WHEN they met at an open mic night in 2023, Xavi Jallois and Abdullah Ozturk bonded over their shared disappointment with how their comedy acts had gone.
The audience had been impossible to please, they said – unresponsive, dull, and seemingly uninterested in the comedy.
That evening, as they vented their frustration, neither could have imagined that just two years later they would quit their corporate jobs to run one of Madrid’s fastest-growing expat hangouts – the Spanish capital’s only English-language comedy club.
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The Madrid Comedy Lab is tucked away in the city’s vibrant Barrio de las Letras, at Calle Amor de Dios 13.
Xavi and Abdullah secured the venue in March – a major upgrade in size barely a year after first setting up shop in nearby Lavapies.
“We have grown so quickly,” Xavi said. “It feels like yesterday that we did not have a place of our own.”
The pair started out as an itinerant duo of comedy show producers in 2023. Every evening, after clocking out from their bank jobs, they would shed their suits and ties and head to the next gig, honing their craft as performers while establishing themselves as household names in Madrid’s stand-up comedy scene.
They soon realised they had tapped into a rich vein of demand. If you are into stand-up comedy, Madrid has plenty to offer, with Spain’s most celebrated comics regularly selling out across dozens of theatres in the city. But all their shows are in Spanish.
Abdullah and Xavi performed in English. The former, from Ankara in Turkey, out of personal preference; the latter, a native Spanish speaker from Santiago in Chile, driven by the hope of one day reaching audiences far beyond Spain.
Week after week, their shows attracted growing crowds: mostly expats eager to enjoy stand-up in English, but plenty of Spaniards as well.
Eventually, two years after getting their start, the pair resigned from their day jobs and made the leap to the Amor de Dios location – their largest venue yet, with a capacity of 75.
“It came to a point where comedy began to feel like another full-time job,” Abdullah said. “Sometimes, after work, I did not even have time to change clothes.”
Today, the Madrid Comedy Lab hosts two shows a night from Tuesday through Sunday. Headliners usually perform around 8pm; then, at 10pm, the evening’s showcase begins, featuring rosters of local amateurs as well as acts by Xavi and Abdullah themselves.
The venue is as welcoming as they come.
Past the bar at the entrance and through a set of dark drapes, a narrow, exposed-brick corridor opens into the club’s showroom – a warmly lit, minimalist space with neat rows of chairs and tables set to face the stage.
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Stepping through the door feels like entering an expat sanctuary. Fragments of conversation swirl through the air in half a dozen languages – though, as you would expect, English quickly becomes the common tongue.
Xavi and Abdullah greet each guest with an easy smile, and everyone is given plenty of time to socialise over drinks before the evening’s show begins.
Navigating social life abroad is much easier when you know you have something in common with those around you, and the Lab stands as a proud testament to that.
“Several guests have struck up friendships or even romances here,” Abdullah said. “We have seen quite a few of our guests return as friends or couples.”
Shortly before the start, Xavi scans tickets at the door while Abdullah ushers people to their seats. If someone arrives alone, he beams at them and cheerfully warns that they will be seated next to someone else.
“We would not want you to watch the performance on your own,” he often adds.
Then, as the lights dim, the show begins. The comedy is refreshingly good-natured, often playing on the staples of expat life in Spain. The jokes are rooted in the everyday absurdities of living abroad – the kind of shared experiences that make the audience laugh not just at the punchline, but at their own all-too-familiar missteps.
Xavi and Abdullah each bring their own distinct energy to the stage. The Chilean is very much the rabble-rouser: he thrives on interaction, riffing off the crowd with quick wits and boisterous confidence. Though only 27, he commands the audience with the self-assurance of a much more experienced comedian.
Abdullah takes a more understated approach. His style blends self-effacing humour with impeccable timing – it hits home with a sharp precision that prompts bursts of rapturous laughter when spectators least expect it.
As the showcase comes to a close and the lights come back on, you may notice a detail in the showroom that reveals much about the owners’ ambitions for the place.
Just across from the stage, the room’s burgundy-red walls are lined with black-and-white portraits of legendary comics: George Carlin, Joan Rivers, Richard Pryor.
“We only put up photos of the late greats,” Xavi explained. “It would feel strange if one of today’s top comics walked in and saw their own face on the wall.”
Xavi’s ambition is not misplaced. Since its founding, the Lab has already welcomed several top-tier names in stand-up comedy, including Todd Barry, Carmen Lynch, and Rory Scovel.
“And we want to aim even higher,” Xavi added.
All in all, the Madrid Comedy Lab offers one of the city’s most original and heartfelt nights out. Its calendar is packed with shows in several different languages as well – since the venue opened, it has hosted events in Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, and even Russian.
If you ever find yourself strolling through the Barrio de las Letras, make sure to stop by and say hello. Xavi and Abdullah will be delighted to have you.
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