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Andrew Yang Performs Surprise Stand-up Set At Inaugural Asian Comedy And Food Fest
By Romen Basu Borsellino | 14 Jul, 2025
Yang's appearance was just one surprise from this weekend's first annual Belly Laughs Festival
My friends and I were taking bets on who the “Surprise Guest” would be for night one of the inaugural Belly Laughs Comedy and Food Festival in Downtown Los Angeles this past weekend.
We were throwing out names like Vir Das, Jimmy O. Yang, and Ali Wong, any of whom would fit in well with a stacked lineup that included comics Margaret Cho, Kumail Nanjiani, Bobby Lee, Joel Kim Booster, Hasan Minhaj and many more.
One name we didn’t predict, however, was Andrew Yang, famed 2020 Presidential candidate.
When host Derek Mio brought Yang to the stage in between sets by Nimesh Patel and Zarna Garg, I assumed that we were in for the standard political call to action he has delivered thousands of times at this point. Instead, the audience was treated to a full-blown standup set, which featured jokes about politics, the size of his manhood, and Asians being good at math.
None of his material strayed from the standard themes joked about by any comic that night, the difference of course being that the mild-mannered former politico is not known for his comedy.
Yang’s audience of hundreds of mostly Asian attendees seemed to be both excited by the appearance and tickled by some of the unexpected vulgarity. Laugh-wise, reactions were mixed.
According to a VIP attendee with special knowledge of the weekend’s events, the performance was not planned in advance. Yang was already at the event and wanted to take the stage. This wasn’t the first time he has tried his hand at standup. He reportedly performed at Asian Comedy Fest in New York this past spring.
It also turns out that while Yang was *a* surprise guest, he was not *the* surprise guest. That would be famed comic Atsuko Okatsuka who came out just before headliner Hasan Minhaj — whose appearance was billed as “Hasan Minhaj & Friends” — took the stage to introduce several other un-billed comics including Lisa Ling, Imran J. Khan, and Deli Boys star Asif Ali.
On night two of the event, Hasan Minhaj noted that K-pop band Blackpink was performing elsewhere in LA at the same time and jokingly asked the audience why they weren’t at the concert instead.
Minhaj referred to the event as “Asian Coachella” (I would have gone with “Cho-Chella”).
But the performances at the packed Peacock Theater only told half the story. Outside of the air-conditioned hall at LA Live was Mama’s Night Market, consisting of approximately twenty food and drinks stalls with items for purchase. The Mama’s Stage, set in the middle of the courtyard, hosted DJ performances, cooking demos, and more standup.
Attendees chowed down on wontons, sticky rice, biryani, empanadas, wagyu burgers, samosas, and too many more Asian culinary staples to name.
VIP ticket holders were granted access to special food and drink stations which included access to cognac at a fraction of the price that general admission attendees were charged for drinks. The theater’s best seats were also reserved for those with VIP tickets, which were available for purchase at a higher price than GA tickets. Special ticket packages were also available for those wishing to attend both nights.
In the green room below the theater, the performers were treated to meals from Din Tai Fung and cocktails that featured chai from Kolkata Chai Co., a company that Hasan Minhaj invests in. They also left with swag bags of branded merch from Asian supermarket 99 Ranch.
Overall, the event seemed to be a huge success. I'm just waiting for the betting markets to open for next year's surprise guests.
Hasan Minhaj noted that K-pop band Blackpink was performing elsewhere in LA at the same time and jokingly asked the (mostly Asian) audience why they weren’t at the concert instead.
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