I’ve always had a symbiotic relationship with comedy both personally and professionally. I shared some of those formative experiences in one of the first musings on this site, which as it turned out was one of the most widely viewed and shared ones I’ve produced before or since. Now that Copilot is part of my tool kit I’m able to rely on it for a more concise summation than I was capable of at the time:
The author shares that for years they’ve been “audience testing” and promoting stand-up comedy, inspired by their love for comedians like Don Rickles and the energy of comedy clubs. They describe themselves as short, Jewish, and now bald — tick marks they say help them “hit a few of the tick marks” for a stand-up persona…The piece is laced with self-deprecating humor and light satire. It references their brief dating connection with a Pasadena comedy club emcee who looked like Sandra Bernhard, adding a quirky personal anecdote. The tone is conversational, almost like a stand-up set, with moments of absurdity and relatable observations about the comedy scene.
I labeled that piece A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE DELI as a nod to my own half-assed attempt to try stand-up myself. I chronicled that inspiration in a bit more detail, paying proper homage to a couple of inspiring female friends who are a lot more put together in all ways than “Sandra Bernhard” was. I was a bit more optimistic at the point, drawing from the bottom line of “don’t suck” that one of them imparted to me. But over time I ultimately did; turns out my “tight five” was measurable in seconds, not minutes. I’ve haven’t been back to that venue since that reality check, and not just because they raised the price of their “mish mosh” soup.
So I’m all the more appreciative and respectful of those who are indeed capable of realizing those dreams, and I’m especially appreciative to Netflix for giving them all a much more impressive sandbox to play in than the back room of an aging restaurant. As MERCA 2.0’s Bibiana Palacios explained to her readers late last month:
Netflix Is a Joke Fest 2026 will feature hundreds of shows across multiple venues, offering something for everyone…The festival’s official lineup brings together some of the most influential and popular figures in comedy and entertainment today…Unlike other similar events, it blends established stars with emerging voices, traditional formats with experimental proposals, and massive shows with more intimate performances.
The festival will feature more than 350 live events over seven days. The lineup includes stand-up shows, variety performances, special tapings, live comedy podcasts, special screenings, and exclusive events produced by Netflix in partnership with Live Nation. Among the standout events are Night of Too Many Stars, the stand-up, variety, and music telethon benefiting NEXT for Autism hosted by Jon Stewart; a taping of Nate Bargatze’s upcoming Netflix comedy special; Shane Gillis and Friends at the Hollywood Bowl; and the live semifinals and finals of Funny AF with Kevin Hart, a competitive format designed to find the next funniest comedian in the world.
All well and good for them, since they’re all names that are truly recognizable and earning a hefty paycheck. I’m all the more intrigued by the ones who are rising stars and working toward those goals, hoping to make their determination and resolve actually pay off in ways I proved to be incapable of. No less than three LOS ANGELES TIMES scribes–Nate Jackson, Dawn Burkes and Ali Lerman–dropped a handy guide to the 20 they were most excited for. Among the more intriguing storylines they opted to spotlight–some of which have already come and gone since we’re now in the middle of the festival:
Coming out of relative obscurity from the Dallas comedy scene just a few years ago, Ralph Barbosa garnered viral fame by being dissed and then apologized to by comedy legend George Lopez, who didn’t know who he was at the time despite Barbosa being at the forefront of the next wave of Latin comics, thanks in large part to a breakout set on Don’t Tell Comedy in 2022. After garnering nationwide buzz since his debut 2023 Netflix special “Cowabunga,” Barbosa’s latest hour on Hulu, “Planet Bosa,” released in February, finds the 28-year-old reaching the top of his game. He heads to the Orpheum with a newfound spark of energy and attitude on stage, adding some spice to his naturally laid-back style.
Though plenty of comics view crowd work as just another part of the job, comedian Nate Jackson has made it the springboard to a career. If you feel like being made into a human s’more, go ahead and make sure you’re somewhere in his line of vision when he gets on stage at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood from May 5-7 for six late-night shows at 10 p.m. and midnight to roast and toast his fans, who will pack the rows of this sure-to-be-sold-out show. Having mastered the art of picking off loudmouth hecklers and awkward front-row couples like a trained sniper, Jackson’s quick wit and timing displayed in countless viral TikTok clips are quickly helping him become a household name. Even sitting down, he’s better than most stand-ups out there today.
Dark humor means something different to a woman who narrowly escaped being thrown in the dumpster as a baby. A survivor of China’s one-child policy in the ‘90s before coming to America, Jiaoying Summers specializes in jokes too brutal for the average American psyche, delivered with sweetness that makes the punchlines even more shocking. Her unlikely rise to comedy stardom started the minute she opened her own tiny comedy club, the Hollywood Comedy, before the pandemic. Her countless repetitions on stage in L.A. turned into worldwide success as she began to tour across the globe. Recently, she’s returning home from a monthlong string of dates in Europe with a new hour of shocking, side-splitting jokes on parenting, current events and American culture, including our names that all translate to some pretty funny stuff in Chinese.
There are also some more familiar and polarizing folks out there, not the least of which being Louis CK, who was the subject of a Minnesota Nice rant from my otherwise esteemed comrade in Substack Rick Ellis that he chose to reprise yesterday. Ellos also called out some more recent remarks via VARIETY’s Ethan Shanfield where he confronted Netflix’s stand-up czar Robbie Praw on said choice and opted to take them to task for offering these sort of reality checks of their own:
(SHANFIELD): You must have anticipated backlash [given his 2017 sexual misconduct scandal]. How much does that factor into the decision to partner with him?
PRAW: When our members sit and open up Netflix, they have a decision to make of what they want to watch. This is just about giving them an option to see a really popular comedian that they may want to watch who’s still putting out great stuff.
So I guess the takeaway is that if you are a comic, you can do or say anything, as long as you are funny. “Sure, he killed and chopped up four people. But man, does he have a tight 45-minute set.”
That’s about when I stopped laughing. Because the G-d’s honest truth is that what someone finds funny nowadays is a deeply personal and increasingly less communal experience–certainly to Netflix, which is the epitome of said one-to-one experience given how it tends to be consumed. I learned those truths directly from the lips of hundreds of focus group participants when Sony attempted to answer that complex question–given they just ousted their head of comedy, you can infer they still haven’t found a winning formula. Netflix they didn’t get to be best in their class by attempting to police anyone, especially if they actually didn’t commit a physical crime they were found guilty of in a court of law. Their festival is clearly a veritable We Are The World representation of all shapes, sizes, colors, backgrounds, rap sheets and ideologies–not to mention income levels and impact.
And that’s why I’ll personally be cheering on the comedy stylings of Holy Cannoli, headlined by the disarmingly stunning and spot-on hilarious duo of Jaclyn Marfuggi Caprio and Gabi Conti. They just happen to be friends with one of those inspiring females who at least tried to coax me into my own attempt to even try and accomplish what they already have. They clearly offer a lot more than merely a tight five, and I’m pretty damn sure they could more than handle themselves with the likes of someone like Louis CK–if nothing else, I know they know someone who most def could. And yeah, when my thoughts turn to that person I’m doing more crying that laughing these days.
Lately, I’ve been more in demand as a reactor than a performer, especially so by an award-winning friend who has turned to writing stage plays since he’s now too “seasoned” for most TV executives to respect with a meeting. I’m told I have a great laugh–honed by my immense appreciation and respect for all that it takes to try to be funny. Ladies, you’ll at least have that from me Saturday night. I’ll do my absolute best to dry my eyes in the process.
Until next time…