Jon Stewart Had A Star-Studded Group Join Him For Netflix Is A Joke Festival

This year has marked an interesting year for Jon Stewart. After leaving The Daily Show in 2015, he’s gone onto do a number of other things. But 2024 was the year he made his surprising return to the desk on Comedy Central, which he’ll do every Monday night until the election. Despite returning to his stomping grounds, Stewart is also not turning his back on stand-up.

Stewart culminated an impressive lineup of comedy friends for Netflix Is A Joke Festival. The show took over the Greek Theatre Friday night, which is a 6,000 seat outdoor venue with a pretty stunning view illuminated behind the stage. Things kicked off with the host of the show, Ricky Velez. In his set, he talks about having a Jewish wife, a friend who has four dads - which is “one dad away from an Ocean’s 11 movie” - being a 90’s kid, dodgeball, and Joe Biden.

Following Velez was a revolving door of familiar faces. Next up was Josh Johnson, the newest correspondent to The Daily Show roster. As he stepped onstage, he was immediately taken aback by the scope of the surroundings, saying “Not every show is like this.” He talked about staying in a hotel with friends, companies pretending to be your friend, and deconstructing KFC.

Mike Birbiglia was the next comic to the stage. We had just seen Birbiglia at Moontower in Austin a few weeks ago, but we were still excited to see him again nonetheless. His set here consisted of imagining his daughter as a 15 year-old, his daughter doing ballet, and his marriage. Despite having seen Birbiglia a few weeks prior, there were a number of jokes that were new to us!

Sarah Silverman was the next comedian brought out. Silverman kept her set relatively brief, and she disclosed that she’s in the process of starting over after taping her special last year. She tried a few new things she’s working on out on us, that included topics like what it’s like to be on tour, a fly sketch she wrote for Phil Hartman on SNL, and targeted ads. Silverman then brought up a musical act, Gary Clark Jr. He did four songs, including When the Sun Goes Down and Move in the Same Direction. It was a fun way to break up the comedy, and a special treat to see him play a mini-concert!

Velez came back into the stage to welcome Stewart. Instead, we saw Jimmy Kimmel walk out unplanned, carrying a stool. He stayed for just a minute, but talked about what it’s like to visit Stewart’s home - he makes Kimmel sit on his Emmy’s. Kimmel did wonder what Netflix is getting out of this festival. “This is six thousand people not at home watching Netflix.”

Finally, Stewart took the stage. His hair much whiter than when he left The Daily Show and now with a beard, he addressed his look right off the bat, saying “This is what I look like now.” He was a bit thrown off when he’d look over and see a shot of his face on the giant TV. Honestly, that’d be uncomfortable for anyone, no matter how famous or accomplished you might be. 

He used this as a launching off point into his set, where he talked about how aging is a humbling process, how he tore his rotator cuff, and having to use his reading glasses to jerk off. Anyone coming to see Jon Stewart would most likely be expecting him to weigh in on politics, particularly in an election year. He did not disappoint, certainly. He talked about the presidential candidates, a “dehydrated” Mitch McConnell, and voters flipping from Obama to Trump.

He also discussed other issues, including anti-semitism, issues with the anti-woke, and a very funny bit about buying an AR-15 to test gun restrictions. He also talked about his personal life a bit, including getting texts from his son to make him a bagel and being Jewish/Catholic parents.

There was lot of new material that Stewart unveiled at the show, which out of respect for spoilers, we’re not going to delve into here. What we will say is that anyone seeing Stewart isn’t going to leave the show disappointed. He put on a memorable evening of comedy that cannot be missed.

For more information on Netflix is a Joke Festival, click here!