Do you wish you were sitting in the Orpheum Theatre catching Seth Rogen’s live table read of Clueless in person? Don’t sweat it, because Tudum has all the highlights and inside intel from Netflix’s first-ever live comedy festival, Netflix Is a Joke. Featuring more than 130 performers, including John Mulaney, Pete Davidson, Larry David, Maya Rudolph and Snoop Dogg, the festival is running from April 28 through May 8 in Los Angeles.

We’ll be bringing you the most LOL-worthy moments that pop up every day so you don’t miss a thing. For a rundown of every event at the fest, check out the full calendar here. 

(L-R) Ranjita Chakravarty, Richa Moorjani, Poorna Jagannathan, Megan Suri, Jaren Lewison, Lee Rodriguez, Rushi Kota, Ramona Young, Darren Barnet, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Mindy Kaling, Benjamin Norris and Lang Fisher.

Araya Doheny/Getty Images for Netflix

Sunday, May 8

Sunday was the last day of Netflix Is a Joke Fest, and the lineup did not disappoint on this Mother’s Day. Mindy Kaling headed to the Pantages Theatre in honor of her “other baby,” Never Have I Ever. Kaling was joined by the show’s co-creator Lang Fisher and the cast of the Netflix comedy for a live reading of the series’ Season 3 premiere episode, “Never Have I Ever Been Slut Shamed.” Highlights from the reading included Lee Rodriguez (who plays Fabiola) clapping for the moment when Paxton (Darren Barnet) goes official with Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and Barnet giving Benjamin Norris (who plays Trent) a high five after Eleanor (Ramona Young) leaves him hanging during class. Kaling and Fisher held huge fat heads of all the characters they read for during the live reading, including one for Niecy Nash, who plays Devi’s therapist. Elsewhere in the fest, Mae Martin headlined at the Bourbon Room, where they met an audience member in the crowd who went to their same high school in Toronto — and had the same teacher. Martin’s opener, Sabrina Jalees, also enlisted a crew member from the venue to duct tape the stage before Martin came on. “Mae can’t perform on an open stage!” We appreciate friends who go the extra mile.

Wanda Sykes.

Beth Dubber/Netflix

Saturday, May 7

The crowd was loud and proud at the Greek Theatre for the queer stand-up event, Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration. Hosted by Billy Eichner, the show celebrated the best in LGBTQ+ comedy, featuring performances by Patti Harrison, Wanda Sykes, Judy Gold, Trixie Mattel and Feel Good’s Mae Martin. Over at Dodger Stadium, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias kept the party going until 2 a.m., while Never Have I Ever’s Maitreyi Ramakrishnan went to see Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in conversation at the YouTube Theater — and snapped a photo before the comedy duo’s set. Best friends and longtime travel companions Nicole Byer and Sasheer Zamata also plotted their next vacation. The destination? Africa. “I’m trying to see an elephant,” Byer said. “Oh my God, and meerkats!”

Christina P.

Marcus Russell Price/Netflix

Friday, May 6

Friday night is the perfect night to hit the town with you pals, and that’s just what recent Oscars host Amy Schumer did with back-to-back shows at the Palladium in Hollywood. Stand-up friends Chris Distefano, Christina P, Ron Funches, Lil Rel Howery, Rachel Feinstein and Jaye McBride joined Schumer for her Parental Advisory show, which reflected on the highs and lows of parenting and family. To spice up the evening, Schumer revealed some of her axed Oscars jokes, including the most elaborate sex joke to ever involve best picture nominees (at least Schumer’s Nightmare Alley got the attention it deserved in bed). David Letterman also hosted a show at the Fonda that evening, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias took over the Dodger Stadium field and Margaret Cho cracked up the Wiltern, among many shows during a dizzyingly busy festival night.

Jonathan Van Ness.

Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix

Thursday, May 5

Jonathan Van Ness took to the floor — literally — during the Queer Eye and Getting Curious star’s set on Thursday night at the Orpheum Theatre. Displaying quite the gymnastic prowess, JVN set the stage with an Imaginary Olympian Living Room set, performing a floor routine and the splits all while clad in a rainbow leotard. Meanwhile, Sarah Cooper relaxed backstage at the Bourbon Room with her friend Katie Morrissey before heading out on the town, and the cast of Blockbuster, including Randall Park, Melissa Fumero, JB Smoove and Tyler Alvarez, competed in a Movie Trivia Happy Hour over at Outdoors at Hollywood Palladium. Snoop Dogg hosted the F*cn Around Comedy Special at the Hollywood Palladium and asked the crowd the quintessential questions, “How many people in the house tonight smoke weed? How many people in the house tonight... high right now?”

Seth Rogen, Breckin Meyer, Lily Collins, Storm Reid, and Quinta Brunson at The Orpheum Theatre.

Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix

Wednesday, May 4

When Snoop Dogg joined Arsenio Hall for the comedian’s third night of shows at the theater inside the Roosevelt Hotel, he did exactly what you’d expect: brought a blunt on stage to share with his host. It’s called being a good guest, OK? Katt Williams, Chinedu Unaka and Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson also joined the dynamic duo. Mike Myers and director David O. Russell chatted before a free fan screening of the first episode of Netflix’s new comedy series The Pentaverate, with a special introduction from Myers himself. Did you think that was all? As if. Seth Rogen’s final night of table reads brought Emily in Paris herself (Lily Collins) together with Brunson, Storm Reid, Mason Gooding and more for a reading of the ’90s classic Clueless.

Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.

Elizabeth Morris/Netflix

Tuesday, May 3

John Mulaney took the stage for John Mulaney: From Scratch at the Kia Forum in Inglewood to a packed crowd, who cheered for both him and the celebrities he mentioned during his set (including Natasha Lyonne, Nick Kroll, Fred Armisen and Seth Meyers), who helped him enter rehab in December 2020. Mulaney’s path to newfound sobriety was a core theme of his show, which was peppered with precocious conversations between the comedian and an 11-year-old crowd member sitting near the front row. Mulaney ended the performance by reading from his December 2020 GQ interview, which he does not remember giving. Nailed It! host Nicole Byer also filmed a live episode of her podcast, Why Won’t You Date Me?, with guest Kornbread from RuPaul’s Drag Race at the Regent Theatre, while Grace and Frankie stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin held court at the Hollywood Palladium for their Ladies Night Live set.

Arsenio Hall and Neal Brennan.

Adam Rose/Netflix

Monday, May 2

Early in the day, Netflix Is a Joke and All Things Comedy held a celebrity golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club. Becky Robinson appeared as her Entitled Housewife character (she’s America’s No. 1 Housewife!) and interviewed her fellow comedians, like Andrew Santino and Rory Scovel, with a cigar and tiny microphone in hand. Robinson also danced on a golf cart to Megan Thee Stallion’s twerktacular “Body.” At night, Arsenio Hall got back to his late-night roots and hosted a cozy theater talk show at Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, with Neal Brennan, Dana Donnelly and musician Vince Staples as his guests. Festival correspondent Atsuko Okatsuka even got Hall to try the famous TikTok “drop” challenge... into a comfy chair. Elsewhere that evening, Curb Your Enthusiasm executive producer Robert B. Weide moderated a conversation with Larry David, while Dax Shepard and co-host Monica Padman held a live version of their podcast Armchair Expert with visitor Ike Barinholtz.

Jerry Seinfeld, Ali Wong and John Mulaney at Ted’s Brunch.

Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Netflix

Sunday, May 1 

Sunday is for brunch, so naturally Netflix’s co-CEO invited a whole bunch of comedy legends to his house for mimosas and... breakfast burritos? You know, brunch stuff. That’s where Dave Chappelle schmoozed with Norman Lear, Jimmy O. Yang hung out with Ken Jeong and Bo Burnham was very tall. (Other guests included Adam Sandler, Ali Wong, Bill Burr, Fortune Feimster, Jerrod Carmichael, Jerry Seinfeld, Jimmy Carr, John Mulaney, Keegan-Michael Key, Ken Jeong, Molly Shannon, Nick Kroll, Tiffany Haddish, Tig Notaro and more.) The stars continued to turn out at The Hall: Honoring the Greats of Stand-Up, which featured some of your favorite current comedians (Mulaney, Chappelle, Chelsea Handler and Jon Stewart) honoring some of your — and their — favorite departed ones (Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, Joan Rivers, George Carlin). Drag brunch host Willam did poppers on stage during trivia, and Seth Rogen kicked off his week of table reads on behalf of Hilarity for Charity with Seinfeld’s famous “shrinkage” episode. Aziz Ansari and Sebastian Maniscalco also played sold-out shows, and Megan Stalter wore a sparkly jumpsuit for hers.

Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka and her opening act, Fumi Abe, who performed live at Dynasty Typewriter Saturday night.

Courtesy of Ryan Harper Gray

Saturday, April 30

Natalie Palamides put on an egg-cellent show for the audience at the Elysian Theater on night 3 of the fest, closing out the evening with a standing ovation. Elsewhere, Omar Epps showed up backstage for longtime friend Marlon Wayans before the comedian’s set at the Palace Theatre, while Atsuko Okatsuka peaced out with her opener, Fumi Abe. Meanwhile, Dave Chappelle was joined by a new crop of surprise guests for his third night at the Hollywood Bowl, including Mo Amer, Jimmy Carr, Michel Che and Jon Stewart, and featured D’Angelo’s first live performance in six years, with a little help from Questlove on drums and Raphael Saadiq on guitar.

Pete Davidson and Machine Gun Kelly perform during Pete Davidson Presents: The Best Friends.

Ser Baffo/Netflix

Friday, April 29 

Pete Davidson headlined his own sold-out show at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, featuring Carly Aquilino, Giulio Gallarotti, Joey Gay, Jordan Rock, Dave Sirus, Big Wet, Neko White and even Machine Gun Kelly (with whom Davidson performed an unlikely duet). And before you ask, yes, his famous paramour was in attendance. Just as buzzy, Dave Chappelle’s return to The Hollywood Bowl included performances from Bill Burr, Deon Cole, Ludacris, Swizz Beatz, Donnell Rawlings and Jeff Ross — plus a surprise visit from Usher (with two bottles of Champagne) and a closing set from Busta Rhymes. The carnival-like venue, Outdoors at The Hollywood Palladium, hosted sets from the Goddamn Comedy Jam, Jimmy Carr, Katherine Ryan, building to a finale from Leslie Jones. 

Jay Pharoah at the opening night party.

Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Netflix

Thursday, April 28

Dave Chappelle kicked off Netflix Is a Joke Fest at the Hollywood Bowl with appearances from Pete Davidson, Luenell, and musician Anderson Paak, aka DJ Pee Wee. Davidson spent a portion of his set addressing his relationship with Kim Kardashian and her estranged husband, Kanye West, joking that he hoped West would go “full Mrs. Doubtfire.” Later in the evening, Chappelle, Bill Burr, and more descended on the W hotel for an opening-night bash. And, over at The Lab at Hollywood improv, Sabrina Jalees and Friends welcomed Joel Kim Booster, Naomi Ekperigin, Patti Harrison and Natasha Leggero.