{"id":66171,"date":"2025-07-15T00:27:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T00:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/66171\/"},"modified":"2025-07-15T00:27:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T00:27:18","slug":"belly-laughs-fest-closes-out-weekend-event-with-tasty-food-and-big-laughs-daily-breeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/66171\/","title":{"rendered":"Belly Laughs Fest closes out weekend event with tasty food and big laughs \u2013 Daily Breeze"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynews.com\/2025\/03\/28\/belly-laughs-comedy-food-festival-will-showcase-asian-comics-and-cuisine-in-july\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Belly Laughs Comedy &amp; Food Festival<\/a> concluded its inaugural two-day event with a love letter of tasty food and laughter addressed to the Asian and Pacific Islander diaspora.<\/p>\n<p>The event featured over 30 Asian American comedians, including prominent stars such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynews.com\/2017\/04\/11\/daily-show-comedian-hasan-minhaj-to-host-trump-less-white-house-correspondents-dinner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Hasan Minhaj<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynews.com\/2016\/04\/23\/with-season-three-silicon-valley-remains-state-of-the-art-comedy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Kumail Nanjiani<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynews.com\/2025\/07\/02\/margaret-cho-talks-asian-representation-ahead-of-belly-laughs-festival\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> Margaret Cho<\/a>, who headlined along with other up-and-coming comics. To add to the celebration, the event also included some of the best Asian restaurants around Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>The food lineup could have easily been a festival of its own, with restaurants featuring the best of their take on their home country\u2019s dishes and other fusions. Asia boasts 48 diverse countries, each with its unique cuisine, and some of that food and culture have been thriving in Los Angeles, making the Asian food and comedy festival the perfect pairing for the eateries to shine. Guests had the opportunity to taste the flavors of Vietnam, India, Laos, Pakistan, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and more.<\/p>\n<p>All of the festival\u2019s food was set up and sold at the Chick Hearn Plaza, which was officially opened in May, effectively expanding the L.A. Live campus, connecting Crypto.com Arena and Star Plaza to Peacock Place, Peacock Theater and the rest of L.A. Live\u2019s restaurants and entertainment venues.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"mng-gallery-initialized mng-gallery-slider\">\n<li data-index=\"1\" class=\"mng-ge mng-gallery-active\" id=\"mng-ge-0\" aria-hidden=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\"><img alt=\"The Riviera Seafood Club performed a tuna cutting live on...\" class=\"size-article_inline\"  \/>\n<p>The Riviera Seafood Club performed a tuna cutting live on July 12 and 13 at The Belly Laughs Comedy and Food Festival in Los Angeles. (Photo by Bailey Holiver\/L.A. LIVE\/Bernstein Associates, Inc.)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"2\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Comedian Margaret Cho performs onstage at the Peacock Theater at...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-BELLYLAUGH-0718-09.jpg\" \/>\n<p>Comedian Margaret Cho performs onstage at the Peacock Theater at The Belly Laughs Comedy and Food Festival in Los Angeles on Sunday, July 13. (Photo by Bailey Holiver\/L.A. LIVE\/Bernstein Associates, Inc.)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"3\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-2\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Crowds gather to watch comedy performances and cooking demos on...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-BELLYLAUGH-0718-06.jpg\" \/>\n<p>Crowds gather to watch comedy performances and cooking demos on the Mama Stage at the Belly Laughs Comedy &amp; Food Festival in Los Angeles. (Photo by Bailey Holiver\/L.A. LIVE\/Bernstein Associates, Inc.)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"4\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-3\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Kuramoto Shavery was among the eateries with a pop-up at...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-BELLYLAUGH-0718-05.jpg\" \/>\n<p>Kuramoto Shavery was among the eateries with a pop-up at the Belly Laughs Comedy &amp; Food Festival in Los Angeles. (Photo by Bailey Holiver\/L.A. LIVE\/Bernstein Associates, Inc.)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"5\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-4\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Comedian Bobby Lee performs onstage at the Peacock Theater at...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-BELLYLAUGH-0718-10.jpg\" \/>\n<p>Comedian Bobby Lee performs onstage at the Peacock Theater at The Belly Laughs Comedy and Food Festival in Los Angeles on Sunday, July 13. (Photo by Bailey Holiver\/L.A. LIVE\/Bernstein Associates, Inc.)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"6\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Attendees of the Belly Laughs Comedy &amp; Food Festival in...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-BELLYLAUGH-0718-07.jpg\" \/>\n<p>Attendees of the Belly Laughs Comedy &amp; Food Festival in Los Angeles line up to order food from several vendors on Saturday, July 12. (Photo by Bailey Holiver\/L.A. LIVE\/Bernstein Associates, Inc.)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"7\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-6\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Chef Tu\u1ec7 Nguy\u1ec5n showcased a live cooking demonstration of her...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-BELLYLAUGH-0718-01.jpg\" \/>\n<p>Chef Tu\u1ec7 Nguy\u1ec5n showcased a live cooking demonstration of her Vietnamese tiramisu on July 12 and 13 at The Belly Laughs Comedy and Food Festival in Los Angeles. (Photo by Bailey Holiver\/L.A. LIVE\/Bernstein Associates, Inc.)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"8\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-7\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Bopomofo Cafe was among the eateries with a pop-up at...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-BELLYLAUGH-0718-08.jpg\" \/>\n<p>Bopomofo Cafe was among the eateries with a pop-up at the Belly Laughs Comedy &amp; Food Festival in Los Angeles. (Photo by Bailey Holiver\/L.A. LIVE\/Bernstein Associates, Inc.)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"9\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-8\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Comedian Hasan Minhaj performs onstage at the Peacock Theater at...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-BELLYLAUGH-0718-03.jpg\" \/>\n<p>Comedian Hasan Minhaj performs onstage at the Peacock Theater at The Belly Laughs Comedy and Food Festival in Los Angeles on Sunday, July 13. (Photo by Bailey Holiver\/L.A. LIVE\/Bernstein Associates, Inc.)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"10\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-9\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Comedian Hasan Minhaj performs onstage at the Peacock Theater at...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-BELLYLAUGH-0718-04-1.jpg\" \/>\n<p>Comedian Hasan Minhaj performs onstage at the Peacock Theater at The Belly Laughs Comedy and Food Festival in Los Angeles on Sunday, July 13. (Photo by Bailey Holiver\/L.A. LIVE\/Bernstein Associates, Inc.)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Show Caption<\/p>\n<p>1 of 10<\/p>\n<p>The Riviera Seafood Club performed a tuna cutting live on July 12 and 13 at The Belly Laughs Comedy and Food Festival in Los Angeles. (Photo by Bailey Holiver\/L.A. LIVE\/Bernstein Associates, Inc.)\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\" class=\"icon-enlarge mng-gallery-fullscreen-expand\" aria-label=\"Expand fullscreen slideshow\">Expand<\/a><\/p>\n<p>While the food vendor grills were hot, so was the weather, but it wasn\u2019t record-breaking, and it certainly wasn\u2019t enough to spoil anyone\u2019s good time. People kept cool with fans and other refreshing beverages like the Guava passion fruit lemonades, boba milk teas and iced coffees.<\/p>\n<p>One of the benefits of hosting the event at the Chick Hern Plaza and the Peacock Theater was that it provided the crowds a choice to go inside the theater to cool off in the air conditioning and watch comedians, or find a shaded table to enjoy the summer breeze with more stand-up comedy and food.<\/p>\n<p>While people ordered food, comedians performed at the Gold Stage House Stage inside of Peacock Theater and the Mama and Karaoke Stages in front of Peacock Plaza. Filipino-American comedian Andrew Orolfo hosted the Mama Stage, where he cracked jokes and kept the crowd hyped between performers, gathering crowds siphoned from the food vendor lines around the stage.<\/p>\n<p>Jenny Yang was one of the first afternoon performers at the Mama Stage, where she called to action Asian Americans to be more politically active and jokingly vowed that in solidarity with Latin communities facing ICE deportations, she plans to become \u201cthe most Chinese-Taiwanese-Mexican person\u201d before breaking off into a full Spanish monologue and revealing she\u2019d spent two years learning Spanish.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI moved from Taiwan, to Rosemead, to Hawthorne and grew up in Torrance,\u201d she said to a cheering crowd. \u201cIf you went to school in Southern California, you grew up just a little bit Mexican.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the stand-up comedy, the Mama Stage also incorporated a cooking demo by<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynews.com\/2025\/07\/03\/chef-tue-nguyen-will-bring-vietnamese-flavors-to-belly-laughs-festival-in-l-a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> Chef Tu\u1ec7 Nguy\u1ec5n<\/a>, who showed the crowd how to make Vietnamese tiramisu in under 30 minutes. Nguy\u1ec5n\u2019s down-to-earth and at times funny demonstration spotlighted the chef\u2019s personality, making it all entertaining and educational.<\/p>\n<p>She got her signature tiramisu done with seven minutes to spare and encouraged everyone who watched to try it at her booth and to cook at home. For those who got a taste, it was a decadent dessert with the first layer made with Biscoff cookies along with a complementary pasteurized egg batter topped with cinnamon.<\/p>\n<p>Other activities on the Mama Stage included the Bibigo x Lakers eating contest, where a woman from the crowd competed against comedian Joe Wong for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynews.com\/sports\/nba\/lakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Lakers<\/a> memorabilia and a gift card. Both contestants had to eat a dumpling and shoot a toy basketball into a small hoop from behind a line and their seat. There was also a live tuna cutting presented by Bluefina where the Riviera Seafood Club showed the crowd how to cut the fish.<\/p>\n<p>Over at the Karaoke Stage, comedians such as Ismael Loutfi also gathered crowds, but by the evening, festivalgoers stepped up to the stage\u2019s microphone to sing their hearts out to jams such as 2Pac\u2019s \u201cChanges.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The festival also featured a few booths selling merch, including the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ocregister.com\/2024\/08\/12\/status-update-99-ranch-market-opens-in-tustin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> 99 Ranch Market<\/a>, which specializes in Asian groceries. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asiansneverdie.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Asians Never Die<\/a>, a shop specializing in apparel, stickers, and pins that focuses on Asian culture, was also present with a booth.<\/p>\n<p>Rohit Gijare of Los Angeles said that the representation of Asian culture being at the center of a festival of this caliber means a lot to him and others in his community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrowing up, we didn\u2019t see events like this at this scale, and having Asian and Indian culture all in one place in the heart of Los Angeles is very cool to see come to life and be a part of,\u201d he said. \u201cHopefully it\u2019s something we keep seeing more of.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By the end of the evening, most comedy fans were inside the Peacock Theater, watching comedian Derek Mio host the Gold Stage and introduce Hari Kondabolu, Joel Kim Booster, Asif Ali, and the remaining headliners of the festival.<\/p>\n<p>Whether the comedians were South Asian, East Asian or Pacific Islander, one of the underlying themes of the jokes told to the predominantly Asian audience was centered on the comedians\u2019 identities.<\/p>\n<p>Kondabolu focused on his Indian-American culture, sharing his delight at watching Britain (which colonized India) struggle with Meghan Markle and Brexit. Cho joked about her bangs being \u201ctoo Chinese\u201d and how her family appreciated the success of comedian Whitney Cummings more than hers. Bobby Lee followed with jokes about being raised with Korean parents, including funny anecdotes about his father not fully understanding the \u201cpull my finger\u201d bit and hearing his father tell Korean war stories as bedtime stories.<\/p>\n<p>Minhaj was the final act, but before he performed, he brought a few of his friends and fellow comedians Biniam Bizuneh and Nimesh Patel, who each performed a mini-set before Minhaj took the stage. His set also focused on cultural issues and the Asian diaspora\u2019s experience growing up in America.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has been an absolute joy being able to headline Asian Coachella,\u201d he joked. \u201cWhat a way to bring it home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Originally Published: July 14, 2025 at 4:22 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Belly Laughs Comedy &amp; Food Festival concluded its inaugural two-day event with a love letter of tasty&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":66172,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,1144,2961,224,6080,5337,1072],"class_list":{"0":"post-66171","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-comedy","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-los-angeles-county","14":"tag-losangeles","15":"tag-things-to-do"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114854418454418285","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}