Latest news with #KumailNanjiani
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Urie to Join ‘Oh, Mary!' on Broadway
Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Urie and Jenn Harris will join the Broadway company of 'Oh, Mary' as Mary's Husband (if you know, you know), Mary's Teacher and Mary's Chaperone, respectively. They'll star alongside 'Drag Race' star Jinkx Monsoon, who is playing Mary Todd Lincoln starting Aug. 4. That's when Nanjiani, Urie and Harris will also begin performances, which will run through Sept. 28. This production marks the Broadway debuts of Nanjiani ('The Big Sick,' 'Eternals') and Harris ('American Fiction'). Urie, a recent Emmy nominee for 'Shrinking,' was recently on Broadway in 'Spamalot' and 'Once Upon a Mattress.' More from Variety Betty Gilpin to Replace Cole Escola in Broadway's 'Oh, Mary' Cole Escola's 'Oh, Mary!' Recoups $4.5 Million Broadway Investment Cole Escola Can't Process the Meteoric Success of Broadway's 'Oh, Mary!' They'll take over after Tituss Burgess (as Mary), Conrad Ricamora (Mary's Husband), James Scully (Mary's Teacher) and Bianca Leigh (Mary's Chaperone) play their final performances on Aug. 2. Tony Macht (Mary's Husband's Assistant/Kyle) will remain with the company through Sept. 28. 'Oh, Mary' is written by Tony Award winner Cole Escola and directed by Tony Award winner Sam Pinkleton. The play follows a miserable Mary Todd Lincoln, an alcoholic aspiring cabaret singer, in the weeks leading up to the 16th president's assassination. As the official logline reads, 'Unrequited yearning, alcoholism and suppressed desires abound in this one-act play that finally examines the forgotten life and dreams of Mrs. Lincoln through the lens of an idiot.' After a successful Off-Broadway run, the play opened on Broadway on July 11, 2024, at the Lyceum Theatre, where it became the first show in the theater's 121-year history to gross more than $1 million in a single week. 'Oh, Mary!'has since broken its own box office record 12 times and has seen other actors like Betty Gilpin take over as Mary. Best of Variety 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? Final Emmy Predictions: Talk Series and Scripted Variety - New Blood Looks to Tackle Late Night Staples Oscars 2026: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Wagner Moura and More Among Early Contenders to Watch
South China Morning Post
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Comedian Margaret Cho on Asian representation and finding humour in ‘a horrible time'
Margaret Cho has racked up five Grammy Award nominations and performed stand-up for more than four decades, but there is still one stage on her wish list. 'I would like to do something high-stakes like a show that takes place before they sent gladiators to fight at the Colosseum,' she jokes during a phone interview when asked in which epoch she would like to perform. 'Maybe that wouldn't be the best for my health, but I would ask for a guarantee that I could leave before getting eaten by an animal.' Cho may have missed her shot to perform for Roman emperors by a millennium or two, but she will be on stage for the Belly Laughs Comedy and Food Festival, which takes place at Los Angeles' Peacock Theatre on July 12 and 13. She will be joined by more than 30 Asian stand-up comedians, including Hasan Minhaj Kumail Nanjiani , a surprise guest and two recent additions: Bobby Lee and Vickie Wang. The event is billed as a celebration of Asian-American culture. In addition to laughs, the fest will also showcase more than 20 of LA's Asian restaurants.
Time Out
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Belly Laughs Comedy and Food Festival
Photograph: Sergio Garcia Photography Cutting-edge comedy meets culinary prowess at the first-ever fest of its kind celebrating Asian American culture in Los Angeles. Kumail Nanjiani, Margaret Cho, Bobby Lee, Zarna Garg, Joel Kim Booster, Nimesh Patel, Sherry Cola, Aparna Nancherla and many more—plus special guests—will take over three stages at L.A. Live, with Hasan Minhaj and friends headlining both nights. On the food side, MAMA's Nightmarket will be serving up fare from 20 local Asian restaurants, including Holy Basil, Jilli, Yum Sະlut and Feng Mao. Sat, Jul 12, 2025 Sun, Jul 13, 2025 By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions. 🙌 Awesome, you're subscribed! Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! Discover Time Out original video
Los Angeles Times
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Belly Laughs spotlights Asian comedians and cuisine, offering a tasty excuse to ‘laugh at ourselves'
'Never more than two.' That's Kumail Nanjiani's general assessment of the modest serving of Asian performers on a typical comedy show lineup (if any at all) when he was starting out in comedy. Even as an actor who's gone on to find success on hit TV shows like 'Silicon Valley' and has flown high in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 'Eternals,' the stereotype of ethnic comedy quotas from his roots in stand-up — which he's recently returned to a couple years ago — still sticks with him. Nanjiani recently spoke with The Times about this weekend's Belly Laughs Festival, a two-day event at L.A. Live that spotlights Asian comedians, cuisine and culture. He was joined by fellow festival performer Jonnie Park (a.k.a. rapper Dumbfoundead) and comedian/actor Sherry Cola (who is no longer performing at the festival due to a scheduling conflict) to talk about the importance of Asian representation in comedy. During the chat, Nanjiani described not only his love for food (specifically Biriyani Kabob House in Koreatown, which will be at the festival) but also for stand-up. After returning to performing live shows again in 2023, Nanjiani is slated to release 'Night Thoughts,' his first comedy special in 12 years, on Hulu later this year. Inspired by the Hollywood slowdown and the writers' strike that prevented him from pursuing TV and film work, Nanjiani says he returned to doing comedy in order to keep working on stage while the rest of Hollywood was mostly shut down. 'I missed being good at something that I wasn't good at anymore,' he said. 'I didn't like the feeling like I used to have so much confidence in this now it feels like [I'm] a different person, and so in the strikes, I was like, I want to try again and see if I still love it.' Since then, the Pakistani-born comedian says he's still hungry for both the craft of comedy and the community that gathers to devour it. For all three comedians, though moving into acting has elevated their profile on the small and big screen, stand-up is the art form that makes them feel the most sharp. 'I do find being a stand up comedian as a superpower, stepping onto a set, for sure,' says Cola, who most people know from her role as a series regular in the TV show 'Good Trouble' or in the 2023 raunchy road-trip comedy 'Joy Ride.' 'I think because we're good at crowd work, we have a quickness that not every actor has.' Belly Laughs, happening Saturday to Sunday, offers a buffet of top-tier Asian comedians performing all weekend inside the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live. Nanjiani takes center stage along with Hasan Minhaj, Margaret Cho, Bobby Lee and over 30 of the funniest Asian comedians to perform headlining shows in L.A. at theaters and clubs around the country. Outside the venue on L.A. Live's outdoor plaza, an array of food and activities like mah-jong, karaoke and cooking demonstrations with star chef Tue Nguyen will be available for fest-goers to enjoy throughout the tasty sprawl of Mama's Nightmarket. The idea for Belly Laughs took shape about three years ago when Michelle K. Sugihara, executive director and chief executive of the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (better known as CAPE), joined forces with volunteer festival producer Viv Wang who helped bring on AEG as a venue partner, followed by L.A. outdoor food staple Mama's Nightmarket and event promotions company Nederlander Concerts. For CAPE, the world's longest-running nonprofit creating opportunities for Asian and Pacific Islander artists, actors and storytellers in Hollywood, Belly Laughs is a natural extension of its mission over the last 35 years. 'Food and comedy is really a chance to celebrate our culture with the broader L.A. and Southern California communities, but also it's a celebration of how food comedy culture just brings people together, which is needed now more than ever,' Sugihara said. For Park, who is also performing at Belly Laughs, his transition from music to stand-up comedy and podcasting more than 10 years ago was an effort to find a new way to express himself as he matured and became mildly more responsible. 'I started [rapping at] 14 years old and it had a lot of youthful energy to it. And as I got older, there's a lot of things I wanted to talk about that I didn't want to [express] over beats,' he said. 'I didn't want to share those adult things about my finances and doing taxes. I didn't want to make 'doing taxes rap,' he jokes. Park said his ability to use humor to give back to his community as a longtime resident of L.A.'s Koreatown helps foster more opportunities for Koreans from his neighborhood to see stand-up shows and festivals like Belly Laughs. 'When I was growing up, a lot of Koreans in my neighborhood had never seen a stand-up show,' he said. 'I've thrown a couple of all-Asian stand-up comedy shows in my neighborhood, and a lot of people who come, it was their first stand up show. They don't even go to the Comedy Store, the Laugh Factory — none of that. So [a festival like Belly Laughs] might be their first one.' If that's the case, any newcomers to L.A.'s comedy scene are likely to leave full and happy by the end, as the fest serves up not only amazing food but an inclusive environment to see comedy from an Asian perspective without feeling othered as part of a quota on a comedy lineup or the butt of any scathing racial humor — at least not by non-Asian comedians. 'If anyone's gonna roast my people, it's gonna be me,' Park said with a grin. 'I think there's a little bit of that with us as [Asian] comedians and talking about our own culture. We have to take ownership of that.' Cola concurs, adding that after being the subject of racial jokes for decades, the best way to counteract the sting of the stereotypes is for Asian comedians to write jokes about their cultures that help their communities laugh the hardest—just hopefully not while chewing their food. 'I don't know if it's just society trying to define us and put us in a box, but it's almost like we just recently got permission to laugh at ourselves,' Cola said. 'Because we've been the punch line for years in the media, but now it's like [a chance to] exhale, because this is a safe space. That's kind of what Belly Laughs is giving.'
The Independent
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Asian American, Pacific Islander comics are the main event in an LA comedy and cuisine festival
With the Belly Laughs Festival, an ambitious Asian American and Pacific Islander-centered comedy festival, the food is as important as the talent line-up. Every detail is intended to send a message of unabashed cultural pride. 'It's like we grew up kind of shying away and hiding our Asian-ness,' said Viv Wang, a volunteer festival producer with Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, or CAPE, who helped conceive the idea for the event. 'It just made a lot of sense to have comedy and food — these two ways that people can connect and just celebrate being Asian and having a place to feel cool to be Asian.' For one weekend, Belly Laughs is mounting an unprecedented gathering of 30 AAPI stand-up comics — from headliners to newer scene-stealers — in downtown Los Angeles. There will also be 20 food and beverage vendors set up in the spirit of a Taiwanese night market. The L.A. Live entertainment complex will be a playground where ticketholders can watch marquee names like Kumail Nanjiani and Margaret Cho, while simultaneously enjoying anything from biriyani to boba. With federal immigration crackdowns nationwide, the participating comedians — most hailing from immigrant families — are being thoughtful about striking the right balance of politics and humor. Festival to whet appetites for the funny and food Organizers, including Nederlander Concerts and Gold House, are aiming to draw between 6,000 to 8,000 people over the two-day tentpole event. Tickets are still available. Comedians will be split between two stages. The entertainers lending their star power include several comics-turned-actors like Hasan Minhaj, Bobby Lee, Joel Kim Booster and Sherry Cola. A majority of the talent also identifies as LGBTQ+. It's an impressive statement in an industry that has historically tried to put Asian comedians in boxes and often relegated them to 'ethnic nights' like 'Wonton Wednesdays' or 'Asian Invasion." Asif Ali, one of the stars of the new Hulu series 'Deli Boys,' has never taken part in any AAPI-focused event save an occasional comedy club night or as part of a mainstream festival. But Asian American comics were never the main event for an audience of thousands. So there was no hesitation on Ali's part to join in the festival. 'Just to be a part of something like this was so cool,' said Ali, who performs Sunday. 'To have it be of this scope and in LA and have it tied in with food — which I think is such a slam dunk — is great.' Comedian and writer Hari Kondabolu called it 'our Lollapalooza.' 'Like I don't know if people understand ... I don't know if this will happen every year, if it will happen again. But like this is a pretty cool moment in time to be a part of something like this,' Kondabolu said. MAMA, a community group dedicated to promoting immigrants and their cultures through night markets, is the curator of the event's food stalls. There will be no national restaurant chains. But an array of Asian cultures will be represented — Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean and Chinese among them. 'They're completely different because they're very conscientious and focused on immigrant-owned businesses, first gen businesses,' Wang said. 'All of the food has a story.' Organizers vow festival will not be impacted by feds Putting on a new festival is never easy but the timing of current events has made it a 'helluva year' to do it, said Wang. Los Angeles residents have been on edge since Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids erupted in and around downtown in June. Ensuing protests prompted curfews and event cancellations. On Monday federal officers and the National Guard descended on a mostly empty park in a largely immigrant neighborhood. For those who might be worried about an ICE presence around the festival, organizers plan to 'make sure that people will be kept safe,' said CAPE executive director Michelle Sugihara, noting L.A. Live is private property. It's a good bet that the political turmoil in Los Angeles and beyond will be fodder for the comedians. Ali, who took part in protests last month, doesn't plan to shy away from it. While the federal government's immigration policies are no laughing matter, he sees comedy as a way to keep attention on the issue. 'I think our job as comedians is to remind people that things that are happening are terrible,' Ali said. 'You're not laughing at something happening. You're laughing at sort of the insanity of it all.' Some people may struggle with going out and eating and laughing at a time of conflict around Los Angeles. But festival organizers and comedians insist that having a good time doesn't mean forgetting about the issues. 'Now more than ever, being around people for whatever reason — whether it's to protest, whether it's to help, whether it's to laugh or grieve ... I think it's pretty safe to say it's always better to be in the company of like-minded people,' Ali said. ' People need to feel that they're not alone.' Why having an AAPI-focused festival matters There have been times when Ali felt like an Asian American comic who references his culture even briefly gets branded 'that guy who just talks about being Asian.' Something like Belly Laughs shows how reductive that thinking is, he said. It's also comforting for comedians like him to see how many peers have found success. 'When you are in spaces where you aren't the majority or even a larger-sized minority, I think it's important for people to know that they are normal,' Ali said. 'The effect of festivals like this is that it makes all those comics who feel like that, who feel that pressure — myself included — to look around and to see a whole lineup of people and to watch their sets and listen to their material." The festival is a long overdue celebration of how today's AAPI comics are not dealing with the stereotyping and limits as their predecessors, Sugihara said. The Belly Laughs roster reflects that spectrum. Take Cho, 56, who Asian American comedians consider 'Mother," alongside comedians in their 20s. 'For us, it is about the whole lifecycle of an entertainment career,' Sugihara said. 'That's whether you're emerging or you're a veteran, and all of us can be a community together and help each other.' The hope is that there will be a demand to do this next year as a complement to the biennial Netflix Is A Joke Fest. Sugihara has already heard from people in other states such as Hawaii who want to duplicate Belly Laughs.
