Some of LA’s most popular comedians — and Academy Award-winning actor Jane Fonda — will perform at a show in Westlake this Saturday to raise money for families impacted by immigration enforcement.
The comedy fundraiser “Brave of Us: How to Ridicule a Ruler” will take place at the Dynasty Typewriter and features Sasheer Zamata, Jenny Yang, Aparna Nancherla and Zainab Johnson, along with special guest Fonda.
Proceeds from the event will benefit immigrant rights groups, including Comunidades Indígenas en Liderazgo, Haitian Bridge Alliance and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.
This event comes after months of ICE enforcement actions that have led to more than 10,000 people in LA being detained as of December, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The raids have had a chilling effect on LA’s immigrant communities, according to Yang who grew up in Los Angeles.
“Other than the fact that I am an immigrant from Taiwan, I just think it’s really important for us to show support in whatever way that we can— to say that we care about immigrants and that they shouldn’t be demonized, much less arrested and tortured and disappeared,” Yang told The LA Local.
According to “Saturday Night Live” alum Zamata, who co-created the event, comedy has historically been used in scary moments, like the ones immigrants are facing today.
“Stand-up is such a pure art form, where a person can create space to connect with an audience,” Zamata told LA Local. “And it’s important to have somebody either break down what’s happening that confuses us or angers us in a funny lens that makes us kind of understand it better.”
The event was also created by political strategist Anat Shenker-Osorio in collaboration with Brave of Us, a coalition of 30 organizations across the country that tackle various political topics related to race, gender and freedoms.
“The notion that standing up to this regime, whether you were born in the US or very much outside of it, is courageous,” Shenker-Osorio told The LA Local. “The idea is, we are gathering in Los Angeles to ridicule the ruler — to show, not tell — that we are brave.”
Tickets, ranging from $50 to to $250, are available for purchase online. Organizers and activists can also purchase tickets at a discounted rate. Ticket purchases also come with a link to the live-streamed event.
Here’s a flyer for the event:
