Netflix‘s L.A.-based comedy festival, Netflix is a Joke Fest, has unveiled the lineup for its 2024 edition, taking place from May 2-12.
This installment of the streamer’s star-studded celebration of comedy, produced in association with Live Nation, will feature over 300 events, covering everything from stand-up to sketch performances, table reads, and more. View highlights from the lineup below.
While talent and schedule for the festival are subject to change, further headliners will be announced in the new year. Shows will take place at more than 35 of the city’s most iconic venues, from the Hollywood Bowl and The Greek to Largo, The Hollywood Improv, and The Comedy Store.
Set to serve as a festival hub, featuring everything from live stand-up and cast game shows to lawn games, is Outside Joke, an outdoor entertainment space located next to the Hollywood Palladium. Tickets to all events go on sale to the general public beginning at 10 a.m. PT this Friday, December 15th.
“This is a special time for comedy, both for Netflix and the genre at large,” said Netflix’s VP of Stand-up and Comedy Formats, Robbie Praw. “We have the privilege of working with comedians who are selling out arenas, winning awards and building fandoms in the millions. In the 10 years that we’ve been doing stand-up we’ve seen the art form reach levels we didn’t think possible. This festival aims to capture this moment by bringing together the world’s best comedians for an unforgettable 11 days.”
Last year’s edition of Netflix is a Joke Fest featured 330 comedians across 295 shows, selling 260,000 tickets. Read on for a sense of what 2024’s has in store.
HOLLYWOOD BOWL – 8 nights
THE FORUM
HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM
THE GREEK THEATRE
Andre Braugher, the intense actor who won an Emmy for “Homicide: Life on the Street” and demonstrated his range in the comedy series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” died at age 61 Monday due to a brief illness, his publicist Jennifer Allen told CNN.
Braugher amassed dozens of credits in movies and television after a stunning debut as a sensitive soldier in the 1989 film “Glory,” about a unit of Black soldiers during the Civil War.
He followed that by playing baseball great Jackie Robinson in the TV movie “The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson” before landing his featured role in “Homicide,” an adaptation of David Simon’s book about Baltimore detectives, and winning an Emmy for the NBC series as detective Frank Pembleton.
Braugher remained much in demand after that series, co-starring in the thriller “Primal Fear,” as well as director Spike Lee’s “Get on the Bus” and the sci-fi thriller “Frequency” before starring in his own series, “Gideon’s Crossing,” as a brilliant oncologist who trains young doctors.
Braugher earned a second Emmy in 2006 for the FX miniseries “Thief,” amassing 11 nominations overall.
He later spent three seasons opposite Ray Romano on another series, “Men of a Certain Age,” before returning as another cop, Capt. Ray Holt, in the Andy Samberg comedy series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” which ran for eight seasons. Braugher received Emmy nominations for both shows.
Actor Terry Crews, Braugher’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” co-star, took to Instagram to mourn the late actor.
“Can’t believe you’re gone so soon. I’m honored to have known you, laughed with you, worked with you and shared 8 glorious years watching your irreplaceable talent. This hurts. You left us too soon,” Crews wrote. “You taught me so much. I will be forever grateful for the experience of knowing you. Thank you for your wisdom, your advice, your kindness and your friendship. Deepest condolences to your wife and family in this difficult time. You showed me what a life well lived looks like.”
NBC and Universal Television released a statement mourning Braugher Tuesday night.
“Andre Braugher was the actor that others in the profession would always aspire to be. He infused Det. Frank Pembleton on ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ with both righteous ferocity and quiet dignity,” the statement read. “In addition to his prowess as a dramatic actor, his comedy chops were also on full display as the determined and passionate Capt. Holt in ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine.’ His performances will continue to inspire future generations and we will miss him tremendously.”
Born in Chicago, Braugher graduated from Stanford University and later attended Juilliard.
He demonstrated versatility throughout his career, appearing on stage in the New York Shakespeare Festival and voicing the villainous Darkseid in the animated “Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.”
SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, called Braugher “a powerful and dynamic performer in drama and comedy.”
“He will be deeply missed. Our condolences to his family and friends,” the union said in a social media post.
Braugher’s wife, Ami Brabson, is also an actor. The two married in 1991.
Anthony Anderson has been named to host the Emmy Awards by Fox and the Television Academy after the Hollywood strikes delayed the 75th edition.
“With our industry’s recent challenges behind us, we can get back to what we love — dressing up and honoring ourselves. And there’s no better celebratory moment to bring the creative community together than the milestone 75th Emmy Awards,” Anderson said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Black-ish star will emcee the live telecast from the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Jan. 15, 2024, on Fox, with the Emmys to be available the next day on Hulu. “When Fox asked me to host this historic telecast, I was over the moon that Taylor Swift was unavailable, and now I can’t wait to be part of the biggest night in television,” Anderson added.
He recently hosted the music gaming series We Are Family for Fox and executive producer Jamie Foxx. “Anthony is a multi-talented performer and a great friend to the Television Academy. We are thrilled that he is hosting what promises to be a rich celebration of the year’s outstanding television, as well as 75 years of Emmys excellence!” Academy chair Frank Scherma added in his own statement.
The 75th annual awards were originally scheduled to air Sept. 18, 2023, on Fox, but the telecast was delayed owing to the Hollywood writers and actors strikes. After several months of talks between the Television Academy and 2023 (make that 2024) Emmy broadcaster, Fox, the new chosen date for the Emmy Awards of Jan. 15, 2024, was earlier unveiled.
The date falls on the federal holiday of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and it will also mark nearly five months after the last ballot for the 75th Emmy Awards was cast.
Anderson starred for eight seasons on Black-ish in the role of Andre “Dre” Johnson and also served as executive producer. He recently appeared alongside his mother in their reality series Trippin’ with Anthony Anderson and Mama Doris.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Cedric the Entertainer will be giving away $1000 a week to the funniest joke that makes him laugh through Comedy Pays. The online contest, announced by the comedian in a video was co-created by Kapital Entertainment‘s new digital division and Cedric’s A Bird and A Bear Entertainment.
Submissions are open, with the first winner announced on February 1, 2024 and a new joke awarded each week following. The competition will be promoted via social media, comedy clubs, and universities.
While Comedy Pays will own the short video (duration is limited to 1 min) of the contestants telling their jokes, that does not involve ownership of the underlying material, the jokes themselves.
Comedy Pays extends the longstanding relationship between Cedric’s A Bird and A Bear Entertainment and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment. The companies are also partnered on the hit CBS comedy series The Neighborhood, whose sixth season premieres in February.
Cedric the Entertainer can be seen in the feature The Plus One and the upcoming Down by the Water. He is repped by UTA and attorneys Gordon Bobb and Nina Shaw. For Kapital, the deal was negotiated by Traci Myman.
Source: Deadline
Netflix‘s animated series reboot of Good Times has set Ranada Shepard (Young Love, Diary of a Future President) as co-creator of the series alongside Carl Jones. Shepard will also executive produce the comedy and serve as showrunner, according to reports.
The Good Times voice cast will include JB Smoove, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jay Pharoah, Marsai Martin, Slink Johnson, and Rashida “Sheedz” Olayiwola, sources close to production reveal. Pharoah portrayed original Evans family member J.J. Evans, originally played by Jimmie Walker in ABC’s Emmy Award-winning Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All In The Family and Good Times. As we revealed exclusively following the death of TV legend Norman Lear, he will guest-star in a Season 1 episode.
The animated Good Times series finds the fourth generation of the Evans family living in apartment 17C of the last remaining housing projects in Chicago. It turns out the more things change the more they stay the same and keeping your head above water is as challenging as ever. The only thing tougher than life for this family is love, and there’s more than enough to go around.
The Netflix and Sony Picture Television comedy has no confirmed release date but sources reveal they’re targeting a Summer 2024 premiere. Netflix and Sony PT declined to comment on this story.
Created by Mike Evans and Eric Monte, the original Good Times was television’s first African-American two-parent family sitcom. It was a spinoff of Lear’s Maude, which itself was a spin-off of All in the Family.
Norman Lear and Brent Miller executive produced the animated series under their Act III Productions, Stephen Curry, Erick Peyton, and Jeron Smith for Unanimous and Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins for Fuzzy Door.
Source: Deadline
Kevin Hart is taking a leaf out of Peyton and Eli Manning’s playbook.
The comedian is to host a Manningcast-style alternate broadcast for the NBA’s new in-season tournament. NBA Unplugged with Kevin Hart, which comes from Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions and Hart’s own Hartbeat, will air on ESPN2 on December 9
Hart will host alongside the Plastic Cup Boyz: Joey Wells, Will Horton, and Na’im Lynn with special guest appearances from athletes and celebrities, much like the Manningcast has for the NFL.
After the In-Season Tournament Championship Game broadcast, seven episodes will air throughout the season tied to marquee NBA games on ESPN platforms including the New York Knicks vs. Philadelphia 76ers in January and Dallas Mavericks vs. Miami Heat in April.
Hart has previously appeared on the Manningcast where the brothers mocked Hart for his height and Hart retorted that the Mannings actually hate each other.
Hartbeat is behind series such as Cold As Balls and produced an Olympics Highlights show featuring Snoop Dogg. Omaha is behind docuseries such as Quarterback in addition to Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli (the official title of Manningcast).
The NBA In-Season Tournament, which began in early November, is a cup-style competition that saw all 30 teams participate with the semifinals and championship game played in Las Vegas.
It will be won by one of the Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers, New Orlean Pelicans, Sacremento Kings, New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns, or LA Lakers as those teams are in the quarterfinals, which take place on December 4 and 5.
The Amazon MGM comedy The Underdoggs is shifting from its planned Jan. 26 theatrical release to an exclusive Prime Video debut in homes on that date in more than 240 countries and territories around the globe.
Snoop Dogg, who stars and produces the Charles Stone III directed ensemble announced the news today on his social media handles and dropped the first red band trailer, which you watch below.
Amazon MGM remains committed to theatrical and has long plans for it; their recent specialty hit Saltburn seeing a mind-blowing -10% hold in its third weekend at the box office; that pic now counting a running domestic cume of $7M. Live action R-rated comedies have been challenged at the box office lately, i.e. Strays ($24M DBO), Like A Boss ($22M DBO), Blackening ($18M DBO), Joy Ride ($13M DBO), The Machine ($10M DBO), and House Party ($9M DBO). As such, the decision was made to have The Underdoggs play to the widest audience possible on Prime Video.
The synergy of Amazon’s verticals including TNF, Amazon Music, Twitch, etc. will be an integral component of Underdogg‘s marketing campaign. This will be tied to Snoop’s 193.5M social media reach, a brand in and of itself that extends beyond music (to clothing, snacks, cereal, animation, etc.).
Written by Danny Segal and Isaac Schamis, The Underdoggs follows Jaycen “Two Js” Jennings, a washed-up former pro football star, who hits rock bottom and is sentenced to community service coaching an unruly pee-wee football team in his hometown. During the course of this, he may just turn his life around and rediscover his love of the game in the process.
The movie stars Tika Sumpter, Andrew Schulz, Mike Epps, and George Lopez.
Producers are Kenya Barris, Mychelle Deshamps, Jonathan Glickman, Constance Schwartz-Morini and Snoop Dogg.
Currently, there are no other wide theatrical entries on Jan. 26. There are several arthouse releases including Sony Pictures Classics’ The Peasants and Focus Features’ Housekeepers for Beginners.
Source: Deadline
LOS ANGELES / MONTREAL, December 6, 2023 – Just For Laughs announces today that season two of the immersive VR stand-up comedy series, Surrounded (60×6) will return for six new episodes starting December 29, 2023, with a very festive Holiday Special, exclusively on Meta Horizon Worlds. Filmed at the prestigious 2023 Just For Laughs MONTRÉAL comedy festival, Surrounded is a hilarious unscripted comedy show where the audience inspires the jokes, and everyone is fair game!
With their Meta Quest VR headset, viewers are transported into the comedy show through Meta’s Comedy Night Market, where they get to watch comedians performing improvised sets in the round, using the audience as inspiration. Viewers will be Surrounded with laughter!
Surrounded promises to deliver big laughs with this year’s host, Lil Rel Howery. Episodes will feature today’s top comedians including
Marlon Wayans, Jack Whitehall, Mae Martin, Fortune Feimster, Mark Normand, Chris Redd, Dan Soder, Jay Pharoah, Meg Stalter, Felipe Esparza, Rosebud Baker, Sam Morril, Joel Kim Booster, Hannah Berner, Nate Jackson, Brad Williams, Preacher Lawson, Sasheer Zamata, Brian Simpson, Steph Tolev, Annie Lederman, and Che Durena.
“Really excited about hosting season 2. I had so, so, so much fun. This is crowd work and freestyling at its best.” – Lil Rel Howery
Premiering with a Holiday Special on December 29, 2023 at 10:00 AM PT, additional episodes will drop every Wednesday in January 2024. Each week, be part of the audience and witness an unscripted barrage of crowd work like you’ve never seen before!
Marina Di Pancrazio, Chief Content Revenue Officer for Just For Laughs, shares, “Season two of Surrounded finds us once again at the intersection of entertainment and innovation with our exceptional partners, Meta. We’re always keen to outdo ourselves. This second season builds off the success of the first, delivering an elevated experience and incredible lineup of comedians to audiences.”
Spencer Griffin, the Head of TV Development at Just For Laughs adds, “Comedy shows in the metaverse are another way that Just for Laughs provides platforms for artists to showcase their hilarious talents. Surrounded not only offers an unparalleled experience for the artists but also for the audience who get to have the best seat in the house.”
Adapted exclusively for Meta Horizon Worlds, and filmed in VR, Surrounded originated as a stand-up comedy show created by Mike Falzone. The Just For Laughs MONTRÉAL festival is renowned as the world’s largest comedy festival, with a rich history and reputation for launching the careers of comedy legends. The iconic festival provides the ideal setting for this unscripted humor that defines this one-of-a-kind virtual comedy experience.
Filmed at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montréal in July 2023, Surrounded is executive produced by Marina Di Pancrazio, Bruce Hills, and Spencer Griffin of Just For Laughs; and Thomas Stockwell as Executive Producer for Meta, and Mike Falzone, who created the concept for the show.
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Jamie Foxx made a surprise appearance at the Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of Cinema and Television: Honoring Black, Latino, and AAPI Achievements event on Monday night, marking his first public outing since he was hospitalized for a medical complication in April.
Foxx, whose honor was not announced in advance, received the Vanguard Award for his performance in The Burial and took to the stage unassisted, showing off his trademark wit and humor as he discusses the health challenges he’s faced this year.
“I couldn’t do that six months ago, I couldn’t actually walk to [the stage]. And I’m not a clone, I’m not a clone. I know a lot of people saying that I was cloned out there,” he jokingly told the crowd at the Fairmont Plaza Hotel in Century City. “It feels good to be here. I cherish every single minute now, it’s different. I wouldn’t wish what I went though on my worst enemy because it’s tough when it’s almost over, when you see the tunnel. I saw the tunnel, I didn’t see the light. It was hot in that tunnel too, I don’t know where I was going. ‘Shit, am I going to the right place?’”
Foxx went to explain the new appreciation he felt for his life and his career, saying, “I have a new respect for life, I have a new respect for my art. I watched so many movies and listened to so many songs trying to have the time go by. Don’t give up on your art, man, don’t give up on your art. When you realize that it could be over like that… I got to tell you don’t give up on your art and don’t let them take the art from you either.”
In April, Foxx’s daughter Corinne initially shared the news that the actor was hospitalized while filming Netflix’s Back in Action in Atlanta. At the time, she noted he was “already on his way to recovery,” but shared few other details before a May update confirmed Foxx had left the hospital and was back home “recuperating.” In August, Foxx posted on Instagram that he was “finally startin to feel like myself.” The exact details of Foxx’s medical issue have not been released publicly.
Last month, ahead of the deadline to file lawsuits under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, Foxx was accused of groping in 2015 a woman. He has not commented.
In addition to Foxx, the Critics Choice Association’s celebration recognized a long list of honorees including Charles Melton, Eva Longoria, America Ferrera, Greta Lee, Colman Domingo, Damson Idris, Jeffrey Wright, and Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Melton was recognized with the Breakthrough Actor award for his work in the Netflix film May December. He spoke to how acting helped him find himself when he struggled with his identity.
“As a biracial Korean American growing up on military bases throughout the world, I felt invisible at times and too visible to others. Half Korean, half American, never fully belonging, never quite whole. It was through acting that I was able to discover my place in this world. It was through [his character] Joe that I understood my identity just a little bit more. Working through his eyes I’ve come to know again the feeling of stepping into something whether you’re ready for it or not,” Melton said. “I am the son of an immigrant mother and a military father who at times grew up confused and bewildered by my identity. Now I know that I was never half of anything; I was always whole. A whole human, flawed but complete.”
The cast of The Color Purple was also honored with the Ensemble Award, as star Taraji P. Henson spoke to her journey of portraying Shug Avery in the film.
“My relationship to Shug goes back aways. I turned down the Broadway role for many reasons. I studied musical theater in college and I just knew that my instrument would not withstand eight shows a week, so I declined. But the beautiful thing about destiny and this is why I saw we don’t compete, we don’t have to — what’s yours is coming. I ran from Shug, and some twenty years later she found me,” Henson said. “It was such an honor to inhabit her, for her to come back to me and teach me things about myself I didn’t know. She helped me lean into my sweetness a little more. I felt her power, her spirit, her strength all through me and to be a part of this beautiful sisterhood up here y’all when you see the chemistry we have on screen that’s because that’s who we are off-screen.”
Xolo Maridueña, the star of Blue Beetle, was given the Rising Star Award and credited director Angel Manuel Soto with protecting him during the making of the film.
“My name Xolo means that north star and I really feel that places like the Critics Choice Association are able to help me grow in to my name,” the actor shared. “This is a project that has forever changed my life before we even hit the first day of filming and it’s because Angel protected us. You understood the story that needed to be told and you made sure that not only the actors and everyone in front of the camera was safe and welcomed but everyone behind the camera as well. I don’t know how myself, my family, my ancestors will ever be able to repay you but I hope that this award is a constant reminder of the history that you made brother,” the star told his director.
Eva Longoria received the Breakthrough Director Award for Flamin’ Hot, which marked her first movie as a director. In her acceptance speech, she credited Paul Feig for encouraging to finally step behind the camera.
“I am directing because of Paul and Kerry Washington. Kerry and I had a film at Universal and we were interviewing directors and every time we had a director meeting we just didn’t find the right one. And Kerry said, ‘Why don’t you direct this?’ And I said, ‘No, I can’t. It needs to be somebody like Paul Feig.’ So we got a meeting with Paul and he read the script and talked to us and he said ‘I really think Eva should direct this,’” Longoria remembered. “We didn’t end up doing that movie but we got the script for Flamin’ Hot and it was Paul’s mentorship that really got me through that movie. We need allies and Paul is one of them.”
A total of 23 awards were passed out during the emotional evening, as several honorees came to tears speaking about their journey. Edward James Olmos, Ken Jeong, Charles D. King, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Kemp Powers, Makoto Shinkai, Allen Hughes, Jessica Williams, Oscar Montoya, Lee Sung Jin, Teyana Taylor, Camila Morrone, and Keivonn Woodard were also toasted at the event.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Netflix has picked up another installment of its popular multi-camera comedy series The Upshaws. The blue-collar sitcom created by Regina Hicks and Wanda Sykes has been renewed for a 10-episode fourth season.
After the 10-episode first season, Seasons 2 and 3 of The Upshaws have been released in two parts — of eight and six episodes each, respectively — so the renewal is for Part 6 of the series, as officially referred to by Netflix.
Production on the 10-episode new season, which will be released in one batch, will begin next year. The six-episode Part 5 of The Upshaws (second half of Season 3), is slated to premiere in spring 2024.
Somewhat flying under the radar, The Upshaws has been a sturdy performer for Netflix in a genre — multi-camera sitcom — that has been challenging for streamers. With the renewal, The Upshaws is tying The Ranch as the second-longest-running original multi-camera comedy on Netflix in number of seasons, just behind Fuller House, which lasted five. In number of episodes, The Upshaws (50), is No.3 of all time behind The Ranch (80) Fuller House (75).
In The Upshaws, Bennie Upshaw (Mike Epps), the head of a working-class Black family in Indianapolis, is a charming, well-intentioned mechanic and lifelong mess just trying his best to step up and care for his family — wife Regina (Kim Fields), their two young daughters (Khali Spraggins, Journey Christine) and firstborn son (Jermelle Simon), the teenage son (Diamond Lyons) he fathered with another woman (Gabrielle Dennis) — and tolerate his sardonic sister-in-law (Wanda Sykes), all without a blueprint for success. But the Upshaws are determined to make it work, and make it to the next level, together. In this upcoming part, the Upshaws continue to ride life’s ups and downs, including new jobs, bigger dreams, health struggles, and some major life surprises but still hanging on with the love that comes with family.
Hicks and Sykes serve as showrunner on the series, which they executive produce with Epps, Page Hurwitz, Niles Kirchner, Annie Levine, Jon Emerson, and Mark Alton Brown.
Source: Deadline