When comedian Jason Shapiro isn’t busy writing, doing stand-up or performing with his improv team, Buttered Up!, he serves the families of Los Feliz, California, through his hyper-liberal, overly-nurturing preschool, Los Feliz Day Care.
Shapiro says the daycare, known for its organic squash gardens, fresh-pressed juices and mandatory meditation times, has gained so much attention in recent months that there have been inquiries about enrollment and on-site visits from parents as far away as Indiana.
The problem? Los Feliz Day Care (LFDC) isn’t real but rather a comedic Twitter feed where Shapiro uses stories he has heard during his time in Hollywood and pokes fun at the real preschools tucked within the prestigious hills of the town.
“I came up with the idea for LFDC while listening to some of the writers I was working with talk about their kids and day care experiences,” said Shapiro. “(Some of the writers) had such funny things to say about experiences with the faculty, kids and families at their day cares. Being someone who loves to write jokes, I thought this would be a really fun area to explore.”
Shapiro says he began tweeting as LFDC about a year ago, but has seen the site gain popularity only recently.
“I like to think of Twitter as a small town in a big city. And Hollywood – the industry – is a lot like that, too. It takes a little bit to meet people.”
And meet people he has. Shapiro, who currently works as script coordinator for the new ABC comedy, Cristela, says he has been overwhelmed by the support of local comedians and celebrities in town, some of whom have even interacted with the Twitter page, retweeting and replying to his funny tweets about life in the made-up day care.
Cristela Alonzo herself recently tweeted to the school, “…let me know if they loved the kale fruit roll-ups I sent. I figured it'd go great after their daily meditation.”
Shapiro says he’s thrilled with the viral success of his Twitter feed, adding that his real end game is to get his jokes in the hands of Hollywood legends like Brad Pitt or John Cryer.
“Everyone has Twitter and everyone has kids. If Brad Pitt or John Cryer followed me on Twitter, that’s only step one. Step two is having them send an email inquiry about sending their kids there. At that point, I could just say, ‘Sorry, I’m not a day care, but did you like the jokes? ‘Cause I’ve got more ideas and I’d like to buy you a steak.’”
As far as his own parenting experience, Shapiro shares that, while he has no kids of his own, he has had plenty of experience as a camp counselor, and fills in the rest of his tweeting repertoire by searching parenting websites and taking in the stories told by his comedic co-workers.
And, while many have called LFCD a parody of certain types of schools, Shapiro says he’s not making fun of any specific educational or parenting philosophy, and is just having fun online.
Shapiro’s advice to parents all consumed with finding a nurturing school environment for their kids?
“Being chill is a virtue,” said the comedian, offering sage advice to the nervous parent in us all.