Netflix is a Joke returns to LA this May, shining a worldwide spotlight on stand-up comedy in Los Angeles. On Tuesday, the third installment of the sprawling event put on by Netflix announced the first wave of A-list comedians including Bill Burr, Ali Wong, Kevin Hart, Nikki Glaser and many more performing between May 4-10 at venues across LA. Though the fest itself has been cut down from 11 days to 6, the amount of talent jammed into that week doesn’t appear to have slimmed down much at all.
Hosting more than 350 live events, the festival taking place in comedy clubs across LA including the Comedy Store, Laugh Factory and Hollywood Improv as well as major venues such as the Hollywood Bowl, Intuit Dome and the Greek Theater. As per usual a mix of stand-up, variety shows, major comedy podcasts, tapings, exclusive events and screenings, and talent from various Netflix series and films will draw comedy fans from all over the world.
“What makes this fest so special is the sense of community—it’s a rare moment where the comedy industry and the fans come together in one place. We’re not just putting on shows; we’re creating one-of-a-kind experiences that celebrate the range, depth, and sheer brilliance of the comedy world right now,” said Tracey Pakosta, Netflix VP of Comedy Series.
So far other noteable performances on the bill include Mo Amer, Fred Armisen, Maria Bamford, Ralph Barbosa, Nate Bargatze, Ronny Chieng, Margaret Cho, Deon Cole, Larry David, Bert Kreischer, Nick Kroll, Bobby Lee, David Letterman, Lizzo, Conan O’Brien, Adam Sandler, Andrew Schulz, Iliza Shlesinger, Tom Segura, Jerry Seinfeld, Shaq, Taylor Tomlinson, Kill Tony, Mike Tyson, and Noah Wyle.
A few of the planned show highlights announced on Tuesday include “Night of Too Many Stars” hosted by Jon Stewart featuring A-list comics performing to raise money for benefit NEXT for Autism, a national organization providing programs and support for people living with autism. The comedy competition show “Funny AF with Kevin Hart” seeking to find the next big comedian will begin streaming on Netflix April 20 and will hold its live semi-finals and finals during the festival. Bargatze is performing two nights at the Intuit Dome along with other major gigs from Colombian pop star Feid and Saturday Night Live’s Marcello Hernandez teaming up to bring together the largest Spanish language comedy show to the Hollywood Bowl in the venue’s history as well as a variety show tribute to the late Pee-Wee Herman.
“In just 4 years, Netflix Is a Joke Fest has grown into the world’s biggest celebration of comedy. This year, we’re bringing together legends, trailblazers, and the next generation of voices for an entire week of unforgettable moments across Los Angeles,” said Robbie Praw, Netflix VP of Stand-up and Comedy Formats. “From iconic stand-up shows and live podcast tapings to musical mashups and surprise events, the scope of this festival truly reflects the variety and excitement of comedy today. We’re thrilled to welcome fans from all over to experience the magic, energy, and laughter that only Netflix can deliver.”
Tickets for events across the festival will go on sale beginning at 10am PT on January 23rd. A full list of performances can be found on the festival’s website.
In what might be the most decisive critique yet of President Trump’s remake of the Kennedy Center, the Washington National Opera’s board approved a resolution on Friday to leave the venue it has occupied since 1971.
“Today, the Washington National Opera announced its decision to seek an amicable early termination of its affiliation agreement with the Kennedy Center and resume operations as a fully independent nonprofit entity,” the company said in a statement to the Associated Press.
Roma Daravi, Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, described the relationship with Washington National Opera as “financially challenging.”
“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to part ways with the WNO due to a financially challenging relationship,” Daravi said in a statement. “We believe this represents the best path forward for both organizations and enables us to make responsible choices that support the financial stability and long-term future of the Trump Kennedy Center.”
Kennedy Center President Ambassador Richard Grenell tweeted that the call was made by the Kennedy Center, writing that its leadership had “approached the Opera leadership last year with this idea and they began to be open to it.”
“Having an exclusive relationship has been extremely expensive and limiting in choice and variety,” Grenell wrote. “We have spent millions of dollars to support the Washington Opera’s exclusivity and yet they were still millions of dollars in the hole – and getting worse.”
WNO’s decision to vacate the Kennedy Center’s 2,364-seat Opera House comes amid a wave of artist cancellations that came after the venue’s board voted to rename the center the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. New signage featuring Trump’s name went up on the building’s exterior just days after the vote while debate raged over whether an official name change could be made without congressional approval.
That same day, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) — an ex officio member of the board — wrote on social media that the vote was not unanimous and that she and others who might have voiced their dissent were muted on the call.
Grenell countered that ex officio members don’t get a vote.
Cancellations soon began to mount — as did Kennedy Center‘s rebukes against the artists who chose not to appear. Jazz drummer Chuck Redd pulled out of his annual Christmas Eve concert; jazz supergroup the Cookers nixed New Year’s Eve shows; New York-based Doug Varone and Dancers dropped out of April performances; and Grammy Award-winning banjo player Béla Fleck wrote on social media that he would no longer play at the venue in February.
WNO’s departure, however, represents a new level of artist defection. The company’s name is synonymous with the Kennedy Center and it has served as an artistic center of gravity for the complex since the building first opened.
Sunday’s Challenge Cup fixture between Cheetahs and Ulster has been moved to Dukes Rugby Club in s-Hertogenbosch and will now be played at 13:00 GMT.
The sides were due to meet in Amsterdam with kick-off at 15:15, but with sub-zero temperatures expected in the capital, the game has been relocated to the south of the Netherlands following inspections earlier on Friday.
Governing body European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) has also confirmed that the match will also now be played behind closed doors.
“EPCR, Rugby Nederland and Toyota Cheetahs are continuing to monitor weather conditions, should these further impact the fixture,” read a statement from Ulster.
“Ulster Rugby is seeking further clarification from tournament organisers regarding the implications of this decision and next steps, particularly for supporters who have already made travel arrangements.”
Ulster return to European action after victories against Connacht and Munster in the United Rugby Championship.
The northern province hammered Racing 92 in their opening Challenge Cup game before losing to Cardiff.
The Cheetahs have struggled with their form this season and will aim to end their five-game losing streak against Richie Murphy’s outfit.
When musician Cary Brothers found out that the Hotel Cafe was shutting down, he felt like he’d been told his parents were selling his childhood home.
The beloved music venue, which kick-started the careers of then-little-known singer-songwriters Adele, Sara Bareilles and Damien Rice, is closing its doors in early 2026, its co-founders Marko Shafer and Max Mamikunian announced in November. For those like Brothers, who considered the Hotel Cafe a second home, the news of the closure was a heavy blow.
Luckily for them, Shafer and Mamikunian plan to open a new location in the nearby Lumina Hollywood tower in early 2027. Brothers said it provides consolation, but not complete comfort.
“Yeah, they’re buying a great new house, but it’s not our house,” he said.
Share via
Elected the “mayor of the Hotel Cafe,” Brothers discovered the Hollywood haunt before it even had a liquor license. In those days, the cafe had a BYOB policy and sold buckets of ice for visitors to chill the alcohol they brought in with them, and jazz legends pouring out of local bars after last call capped off their nights with a 3 a.m. jam session in the Hotel Cafe’s piano room (or smoking room, depending on whom you ask).
Every penny they made went back into the venue, Shafer said.
Brothers has always likened the Hotel Cafe in that era to “‘Cheers’ with guitars,” where he could show up any night and a dozen of his closest friends would be there. Eagles songwriter Jack Tempchin used to say it was the closest thing to the front bar at the Troubadour in the ’70s.
“Nobody became the Eagles, sure, but the spirit was the same,” Brothers said.
Dave Navarro, left, and Billy Corgan perform with Spirits in the Sky at the Hotel Cafe in 2009. The venue was a launching pad for many prominent singer-songwriters in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
(Tiffany Rose / WireImage via Getty Images)
Beginnings on Cahuenga Boulevard
The owners attribute much of Hotel Cafe’s success to good timing.
At the turn of the century, Mamikunian said, “Word on the street in Los Angeles was, it’s an industry town and music venues don’t work here.”
Mamikunian, on the other hand, believed the city was teeming with raw talent, but there was no place for it to develop. Judging by the laundry list of musicians who flocked to the Hotel Cafe in those early years, his hunch was spot-on.
“We hit it right when it needed to happen,” he said.
For independent artist Kevin Garrett, the Hotel Cafe was a “gym” where he could flex his creative muscles and experiment with his sound, judgment-free. For local folk singer Lucy Clearwater, it was her sign that moving to L.A. was the right decision for her career.
And for Ingrid Michaelson, the spot was ahead of its time in championing female artists. When the Hotel Cafe asked Michaelson to headline its 2008 all-female tour, she thought, “When does that ever happen, except for Lilith Fair?”
In Michaelson’s native New York, there were a handful of venues that cradled early-career musicians: the Living Room, the Bitter End, Kenny’s Castaways.
“But in L.A., there really was just the Hotel Cafe,” Michaelson, behind such 2000s hits as “The Way I Am” and “You and I,” said. “So it was this distilling of all the singer-songwriters in L.A., kind of coming through this one port.”
Patrons enter the Hotel Cafe through a back alleyway along Cahuenga Boulevard.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Through the musical generations
In its 25 years of operation, the Hotel Cafe has seen several generations of musicians shuffle through the space, Shafer said. Production manager Gia Hughes calls them the “graduating classes.”
In Brothers’ days, it was Joshua Radin, Bareilles, Meiko and other late 2000s singer-songwriters whose music regularly landed on shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” — or in Brothers’ case, the indie cult classic “Garden State,” directed by and starring fellow Northwestern alum Zach Braff.
Next came residencies from breakouts Johnnyswim and JP Saxe, and later, folksters Clearwater and her close confidant Rett Madison. Clearwater said that during her tenure, she would often join her fellow performers onstage to sing backing vocals or play a violin solo.
“Every four years it’s like a different kind of community that comes about,” Hughes said. “And it’s different, but it’s also not.”
It’s why Shafer and Mamikunian aren’t worried about losing the magic they created on Cahuenga. In their eyes, it was never confined to the space itself.
“I remember when we first talked about expanding the Hotel Cafe and everybody said, ‘Don’t do it. You’re going to ruin what you have,’” Shafer said, referencing the venue’s 2004 acquisition of additional space next door. (They expanded again in 2016 with their Second Stage annex, about half the capacity of the main stage.)
“When we did it, it changed the room so much for the better, and gave us access to bigger artists but still didn’t lose the intimacy,” he said about the expansion.
Shafer and Mamikunian thought they’d outgrown the Cahuenga space and had long been pondering a move. This year, the logistics lined up, Mamikunian said.
“It wasn’t anything dramatic,” he said. It was just time.
Hughes called the move “an opportunity to pursue a space that can check a lot more boxes for us, for the long term”: more parking, increased room capacity, greater accessibility.
L.A. singer-songwriter Maris performs in the Second Stage performance room at the Hotel Cafe.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
A new beginning around the corner
Zoning clearances are still pending for the new location in Lumina Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard, a high-rise apartment building set to be upgraded by Morguard Corp. And although the new venue is slated for a 2027 opening, the timeline depends on an upcoming zoning hearing, expected in March or April, Mamikunian said.
But Shafer and Mamikunian opted to announce the closure while details were still being worked out rather than wait and risk information leaking to the public. Plus, this way, both artists and patrons have time to say their goodbyes.
After Clearwater heard the news, she rushed to a “Monday Monday” weekly showcase and immediately felt like she’d been transported back to 2017, when she spent four-plus nights a week at the joint.
“So many of my old friends from that time — some of [whom] I had fallen out of touch with — I saw all of them there,” the Bay Area-bred folk singer said. “You could feel everybody loving it so much.”
The singer said she couldn’t help but wonder whether things would have panned out differently had people shown out like that before Shafer and Mamikunian made their choice. But sipping red wine in the green room that night, she felt lucky just to be there.
“It’s the wood, it’s the bar, the backstage chairs, the little lanterns,” she said. “I’m just going to miss what it looks and smells like, but the people, that’s never gonna go away.”
The Hotel Cafe hosted its annual holiday showcase on Dec. 19, with proceeds benefiting the Recording Academy’s nonprofit arm, MusiCares.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Farewell for now
Earlier this month, the Hotel Cafe hosted its last-ever holiday event at the Cahuenga location. Hughes, with the help of her interior designer sister, Nina Hughes, spent hours that day decking the halls with carnival lights and ribbons galore.
Even before the night’s performances began, attendees were clinking glasses and giving lingering hugs — the kind befitting the last day of summer camp.
“It’s going to be a love fest,” Hughes predicted.
As heartfelt as that night’s musicians were in their speeches, bartender Dan Shapiro said waxing sentimental onstage has been the norm for weeks.
“People are always doing eulogies to the place,” Shapiro said with a chuckle. As he surveyed the lineup posted at the bar, he said he’d put his money on performer Lily Kershaw shedding a few tears. Fellow bartender Dave Greve concurred.
Against the odds, Kershaw didn’t cry as she led the crowd through a rendition of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “Our House” a few hours later. Subsequent performers stayed on theme with songs composed of resonant lyrics like “So long stranger / I like to think I know you best” and “Hold on tight / don’t let go.”
As Brothers crooned his own tribute, he closed his eyes, as though praying.
“It’s never gonna be what it was, but it’ll be something new and different, and I’m really excited to see what that is,” Lucy Clearwater said about the Hotel Cafe’s relocation to Sunset Boulevard.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
James Babson, a longtime doorman at the Hotel Cafe, said its staff and attendees alike have always been reverent toward performers. For some, he said, the listening experience is “spiritual.”
“Maybe they’re not churchgoers, so they have this sense of community and transcendence, where that song touches them on this level, which takes them somewhere else,” he said.
Peter Malek felt it the first time he stepped inside the Hotel Cafe 20 years ago. Hooked on that feeling, he started visiting the venue several times a week. Sometimes, he never even made it inside, content to chat with Babson for hours at the door; other evenings he spent in the staff offices, cramming for his medical school exams.
According to Malek’s last tally, he’s been to the Hotel Cafe 1,333 times. Although he was saddened when he heard the news of the relocation — several months before almost everyone else found out — he said he isn’t expecting Shafer and Mamikunian to replicate what they built at the Cahuenga site.
Instead, Malek said, he’s left “happy that he witnessed it.”
The Hotel Cafe was packed with regulars and first-time attendees at its farewell holiday performance in December.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
All night at the Hotel Cafe’s holiday party, attendees wondered whether penultimate performer Dan Wilson, of the pop-rock band Semisonic, would play “the song.” No one had to name it.
When Wilson finally sang the magic words, “Closing time, open all the doors / And let you out into the world,” the room erupted into cheers.
It was the closest Brothers came to crying, but he held it in. There would be time for that later.
The Kennedy Center is ending the year with a new round of artists saying they are canceling scheduled performances after President Donald Trump’s name was added to the facility, prompting the institution’s president to accuse the performers of making their decisions because of politics.
The Cookers, a jazz supergroup that has performed together for nearly two decades, announced their withdrawal from “A Jazz New Year’s Eve” on their website, saying the “decision has come together very quickly” and acknowledging frustration from those who may have planned to attend.
Doug Varone and Dancers, a dance group based in New York, said in an Instagram post late Monday they would pull out of a performance slated for April, saying they “can no longer permit ourselves nor ask our audiences to step inside this once great institution.”
Those moves come after musician Chuck Redd canceled a Christmas Eve performance last week. They also come amid declining sales for tickets to the venue, as well as news that viewership for the Dec. 23 broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors — which Trump had predicted would soar — was down by about 35% compared to the 2024 show.
The announcements amount to a volatile calendar for one of the most prominent performing arts venues in the U.S. and cap a year of tension in which Trump ousted the Kennedy Center board and named himself the institution’s chairman. That led to an earlier round of artist pushback, with performer Issa Rae and the producers of “Hamilton” canceling scheduled engagements while musicians Ben Folds and Renee Fleming stepped down from advisory roles.
The Cookers didn’t mention the building’s renaming or the Trump administration but did say that, when they return to performing, they wanted to ensure that “the room is able to celebrate the full presence of the music and everyone in it,” reiterating a commitment “to playing music that reaches across divisions rather than deepening them.”
The group may not have addressed the Kennedy Center situation directly, but one of its members has. On Saturday, saxophone player Billy Harper said in comments posted on the Jazz Stage Facebook page that he “would never even consider performing in a venue bearing a name (and being controlled by the kind of board) that represents overt racism and deliberate destruction of African American music and culture. The same music I devoted my life to creating and advancing.”
According to the White House, Trump’s handpicked board approved the renaming. Harper said both the board “as well as the name displayed on the building itself represents a mentality and practices I always stood against. And still do, today more than ever.”
Richard Grenell, a Trump ally whom the president chose to head the Kennedy Center after he forced out the previous leadership, posted Monday night on X, “The artists who are now canceling shows were booked by the previous far left leadership,” intimating the bookings were made under the Biden administration.
In a statement Tuesday to The Associated Press, Grenell said the ”last minute cancellations prove that they were always unwilling to perform for everyone — even those they disagree with politically,” adding that the Kennedy Center had been “flooded with inquiries from real artists willing to perform for everyone and who reject political statements in their artistry.”
There was no immediate word from Kennedy Center officials about whether the entity would pursue legal action against the latest round of artists to cancel performances. Following Redd’s cancellation last week, Grenell said he would seek $1 million in damages for what he called a “political stunt.”
Not all artists are calling off their shows. Bluegrass banjoist Randy Barrett, scheduled to perform at the Kennedy Center next month, told the AP he was “deeply troubled by the politicization” of the venue and respected those who had canceled but feels that “our tribalized country needs more music and art, not less. It’s one of the few things that can bring us together.”
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law the following year naming the center as a living memorial to him. Scholars have said any changes to the building’s name would need congressional approval; the law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else, and from putting another person’s name on the building’s exterior.
