan for success
32:50 Balancing producing & writing, and building an hour
37:01 Dragos 1st tour, and flixbus horror stories
44:05 Early workload, worst venues, and bad shows
51:46 Finding venues & raw dogging early career
59:24 Starting tiktok, social media, and crowd work clips
1:00:09 Looking forward & Outro