A boss gig for Mandel
The new Just for Laughs co-owner will be a gala host for the fourth year running. Fellow festival veteran Russell Peters and Hangover star Ken Jeong are among the other additions to the lineup, Bill Brownstein writes.
Ownership has its privileges: Howie Mandel, the new co-owner of Just for Laughs, will make his fourth consecutive turn as a gala host at the festival this summer.
On Wednesday Just for Laughs unveiled much of the lineup for its 36th edition, running July 11 to 29. Apart from Mandel, Russell Peters, another perennially popular fest performer, will be returning as well. Also joining the fray will be David Cross, Ken Jeong, Iliza, Kenya Barris, Maria Bamford and Roy Wood Jr.
It had been previously announced that Kevin Hart, Trevor Noah, Tiffany Haddish, Jo Koy, Jimmy Carr, Nikki Glaser, Orny Adams, Maz Jobrani, Robert Kelly, Brad Williams and hometown fave Derek Seguin will be shaking it up.
Two months ago, Mandel hooked up with U.S. entertainment juggernaut ICM Partners to purchase the Just for Laughs Group/Groupe Juste pour rire, after allegations of sexual assault and harassment against festival founder Gilbert Rozon surfaced in October. But Mandel, the America’s Got Talent judge who has performed at the festival more than a dozen times, will don his clown cap to host the Howie Mandel All-Star Comedy Gala, July 26 at 6:30 p.m. at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts.
Following Mandel the same night, the ever droll and incomparable Jeong will host a gala at 9:45 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.
The real-life doctor just about stole the show in The Hangover.
Few comics are more popular in these parts, and pretty much all over the planet, than Peters. After taking a brief hiatus to shoot his hit TV series The Indian Detective, he’s back on the road and will bring his latest solo spectacle, the Deported World Tour, to Maison symphonique, July 26 and 27 at 7 p.m.
Pretty much guaranteed to let very loose is standup vet David Cross (Arrested Development, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), who performs his new solo offering Oh Come On July 25 at 7 p.m. at the Olympia. Not to be outdone is the artist now known simply as Iliza (formerly Iliza Shlesinger) — author of Girl Logic: The Genius and the Absurdity — who brings her solo adventure Iliza: Elder Millennial to the Olympia July 27 at 9:30 p.m.
The irrepressible Bamford (Lady Dynamite) is in a standup world all her own, and performs July 27 at 7 p.m. at MTelus. In a similarly twisted vein, outrageous Canuck cut-up Tom Green returns with a solo piece July 25 at 9:30 p.m. at Maison Théâtre.
Don’t know much about Irish wit Dylan Moran, but anyone who has been hailed as “the Oscar Wilde of comedy ” (London Evening News) and “the greatest comedian, living or dead” (Le Monde) merits some attention. And how’s this for a show title: Dylan Moran — Grumbling Mustard. It plays July 26 and 27 at 7 p.m. at Maison Théâtre.
Don’t know much about Aussie Hannah Gadsby either, but we do know her show Nanette took top honours at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, was named best comedy show at the Edinburgh Fringe fest and enjoyed sold-out runs in London and New York. Gadsby does Nanette for the last time, July 26 at 9:30 p.m. at Maison Théâtre.
We know much more about Wood Jr., host of Comedy Central’s This Is Not Happening and correspondent on the Daily Show. Count on him to expound on matters most political and social, July 27 at 9:30 p.m. at Cinquième Salle of Place des Arts.
The Benson Interruption is an appropriate title for Doug Benson’s show July 26 at 9:30 p.m. at Cinquième Salle.
Benson brings guests onstage to do standup, then interrupts them when the mood strikes.
This year’s festival marks the 20th anniversary of Just for Laughs’ Homegrown Comics series. Letterkenny star and Canadian standup vet K. Trevor Wilson hosts the show, featuring the best, brightest and funniest from around the country, July 28 at 9 p.m. at L’Astral.
Check out up-and-comers from all over in Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch, July 27 at 9:30 p.m. at Monument-National’s Salle Ludger-Duvernay.
The ever-popular Brit(ish) Show is back July 25 and 27 at 7 p.m. at Maison Théâtre. Nish Kumar hosts, and the Brit wits include Paul Chowdhry, Joel Dommett, Sarah Pascoe, Ed Gamble and Lauren Pattison.
New Faces: Creators, focusing on digital-content innovators, returns July 26 at 12:30 p.m. in the Grand Salon Opera at the Hyatt Regency. Host is trivia buff Scott Rogowsky. This show is not to be confused with New Faces: Showcases, July 25 at 7 and 9:30 p.m., New Faces: Characters, July 26 at 7 p.m. and New Faces: Unrepped, July 26 at 9:30 p.m., all at Salle Ludger-Duvernay.
Mayhem happens in more than 60 Off-JFL and Zoofest shows. Among the comics appearing in intimate venues will be Saturday Night Live trouper Melissa Villasenor, 30 Rock alum Judah Friedlander, hometown sensation Mike Ward, the wondrous Tom Papa, the frenetic Godfrey, the cerebral Todd Glass, Gary Gulman, Big Jay Oakerson, Sabrina Jalees, Neal Brennan and the always dependable Andy Kindler.
Then there are the podcasts — including a couple with Robert Kelly and Brad Williams — and conferences too numerous to mention.
On the franco side, Juste pour rire will present four galas, hosted by Laurent Paquin, Jérémy Demay, Les Denis Drolet and Pier-Luc Funk. There will also be 10 events showcasing the likes of Jean-Marc Parent, Paquin, Sèxe Illégal, Demay, Ward, Korine Côté, Philippe-Audrey Larrue-St-Jacques, Neev, Daniel Grenier and Didier Lambert.
Regardless of the debut of Le Grand Montréal comédie fest, slated to run July 1 to 15, it appears that Ward and others have no qualms about doing both events.
“The more comedy festivals there are, the better it is for people like me,” Ward told me in March, adding that Rozon’s departure “changes everything ” with regards to performing at Juste pour rire.