Everything a Drag Race Fan could Hope For: Just for Laughs presents Canada’s Drag Race Panel
If you are a fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race, then Just for Laughs had show for you! As part of the Just for Laughs 2020 free virtual festival, they presented Canada’s Drag Race panel, a Crave original, moderated by Sabrina Jalees. In the wake of the finale of Canada’s Drag Race, the Canadian version of […]
A Deep Dive into Writing, Comedy, and Performance: Just for Laughs presents Conversations with Funny People featuring Amber Ruffin and Jenny Hagel
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge effect on the arts. The Montreal Fringe Festival was postponed, the Jazz Festival was cancelled, and theatre productions everywhere have been put on hold. The name of the game seems to be “Adapt or Die,” and while Just for Laughs could not have in-person shows, they had […]
DeAnne Smith on Montreal and Keeping the Comedy Community Alive in the Age of COVID
Standup comedy is an art form that particularly relies on live audience interaction. Comics frequently tour the world and perform in front of as many crowds as possible. That’s exactly what DeAnne Smith was doing until COVID-19 hit. “I had just moved to LA in January,” Smith told me in a phone interview, “and spent […]
Comedian and Writer Jenny Hagel Discusses Improv Calamities, Just for Laughs 2020, and Comedy During COVID-19
Comedian and writer Jenny Hagel has good advice for aspiring writers: just write….but also…fake it ‘til you make it. I chatted with Jenny Hagel recently about the writing process, as well as her upcoming appearance at this year’s Just for Laughs comedy festival, which, like most live entertainment events in 2020, will be held online. […]
Andy Kindler Wants to Wish you a Happy Birthday: The Veteran Comedian Set to Play Just for Laughs Online
Stand-up comic Andy Kindler loves Montreal. He loves it so much that he’s even (half?) joking about moving here one day. He loves the rest of Canada too, for that matter. Well, most of the rest of Canada. During my recent chat with him, I got the impression that he was a low-key Canada-phile — […]
Last Week in Canada, Our Minority Parliament Worked the Way It Is Supposed To
Now that the second COVID-19 lockdown has taken effect here in Montreal and people are upset with the Legault Government for its seemingly haphazard approach (no gatherings but schools are still open), I think it’s a good time to take a trip back to last week. Way back when our Federal politicians were responding to […]
COVID-19: Quebec Puts Montreal, Quebec City and Chaudière-Appalaches on Red Alert
Quebec Premier François Legault announced today “with a heavy heart” (as he put it), that the provincial government is placing the Greater Montreal Region (including Laval and the South Shore), the Quebec City region and the Chaudière-Appalaches region on Code Red due to the increase in COVID-19 cases. This takes effect midnight on Wednesday (early […]
The Montreal International Black Film Festival Returns Online and Around the World
For the past decade and a half, the Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF) has had a mission to foster diversity by showcasing Black stories from around the world. This year, in spite of everything that’s happening, and also because of it, MIBFF’s mission will continue. Given the current reality of the Black Lives Matter […]
Pulling Down Statues: Changing History or Starting a Dialogue?
By CHRIS DODD A good many years before John A. Macdonald’s statue was pulled down from its perch in Montreal’s Dominion Square, my high school history class had a debate on the case of Louis Riel. In real life, Riel stood accused of high treason by the government of John A. Macdonald for the ‘crime’ […]
Don’t Put Sir John A. MacDonald Back Where He Was
Last Saturday, Defund the Police protesters, in solidarity with Black Lives Matter marched through the rainy streets of Downtown Montreal. When they arrived in Dominion Square, a group unrelated to the demonstration organization (no one knows who) pulled off something some have tried to do before: they took down the statue of Sir John A. […]
Fantasia 2020: Star of Anything for Jackson Konstantina Mantelos Talks Horror and the Arts During the COVID-19 Pandemic
In spite of indoor public gatherings of up to 250 people being allowed, Montreal’s annual Fantasia Film Festival has opted to go online this year due to COVID-19. The event is described as a “cutting-edge virtual festival, taking place August 20 to September 2, 2020.” Among the festival’s offerings this year is the film Anything […]
Kamala Harris Through Progressive Lenses
Joe Biden officially named Kamala Harris as his running mate in the 2020 US Election on August 11th. Since then, all eyes have understandably been on the California Senator and former Presidential candidate. Biden was leading in the polls prior to the Democratic National Convention, and performed better than expected at the DNC. The former […]