Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David sat next to each other on the Saban Theatre stage on May 4, reminiscing about the four best “Seinfeld” episodes. They were taping the “Rushmore Podcast Live” podcast, where legendary Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel and his co-host Ben Persky interview the greats in every industry. Ultimately, all of them decided that “The Contest” – which was almost too risqué to air – was indeed the best episode, followed by “The Puffy Shirt,” “The Opposite,” and “The Marine Biologist.”
Though this was likely the most Jewish show at “Netflix is a Joke,” the Netflix comedy festival that returns to Los Angeles every two years, there were plenty of other Jewish acts to go around.
On Tuesday, May 5, Alex Edelman headlined The Ford theatre at sunset with his favorite musician, Ben Folds. Edelman did standup, while Folds sang and played piano. At one point, the comedy sang parts of the song “Army,” and a member of the audience got on stage to perform “Jane” with Folds.
Edelman told the audience how his first concert was Uncle Moishy and the Mitzvah Men and joked about how the entire audience was probably Jewish. After the show, he reflected on Instagram, “a truly insane and magical night at the gorgeous @thefordla with @actualbenfolds for @netflixisajoke festival. We flipped a coin and alternated. Sun set. Huge good feelings. Renamed the stage. Sorry for my singing. Thank you to the most special audience and crew and BEN.”
“Huge good feelings. Renamed the stage. Sorry for my singing.” – Alex Edelman
Big Jay Oakerson performed at three shows at The Comedy Store. The Jewish comedian, who hosts “The Bonfire” on SiriusXM, has posted videos of anti-Israel, antisemitic hecklers at his shows. When one woman in his audience yelled “Free Palestine!” at him, he retorted, “What have you done for the movement?” He made the woman, and the rest of the crowd, laugh, racking up 177,000 likes.
Other Jewish acts at “Netflix is a Joke,” which ran from May 4-10 all around Los Angeles, included Brett Goldstein of “Ted Lasso,” actor/comedian Dan Black, musician and composer Danny Elfman, comedian Iliza Schlesinger, and Jeff Ross, who hosted the Beautifully Broken Comedy Night with Jelly Roll at the Greek Theatre.
