When does Howie Mandel sleep? The 62-year-old comedian just came off his first Just for Laughs comedy festival as part of the new ownership consortium. Besides performing at his own gala, he was, as he put it, representing “white guys” at the annual comedy awards on Saturday. The awards featured a a tremendously diverse group
MONTREAL — Want to make a comedian cry? Give him an award. That seemed to be the case over the weekend at the 36th annual Just for Laughs comedy festival. The industries top comedians were celebrated by their peers in an event that isn’t streamed or televised and — as with the TCA Awards coming
Comedian Mike MacDonald’s death at 62 on March 17 wasn’t totally unexpected. He suffered from serious health problems in recent years, at one point requiring a liver transplant. Still, his passing was decades premature and jolting for me personally because it stirred memories of shared comedy club stages way back in the day. I had the good fortune to catch
I spoke with comedian Mike Birbiglia this past July during the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal. The 39-year-old Massachusetts native was breaking in a show he’ll perform tonight in Toronto as part of JFL42: “The New One.” Birbiglia performs 90-minute monologues that explore aspects of his personal life. This one covers the birth of
MONTREAL — There’s an expression here at Just for Laughs: “Jump-the-liners.” These are folks who — in the minds of many stand-up comedians who have put in their dues in comedy clubs from Saskatchewan to Van Nuys — have had their big comedy break handed to them on a silver platter. One veteran comic I
MONTREAL — People come to the Just for Laughs comedy festival for the laughter and stay for the wisdom. Take Friday night’s all-star awards show, please. The event is held at a hotel built into the side of as mall, which seems about right as presenter Jimmy Carr pointed out. Several of today’s top comics
MONTREAL — “I truly am in an existential crisis. I don’t believe in the character I’m selling. I don’t believe I’m a person anymore.” That statement had a packed, Place des Arts audience leaning forward Thursday night towards the end of an extraordinary, 90-minute show panel at Just for Laughs. The speaker was Jim Carrey, barely
MONTREAL — Things got real Wednesday night at the 35th annual Just for Laughs Comedy Festival with a return engagement 20 years in the making — by Jerry Seinfeld. The stand-up specialist teamed with Gad Elmaleh, a Moroccan-born funnyman who has lived in both Montreal and Paris and brought a french flavour to the duo’s two-hour set. The