ABBEY LONDER
The Life of the Stand-Up Party
When Abbey Londer moved to LA in 2009 to pursue a career in stand-up comedy, she quickly fell in love with producing her own shows — which eventually led her to wonder, Why didn’t LA have a comedy festival? She decided to do something about it, crowdsourcing funds on Kickstarter to launch Riot LA, a multi-day comedy festival to celebrate the city’s untapped talent. More than a decade later, the DTLA event is going strong. “I’m proud to say that although it’s grown in size, it still has remained true to its grass-roots, grunge vibe,” Abbey told Do LA. She’s also worked on the largest international comedy fete in the world and is the Chief of Staff for the annual Netflix is a Joke Fest. As a producer, Abbey works to create such a unique environment that her audience members know what they’re experiencing can never be recreated again.
Projects
Produced by Netflix in association with Live Nation, the annual Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival features more than 300 shows — including stand-up sets, Q&As and live readings — across LA. As both festival manager and chief of staff, Abbey oversees everything from product and management to talent relations and overall organization. And damn, does she have the background for it. In 2019, Abbey served as a programmer for Just For Laughs in Montréal (only the largest international comedy festival in the world). In 2012 she founded Riot LA to give Los Angelenos a chance to see incredible comedians in intimate venues they might never normally get the chance to visit. And up next, she’s producing Will Ferrell’s “The Best Night of Your Life” at the Greek Theatre in LA, billed as an amazing night of comedy, music and special surprises under the stars.
