On Monday, Netflix announced the first ever Netflix is a Joke Festival, which will feature over 100 different performances from a variety of popular comedians. The event will span across 20 venues in Los Angeles from April 27 to May 3.
The festival, named for Netflix’s comedy brand, will feature comedians Dave Chappelle, David Letterman, Amy Schumer, Ali Wong, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Jamie Foxx, Sarah Silverman, Kevin Hart, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Ken Jeong, and Martin Lawrence. The landmark event will culminate in a “hall-of-fame” tribute to comedy legends George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Joan Rivers, and Robin Williams. The festival will foster partnerships with non-profit organization Comedy Gives Back, which provides mental health, medical, and financial services to comedians in need.
The event has also already brought in over 130 different artists with additional names to be announced in the coming days. According to Netflix’s chief content officer, Ted Serandos, “It’s an honor to transform L.A. for one week into the funniest place on Earth.” The festival will also feature several themed events such as Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration featuring Alan Carr, Hannah Gadsby, Margaret Cho, Rosie O’Donnell, Sandra Bernhard, and Wanda Sykes.
The festival also marks an important extension of Netflix’s comedy brand in the face of strong competition from competing streaming services such as Hulu and Amazon.
Tickets for all events will open for sale to the public beginning Friday at 10 am PT on their website and ticket costs will range from $15-500 per event. However, some tickets will be available for pre-sale as early as March 3rd.
For those that can’t make the trek to Los Angeles, eleven of the live shows will be available to view on Netflix after the event. Additionally, content from the event will be featured on Netflix’s social media as well as the Netflix is a Joke Sirius XM Channel.