(Matt Seidel \/ For The Times)<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\nOkatsuka, who is performing at the Orpheum as part of her national Big Bowl Tour, said it\u2019s significant that the fest, which she describes as \u201cComedy Coachella,\u201d is happening in the city where she found her voice in comedy. \u201cFor me it was the alt rooms that helped me grow because you know everyone has different energies and backgrounds and backstories,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m not someone that could start at a comedy club, my personality doesn\u2019t allow for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
With over 350 shows happening all over seven days, NIAJ has the chance to continue its streak of introducing unique live formats and pairings for comedy that have room to grow. The other side of NIAJ\u2019s impact on L.A. comes from massive shows like Gabriel Iglesias\u2019 sold-out gigs at Dodger Stadium (only recently surpassed in ticket sales by his SoFi gig with Jo Koy), or innovations in livestreaming like last year\u2019s roast of Tom Brady at the Forum. And let\u2019s not forget John Mulaney\u2019s stab at late-night experiment with the live series \u201cEverybody\u2019s in L.A.\u201d<\/p>\n
The past two installments of the festival have shown Netflix\u2019s desire to take comedy to new heights. It continues this year with the live roast of Kevin Hart at the Forum, hosting its first all-Spanish-language show at the Bowl with Marcello Hernandez and Colombian singer Feid, and more musically-driven comedy variety shows hosted by major music acts like Lizzo and Jelly Roll. And then of course there are one-off shows like the 40th anniversary of \u201cPee-wee\u2019s Playhouse\u201d \u2014 a comedy variety show hosted by Patton Oswalt, which Wang will also be a part of.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just grateful to be part of this bigger show,\u201d Wang said. \u201cI\u2019m a childhood fan of Pee-wee Herman, and I\u2019m so grateful to be part of such a bigger tribute to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are several big variety shows including the Night of Too Many Stars at the Bowl and Seth Goes Greek at the Greek Theatre, starring Seth Rogen. And then there are true oddities like Stamptown, which is shooting its debut special for Netflix during the festival on May 8 and 9 at the Montalban Theatre, that thrive on being an uncategorizable ball of comedic energy with dancers, funny acrobats, skits and stand-up. Being around so many different types of shows also forces a lot of comedians to add more elements to their shows for the festival.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do think initially, when the festival started, it was about us going to talent, to try to come up with these ideas and brainstorm what is the most exciting show that could be done,\u201d Pakosta said. \u201cBut now it\u2019s a lot of incoming calls with talent having a really clear point of view on what they want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some shows are obviously driven by Netflix programming as a way to cross-promote a comic and a TV show the platform is invested in. That includes live podcasts at the Wiltern where Bill Simmons interviews Shane Gillis and the cast of the Netflix sitcom \u201cTires,\u201d or Tim Dillon doing a live discussion with the cast of real estate reality shows \u201cSelling Sunset\u201d and \u201cSelling the OC.\u201d <\/p>\n
While boosting the visibility of the shows on their platform has become a big part of the fest, that also includes backing comics they support, no matter how controversial they may be. This year the fest\u2019s inclusion of Louis C.K. at the Bowl comes on the heels of the streamer producing his latest special \u201cRidiculous,\u201d slated for a summer release. It marks his first major partnership with a streaming service since allegations of sexual misconduct in 2017. Since 2020, he\u2019s put out several specials independently on his own website.<\/p>\n
Asked about the decision to work with C.K. again, Pakosta said Netflix is in the business of giving comedy fans the choice to see someone they think is still the best at what they do. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it sort of goes back to wanting to be in business with incredibly talented people,\u201d Pakosta said. \u201cAnd a lot of comics were talking about Louis C.K. and what he was putting out recently. In order to make sure that we have the best and the most variety on-service, having him perform at the festival and then ultimately launching a special [on Netflix] gives members the opportunity to see it if they want to \u2026 when we were getting the talent that we were working with, that we have a lot of respect for, saying how great he is and that he\u2019s doing this again, it\u2019s like OK, we want to be able to give people the choice to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n
For many comics shooting specials during the week the fest is in town, it\u2019s also a chance to bring more work back to town for film crews and below-the-line workers who need jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be almost a year since my special \u2018Father\u2019 came out on Hulu and I shot that in L.A. too,\u201d said Okatsuka, who chose to film her 2025 special at Hollywood\u2019s El Capitan Theater and plans to shoot her next special in L.A. later this year. \u201cSo many productions have gone to other places and so a lot of crew have lost work or have left\u2026 I purposely was like, I\u2019m gonna try to do my L.A. play during the festival\u2026 I\u2019m just L.A. obsessed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The feeling seems mutual between comics and their fans from L.A. and all over the world who come to buy their tickets for next week\u2019s extravaganza and people continue to fuss over planning a week of shows where everything funny is happening all at once. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is like in a golden era right now,\u201d Shlesinger said. \u201cComedy wanes and it waxes, and right now it is just everywhere. People you\u2019ve never heard of are micro-famous, they\u2019ve got a billion followers. They make a jillion dollars. You\u2019ve never heard of them. And the festival is great because it keeps growing. So there\u2019s more opportunities for that audience to find you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The L.A. comedy scene has never been just one thing. Sure, we\u2019re home to some of the best comedy clubs and comedians in the world. Legendary improv troupes? We\u2019ve got \u2019em. Podcasts and hilarious content creators? We\u2019re drowning in them. When it comes to variety shows, drag brunches and clowns, our town is top tier. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2394250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2394249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/LAs-comedy-scene-is-in-a-golden-era-Netflix-Is.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2394249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2394249"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2394249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2394251,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2394249\/revisions\/2394251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2394250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2394249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2394249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2394249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}