JOHN MAYER, DAVE CHAPPELLE set to rock just for laughs
Comedian, singer pair up for only Canadian performance of Controlled Danger show
Amid all manner of swirling rumours regarding its ownership and personnel, Just for Laughs has made its biggest programming announcement so far: comedy icon Dave Chappelle and his musical buddy John Mayer will be bringing their Controlled Danger show to the Bell Centre Saturday, July 28.
The Emmy- and Grammy Award-winning Chappelle and the Grammy Award-winning Mayer have been playing intimate pop-up shows in the U.S. and ended 2017 with a major blowout at the Forum in Los Angeles. Their JFL gig here will mark their one and only stop in Canada to date. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.
It’s probably not a coincidence that Chappelle was enticed to come here, thanks to his close connection to JFL’s very much still-serving chief operating officer Bruce Hills. A report surfacing in La Presse last week incorrectly stated that Hills had been fired.
Chappelle has called Hills the “comedy curator of a generation” and presented him, on behalf of the festival, the Icon Award at last year’s Canadian Screen Awards.
Chappelle and Hills go back nearly 30 years together to a period when the comic had to resort to busking around the U.S. to pay the rent. Hills was the chief JFL programmer in 1991 and was sifting through a box of videos sent to him by aspiring comics. But it was one tape, from 19-year-old Chappelle, that blew him away.
And so Chappelle was to make his festival debut in 1992 at the Uptown Comics show at the old Club Soda. And, no surprise, Chappelle killed.
Chappelle returned to the fest the following year and several more times in the ensuing years. He was to become a superstar shortly thereafter. Apart from several movie roles, he struck gold with the mega-hit Chappelle’s Show on Comedy Central for a few years at the beginning of this millennium, until abruptly retiring from performing.
In 2013, after being largely reclusive for nearly a decade, Chappelle was enticed by former JFL programmer Robbie Praw and Hills to do one show at the fest. But what started with just one performance at Place des Arts soon mushroomed to a few more and, eventually, Chappelle ended up doing 10 shows. He might have done more had the festival not wrapped.
Chappelle returned to JFL in 2015 and once again Praw and Hills initially booked him to do just one show. And once more, he ended up doing 10 shows.
Chappelle’s career is on fire now. He signed a massive deal with Netflix, which has paid him $20 million for each of four specials he has since done for the streaming giant. No doubt helping in that deal is his connection to Praw, who has been handling standup comedy programming for Netflix the last two years.
Chappelle won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2017 for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his appearance on Saturday Night Live. He received a Grammy Award in 2018 for Best Comedy Album for The Age of Spin & Deep in the Heart of Texas.
Unlikely though it may seem, Chappelle — a big karaoke buff — and Mayer have been buddies for 15 years, since the singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer appeared on Chappelle’s Show. Mayer has won seven Grammy Awards for his singles and albums.
Controlled Danger is the second JFL concert to be presented at the Bell Centre. Another festival alumnus, Kevin Hart, brings his latest one-man show to the venue, Friday, July 27.
Also lined up for JFL’s 36th edition are Trevor Noah, Tif-
fany Haddish, Russell Peters, Jo Koy, Jimmy Carr, Nikki Glaser, Maz Jobrani, Robert Kelly, Brad Williams, Ken Jeong, Iliza, Kenya Barris, Maria Bamford, Roy Wood Jr., Melissa Villasenor, Tom Papa, Godfrey, Derek Seguin, Orny Adams and new festival co-owner Howie Mandel.
Of note, Controlled Danger is being presented by Just for Laughs, in partnership with Evenko and Live Nation.
A deal that will see Bell/Evenko purchase 51 per cent of Just for Laughs from its current owners ICM Partners and Mandel is to be finalized shortly. ICM and Mandel had purchased the company in March, for an estimated $65 million, from festival founder Gilbert Rozon, who unloaded his entire stake in the company after allegations of sexual assault and harassment against him surfaced last October.
The reason for the 51 per cent sale from ICM/Mandel to Bell/ Evenko is that majority local ownership of the festival is imperative in order for JFL to continue to receive annual government grants of $10 million. The price for the Bell/Evenko purchase is said to be $33 million.