Netflix has every big comedian. Can it keep them?
How many stand-up comics does it take for a streaming service to show off its clout in comedy? Four hundred. No joke, that’s about how many of them Netflix summoned to Los Angeles for a live festival sprawling across three dozen venues and 12 days through this weekend under the banner Netflix Is a Joke.
Several of these gigs have also streamed live on the mothership platform, including a without-a-net set by Katt Williams and a three-hour roast of Tom Brady. Over six nights, John Mulaney is hosting a skewed talk show, taking live calls from viewers and bantering with a parade of talent assembled for Netflix Is a Joke—hence the show’s title, “Everybody’s In L.A." Guest Jerry Seinfeld dryly marveled at Netflix’s method of curating comedy: “There’s no good reason you can see.
It makes sense to them, I guess." The main “them" behind the strategy is a comedy nerd from Canada named Robbie Praw, who has overseen Netflix’s stand-up onslaught for the last eight years. Orchestrating an in-person event (big enough to contain a 12-show residency by Ali Wong) is his way of reinforcing the streamer’s investment.
“When you walk in and see 18,000 people having a great time right in front of you, that is a different feeling than putting out a special into the world and, you know, reading comments on Twitter or whatever feedback loop," said Praw, vice president of stand-up and comedy formats. On his watch, Netflix used stand-up to rapidly scale up in original content, then to push into live programming, which Chris Rock debuted on the service last year.
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