Netflix’s Comedy Festival Is No Joke (Updating)

If Sunday night's live-streamed event, "The Tom Brady Greatest Roast of All Time," captured the wild, anything-can-happen energy of Netflix is a Joke's uncensored comedic event line-up, it only presented a glimpse at what it's like to actually be sitting in a crowd watching the world's funniest entertainers perform for fans. Here in Los Angeles, the festival's home base, we are lucky enough to choose any number of live comedy shows all week, and Los Angeles magazine has been on the ground at many of the hottest events.

Speaking of L.A., if you can't get out to the shows in person, check out John Mulaney's live-streamed specials, Everybody's in L.A., celebrating our beloved city (which, as the comedian admits "confuses and fascinates me") every night this week. It's an awkward experiment that's been hit and miss so far, but worth the watch for the stellar guest list. 

Read Michele McPhee's full report from the Brady Roast, and check back here for updated recaps and photos from the biggest and best NIAJ moments, plus pics from Mulaney's live-streamed shows, too.

Bill Burr at the Hollywood Bowl May 3 

The Hollywood Bowl is home for many of the banner Netflix is a Joke shows this year, with Jerry Seinfeld opening up festivities there last week and Bill Burr kicking off the weekend with a Friday night show that brought out celebrities and other famous funny folk. We spotted Jennifer Coolidge and Kristen Bell in the Garden boxes and were so close to Bell, we even overheard her talking about her latest project– a theatrical version of Reefer Madness.

As for Burr, after openers Nate Craig and Dean Delray, he took the stage to spew his well-honed schtick about the sad state of the world. He was his usual curmudgeonly self, riffing on family life, white privilege and male depression (his take on middle-aged dudes at Guitar Center was spot-on). Like other NIAJ comics this past weekend, Burr had a surprise guest: Jon Lovitz, who made a quick walk-on appearance that lasted all of 5 minutes. Trading barbs back and forth non-stop, the two old pros improvised put-downs (with love) that were just the ticket!

Sadly, we had no phone to take notes or snap pics with, as the show was a phone-free one. Youndr pouches were handed out prior to entry. Expect more shows to do the same as comics work out new material for their future Netflix specials. (Lina Lecaro) 

Patton Oswalt at the United Theater - May 5

A nearly century-old mural of Charlie Chaplin looked down on Patton Oswalt as he lit up the stage at the United Theater on Broadway Sunday night. The historic venue is one of dozens taken over by the sprawling Netflix is a Joke festival this week.

Friends rained praise on opening acts Orlando Leyva, who clowned that he lost America’s Got Talent to shadow puppets, and Benny Feldman, who noted that his Tourette’s Syndrome was like the abstract art of disabilities, joking that audiences say, ‘I could do that.’

Oswalt, who referred to himself as ‘the cartoon rat guy” (see: Ratatouille) joked that he’d rather be at the roast of Tom Brady happening at the same time across town at the Forum. Patton lit up the room with stories about cat demons, the Planters Nutmobile and an ill-fated trip to Hobby Lobby, then joked that he should have opened the show rising from dry ice smoke like ZZ Top. “I love showbiz!”  (Chris Nichols)

Late Night at the Palladium with Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias and friends — May 6

Not sure if it was the late-night format or the fact that Iglesias' last big NIAJ show was at Dodger Stadium, which set a certain sporting events-like standard for crowd behavior (in L.A. anyway), but last night's show at the Palladium was unruly to say the least. Hecklers and more than a couple loaded ladies had to be admonished for yelling out indiscernable nonsense and interrupting comics during the show– by Iglesias' bestie and host Martin Moreno, and even security at one point. It felt like a Dodger game, only some in the crowd were not feeling the home team.

We won't call out which comics got dragged or whether they deserved it, but let's just say that anyone can have a bad night and the female guests on the bill experienced what we're guessing is a rite of passage when facing a room full of drunk strangers who really only care about the headliner.

Bigger names like Dion Cole and Matt Rife faired much better, though we found Rife's set, and particularly his sex and trans material, not only mean-spirited, but unfunny. The crowd disagreed and the controversial comic got a load of laughs. And that's comedy, folks. Some comedians will cross the line, some will love it and some won't. Our favorite performers attempt to walk it and challenge us to open our minds a little as they do. Last night's crowd didn't seem to care either way.  (L.L.) 

Seth Rogen Smokes the Bowl — May 7

A few nights into attending Netflix is a Joke, we've realized it's the 'Coachella of Comedy' (quote it!), especially in terms of surprise guests. Post Malone was the biggie last night at "Seth Rogen Smokes the Bowl," the actor's autism charity event at Hollywood Bowl, and the sexy, hit-packed set had us saying wow. There was a lot of gyrating and butt-shaking, and it was damn fun to watch.

A giant bong sculpture served as the centerpiece and backdrop for Malone and other performances including a musical finale featuring Snoop Dogg busting out all the classics. Little Dicky opened the show with some funny flow, followed by a stand-up set from Rogen himself, which included a simplistic "Drake-Kendrick beef for dummies" overview for those of us unschooled in the world of diss tracks and real life rap battles. 

Abbott Elementary's Janelle James, Emmy winner Ramy Youssef and Ronny Chieng followed, and all turned in thoughtful and clever sets. Youssef shared that he doesn't smoke weed but implied he got a contact high from everyone backstage. His set was better for it. Bill Burr was a surprise guest, and he repeated much of the same material we heard last week when he took over the bowl (see above). A huge part of comedy is working stuff out in front of an audience, but Burr hit better at his solo gig. Maybe the contact high had the reverse affect on him, or us. People were definitely puffing away everywhere, and not just in the Bowl's designated areas. It made for the most positive and unified vibes at a NIAJ hap we've attended so far.  (L.L.)

Brett Goldstein and Mo Welch at the Orpheum Theatre — May 10

Two-time Emmy winner Brett Goldstein, whose career took off after portraying the lovable, foul-mouthed football star Roy Kent in Apple’s Ted Lasso, filled the 2,000-seat theater downtown with enthusiastic fans who greeted him boisterously. Goldstein has been touring with his opening act, LGBTQ stand-up Mo Welch, and offered how it was a relief to be in California after Florida, “which lived up to its hype… if a state were cocaine.”

Goldstein hit the stage with a list of topics, which ranged from the state of America (“I have some notes”) to the Ted Lasso cast’s invitation to visit the White House, where they spent eight hours without food “to save the taxpayers money,” then got the thrill of a lifetime appearing on an episode of Sesame Street (“Big Bird beats big Joe”). 

Goldstein is a slightly less acerbic Ricky Gervais, admitting his British accent lets him get away with a great deal, including his defense of the “C” word (which is used as a term of endearment or admonishment depending on the inflection) and a consideration of the redundancy of the word “pet” in conjunction with, er, “stroking” your dog or cat (“Would you pig a pig?” he wondered). His latest pitch, a show called MDMA Fighters, in which combatants nuzzle under the influence instead of beat each other up. He also notes how programing “Yesterday” during a gym workout changes the attitude of the participants from fierce competitors to gladly sharing their weights.

There were similarly clever takes on male toxicity, sex and marriage — including his distaste for the 69 position (“I can barely rub my stomach and tap my head at the same time”) or what he called “16” (“bum sex with a pregnant woman”). 

The comedian admitted his name was unusual in the part of London where he grew up, but once he came to Los Angeles he discovered “everyone is named Brett Goldstein… like the first guy that fingered you in summer camp.”

He mostly stays away from politics but does admit wealth inequality has always been his pet cause, though admitting he had second thoughts — pause for effect — “a few years ago” when he was hired as a writer and cast in Ted Lasso, which “changed my life.” A veteran stand-up, he admits, “now everyone watches what I do,” when before, “I was just kicking stuff down the road without anybody seeing it.”

Opening act Mo Welch hails from mid-America, the aptly named Normal, Illinois, to be exact, the home of the very first Steak ‘n Shake, which opened in 1934. With her own Netflix special, Dad Jokes, the comic, who doubles as a cartoonist and published author (How to Die Alone), joked about her pregnancy (“One of my friends asked if I was going to keep it, after I spent $15,000 on fertility treatments to have it?”) and her mom, who showed up at LAX for a visit dressed in purple, because she was told not to wear red or blue. “My mother was carrying her knitting in a tote bag… no one was mistaking her for a Blood or Crip,” she cracked.

Goldstein ended the show by answering questions posed by the audience, plucking them from a box and commenting at one point, “No, I’m not giving you Hannah Waddingham’s phone number.” Roy Kent scores again. (Roy Trakin)

Alex Edelman and Hunter Hill at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre — May 11

Fresh off a special Tony Award for his one-person show, Just for Us, Boston-born stand-up Alex Edelman premiered his follow-up before an enthusiastic crowd as the Netflix Is a Joke comedy festival wound down. Acknowledging the honor, he wryly notes how several people in his social media feed commented on how great it was that an autistic person was recognized.

Raised in an orthodox Jewish family with a father who “almost won a Nobel Prize” for his work on artificial hearts, Edelman, who spent two separate stints living in Israel as a pre-teen is unapologetic about being a “liberal,” joking “I hate Palestine, but I love Hamas, and I’m quietly anti-Semitic but I support Netanyahu.”

He leaves the politics for late in the show, introducing a segment on the Middle East with the observation, “I can hear your assholes tightening up,” before adding, “My beliefs are strongly felt, but loosely held.” 

Edelman acknowledges his Jewishness with a nod to being bullied for wearing a yarmulke while on the school ice hockey team, but his humor is largely observational, but with an intellectual bent that includes an analysis of the constitutional amendments, including the third about quartering soldiers in the home, joking that Thomas Jefferson authored it because he had an annoying lieutenant living with him.

Another piece focuses on wives who think their husbands, no matter how accomplished, are dummies, with even Albert Einstein’s wife criticizing her partner’s wild coif, adding, “Never mind E=MC squared… use some shampoo and a brush.” He recalls his mother criticizing the 30 years it took his father to develop an artificial heart. “It took me just nine months to give you a natural heart,” he quotes his mother.

A Patriot rooter, Edelman recounts his love of Tom Brady, subject of a gala Netflix roast, claiming he’s such a fan he felt bad for the quarterback, tightly grinning through jokes about how he kisses his children on the lips. “I don’t care… I would’ve even sent my kids over there.”

A former teacher and tutor, who studied English at NYU, Edelman pokes fun at claims they should be paid as athletes, proposing the creation of a 24-hour news channel, TSPN, dedicated to analyzing their individual successes and failures, including trading them to another school in exchange for gym equipment and supplies.

Quick on his feet, Edelman goes through several water bottles while telling a story about how his feet are two different sizes and how a salesman offered to sell him one of each. When questioned on what he would do with the leftover shoes, the enterprising salesman noted he’d look for someone whose feet were the opposite. “Now I found someone to shop for shoes with,” he quipped. “And I wondered if he’d like to learn how to ice skate.”

There’s a long section about how Larchmont Village has ruined ice cream, with trendy stores like Salt & Straw not even selling regular flavors like chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, There’s also several references to a recurrent dream he had about taking a bus in Jerusalem that gets blown up, a hangover from seeing something similar during his time in the country. “I tried not to look around at the other people,” he explains. “But I did notice that Timothee Chalamet seems to be everywhere.”

Opening for Edelman was his L.A.-based pal Hunter Hill, who doubles as a water boy for Alex, leaving bottles at the side of the stage. A large man who gladly shops at Big and Tall, Hill recounts becoming a father for the second time, hoping his sons’ dicks aren’t bigger than his, how his first name has nothing to do with his gentle nature and a long tale about a mud slide at his in-laws’ house in Montecito, where the family is airlifted to safety, fulfilling a birthday wish for his soon-to-be wife’s niece. At times, he seems to almost get verklempt in the telling, offering the poignant sight of a giant choking up. (RT)

All photos below courtesy Netflix is a Joke. 

Scenes from Netflix is a Joke

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