Best Fish Tacos Anyone? L.A.’s DIY Alt. Comedy Mecca To Celebrate 15 Years Of Stand-Up, Tacos & Community

When Jeremy Burke first arrived in Hollywood in 2006 from Rochester, New York, he was a fresh-faced, ambitious 21-year-old kid with a desire to break into the music business.

After working for six years as a merch guy and road manager for Warped Tour bands like Never Shout Never, Burke decided to try his hand at comedy, taking improv and sketch writing classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade while interning at a social media company.

In 2011, Burke posted a parody of Kreayshawn’s “Gucci Gucci” video online and achieved some viral success, replacing the original’s designer clothing with tacos as a way of promoting his favorite Baja-styled stand in his Los Feliz neighborhood, Best Fish Taco in Ensenada on Hillhurst Avenue. He then convinced owner Joseph Cordova to let him book free comedy shows on the outdoor patio under its shaded palapa, a thatched palm overhang.

Comedy Night at Best Fish Taco in Ensenada is still going strong — admission remains free — and is set to return for its 15th year in April, with its regular schedule on the first and third Tuesday of each month. An audience from 60-100 shows up, with the overflow filling into the streets, creating a real community vibe. And while the lineup leans towards up-and-comers and alternative comedy, over the years, known comics like Patton Oswalt, Maria Bamford, Hannibal Burress and, more recently, Bill Burr, have been known to stop by to try out new material in front of an audience.

“It’s been a really awesome run,” acknowledged Burke. “I remember maybe it was our second show, Demetri Martin just happened to be walking outside and asked if he could come in and do a set. There’s something about the atmosphere here. It’s very punk-rock, and that was what I wanted to create, the intersection of comedy and music, because that was my background.”

Burke’s original plan for Loud Village, his current event promotion company, was to take his friends from the music world and have them star in low-budget YouTube comedy videos.

“Best Fish Taco was a great place to eat and drink cheaply, and I was making next to nothing at the time, so I’d be there all the time,” he recalled. “I pitched Joseph on doing his social media and using the restaurant to film videos like the one we did for ‘Gucci Gucci.’ And people started to come in after that, so he asked me what else I wanted to do.”

Burke started promoting Comedy Night there as a way of finding performers to appear in his sketches, but Best Fish Taco soon became a destination for comics and fans alike.

“I knew I had a bunch of friends I could get to show up,” he explained. “I cold e-mailed comics and organized the first night’s lineup and it just took off from there. One of the comics I booked gave me their contact list and I never looked back. I fell into that alternative comedy world, and it really coincided with the punk music scene. There’s a real DIY quality to it.”

Burke stresses his shows differ from the regular comedy clubs in that “they’re not intimidating, you don’t have a two-drink minimum, it’s not stuffy. Those shows have kind of a gated atmosphere… On the other hand, to have a free, BYOB night where you can show up when you want, leave when you want. Hang out on the sidewalk if you want. This was a new paradigm for seeing comedy. I helped facilitate this scene, a community that leaned more on the social side, to make it more accessible, more real. This is not your typical comedy crowd.”

Burke’s Loud Village has also expanded into co-promoting the annual “50 First Jokes,” which recently took place at L.A.’s Regent Theater, where 50 comics, including Reggie Watts and Nick Rutherford, tell their first joke of the year. The company’s biggest moneymaker remains Electric Feels, “an indie DJ dance party” that Burke launched in 2018 and is currently on a 28-city national tour at venues like Cleveland’s House of Blues, San Diego’s Observatory, Los Angeles’ Echoplex and Las Vegas’ Area 15, among others. Loud Village has also promoted comedy events at the Hollywood Improv and SXSW in Austin.

The Best Fish Taco shows will resume the first Tuesday in April and will culminate in a gala 15th anniversary bash in December. Burke still curates the lineup, which is part of the reason he keeps doing it, to discover new talent and create a fun, economical place for people to see it.

“There aren’t too many things you can do in L.A. that are free,” said Burke. “You can walk a couple of blocks to the Cap ‘N Cork [liquor store], grab some beer, eat some tacos and see some comedy… You can spend $20 on a date and have a great time. Where else can you find that kind of bargain? For the love of this city, we just have to keep it going.”