When thinking outside the box just isn't enough
I’ve been to a few comedy TV tapings in my time including one episode of The Daily Show and a few Just for Laughs galas. JFL All Access was different. It had a real comedy club feel, meaning we, as an audience, were part of the show. In particular a kid who was there with […]
As someone who loves bitingly brutal comedy, I was not sure what to expect when I attended Off JFL’s Boast Rattle. Unlike its more well-known counterpart – the roast battle – in which comedians take turns insulting each other, a boast rattle is in essence a compliment contest. It’s a new concept, and it’s one […]
I am always the big spoon, it doesn’t matter if the person is bigger than me or not, I just seem to fade into that position naturally. This is where the awkward arm comes into play. Most of the time big spoon is by choice, because I am physically bigger than the person, if I […]
A few minutes into Orny Adams’ set at OFF-JFL he jokingly announced that the show would start soon. While it would be a running gag throughout the evening, for me it would end up feeling true. This was my first time seeing Orny perform and I hadn’t checked out any of his videos online prior […]
Sasheer Zamata is a former SNL star who’s gone solo. If her performance last night is any indication, this is a rising star worth watching. Opening for Zamata was Australian comedian Matt Okine. His act had a lot of potential… Unfortunately he spent the first third of it making jokes about potatoes. Yes, potatoes. He […]
Panelists Tanu Oberoi and Laurence Tenenbaum discuss Mont;real’s 375th birthday celebrations and Guns n’ Roses returning to our city with host Jason C. McLean. Plus News Roundup, Community Calendar and Predictions! News Roundup Topics: Sean Spicer resigns, new Governor General and the death of Chester Bennington of Linkin Park Panelists: Tanu Oberoi: Web designer, musician […]
There aren’t a lot of things you can reasonably expect to be shocked by at the Just For Laughs festival. Featuring long-running shows with names like The Ethnic Show and The Nasty Show, if there was some way that you wandered into a comedy fest and did not know what you were getting yourself into, […]
I think there’s a chance Jen Kirkman may read this review. She did, after all, make reviews a topic of discussion in the informal preamble she had with the audience before launching into her performance of Irrational Thoughts at OFF-JFL. I say performance rather than set because, as Kirkman warned us, it wasn’t a standup […]
As one of the most-loved, longest-running shows at Just For Laughs, every edition of The Nasty Show comes with bigger shoes to fill. Not one to shy away from expectations, host Ari Shaffir opened the show—featuring Robert Kelly, Jimmy Carr, Yamaneika Saunders, Godfrey and Big Jay Oakerson — with a bible story, an intriguing, attention […]
Comedian and writer Wyatt Cenac has performed standup in a variety of venues over the years, some big, some small, some rather unique. But does the type of venue affect his performance? “It’s not the type of venue as much as the type of crowd,” he said in a telephone interview, “that’s the wild card. […]
For the past seven years local cartoonist Samantha Leriche-Gionet has attended the Montreal Comic Convention with copies of her autobiographical comic strip, Boumeries, in hand. The graduate of Concordia University’s Film Animation department has made a career for herself chronicling the ups, downs and in-betweens of daily life by finding humor in everything from raising […]
I am the type of person that has a lot of irrational fear. I am afraid of things going too fast, I am afraid of letting go. I don’t know if I have ever really had an orgasm or truly allowed myself to be vulnerable. I am a loner desperately trying to love life and […]
Jessica Kirson is a comedian all can admire. She’s funny, she’s fearless and she has a versatility few comedians have, shifting seamlessly from social commentary to hilarious impressions. She has the kind of energy most can only match after several cups of caffeine, and though she’s been through her share of struggles, Kirson has managed […]
This won’t me Moshe Kasher’s first visit to Montreal, or to Just for Laughs. The comedian, writer and actor has been performing regularly here since his first appearance at the fest in 2009. “I love Montreal,” he stated in a telephone interview, “this will be my fifth or sixth time coming to Montreal, so I […]
The Ethnic Show is described by Just for Laughs as “a cultural melting pot for comedy”. This year is its ninth edition and comedians from a variety of backgrounds are here to show their comedic mettle. Some are well-known, some less so, but one thing is for certain, you’re guaranteed a good time even if […]
The sixth mass extinction will hit harder than expected, according to a collaborative study between Stanford and the University of Mexico. 32% of all vertebrate species are steadily decreasing, even if one third of them classify as low concern species. We already knew that animals and plants are going extinct 100 to 1 000 times […]
