Netflix’s stand-up specials keep us cackling at home, but the streaming service’s ambitious comedy festival is nothing to laugh at. For its second iteration, Netflix is a Joke Fest is headed back here May 1 to 12, 2024 and upping the ante: We’ve counted over 500 shows slated for three dozen venues with sets from Ali Wong, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan, Chris Rock, Taylor Tomlinson and literally hundreds of others (we’ve highlighted 10 of the most unique offerings to help narrow things down).
The event is a bit more of a marathon than a traditional festival: There’s not an all-encompassing festival pass, but you can buy individual tickets to shows throughout its run. The exception is Outside Joke, an outdoor event set up in a parking lot behind the Palladium. You’ll find a mix of music, drag and stand-up—hosted by the likes of Atsuko Okatsuka, Leslie Jones and Reggie Watts, among others—alongside a couple of carnival games plus food, drinks and merch. Unlike the 2022 version, which was free, you can access the area on a first-come, first-served basis if you have a ticket to any other Netflix is a Joke Fest show, or you can guarantee entry with a $25 day pass. Just a heads up that if you enter Outside Joke at the same time as doors open for a show at the Palladium, you may find yourself stuck in a security line that wraps around the block; otherwise the two venues have separate lines.
Elsewhere, you’ll find shows staged at venues as big as the Hollywood Bowl and Greek Theatre (absolutely don’t drive and instead take the shuttle to both of those) and as intimate as Dynasty Typewriter and UCB, plus seemingly every major arena, theater and comedy club in between. Keep in mind that for shows at spots that are normally general admission, that means sitting in stiff, tightly packed folding chairs with limited views (the Palladium and Wiltern have particularly poor sightlines)—but the vast majority of venues thankfully have permanent seats.
