The Definitive Guide to Comedy
First things first: The best performances from Wednesday night’s debut New Faces showcases in Montreal came from Taylor Tomlinson, Martin Urbano, Preacher Lawson, Sam Jay and James Austin Johnson. Secondly: The early showcase Wednesday (Group 1) was otherwise solid from top to bottom, despite a lackluster opening by host Sugar Sammy, …
Jen Kirkman comes out singing and swinging in her newest stand-up hour. As Kirkman told the audience Tuesday night during the weeklong run of her new show, “Irrational Thoughts,” at Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival: “I like to come out singing because I feel like the point of performing, for me, …
OK. So I’ve only sat down to podcast with 28 of the comedians performing this week so far as part of the 2017 Just For Laughs festival in Montreal. But that’s a start! Each of these fine, funny folks regales me (and now you) with inspirational stories about how they …
Here they are, they’ve auditioned multiple times, many of them for multiple years, to get here. A coveted spot in Montreal’s “New Faces” at Just For Laughs. What used to just showcase stand-up comedians aiming for the big time from comedy club bookers, casting agents and development deals from the …
Judd Apatow has one of the most impressive comedy resumes of anyone, anywhere. His Apatow Productions has produced and developed the television series Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, Girls, Love and Crashing, he has directed the hit movies The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People, This Is 40 and Trainwreck, and …
The 35th annual Just For Laughs, or Juste Pour Rire (Pour les Français), kicked off on Wednesday in Montreal, and while there may only be a few Americans performing there this weekend (Jessica Kirson, Steve Byrne and Vlad Caamano in The Ethnic Show, hosted by Alonzo Bodden), hundreds of comedians from …
As part of its 35th edition, Just For Laughs Montreal will bestow special awards to Jim Carrey, Trevor Noah, Mike Birbiglia, Ali Wong, Craig Ferguson and Kenya Barris. Generation Award: Jim Carrey Comedy Person of the Year: Trevor Noah (in 2017, he’s released a Netflix special, Afraid of the Dark, and …
Just when you thought you’d never get called to Montreal’s New Faces at Just For Laughs because all of your comedy is on Snapchat and Instagram, and sometimes on YouTube, well, do I have news for you…(and my apologies to “Vine Stars”) Introducing New Faces: Creators. Deep in today’s announcement …
Just For Laughs has begun gearing up for the 35th anniversary of its biggest comedy confab in the world by announcing the initial slate of headliners, Gala hosts and other performers heading to Montreal this July. The biggest ticket? Jerry Seinfeld, in his first JFL Montreal since 1989, co-headlining with …
Dave Chappelle visited Toronto over the weekend to present a special award to Just For Laughs at Sunday’s Canadian Screen Awards, and told the CBC why JFL its flagship Montreal festival holds a special place for him. “I’m one of the few people that came from America to Canada to …
