“I love starting out from scratch,” Pandji Pragiwaksono says from a campsite somewhere in West Java, Indonesia, talking to me via Zoom in the glow of a lantern light.
He’s a couple hours’ drive from his hometown of Jakarta but a 27-hour trip from New York City, where he now lives with his wife and two kids. He’s soaking up some family time before embarking on his first-ever English-language tour, which kicks off on Aug. 26 in Australia before reaching the U.S. and Canada.
Pragiwaksono, one of the most successful and controversial (more on that later) comedians in Indonesian history, finds himself at a turning point in his career. Four years ago, the comic, a household name in the world’s fourth-most populous country, decided to start over in America. In Indonesia, Pragiwaksono regularly headlined arenas, performing for tens of thousands of people. In New York, he scraps for time at open mics.
“I’m not making money in the U.S. yet,” Pragiwaksono says. “This next tour is going to change things for me financially.”
Pragiwaksono performing in Indonesia
