SEINFELD AT JUST FOR LAUGHS
Bell Centre show with Gad Elmaleh
The 35th Just for Laughs festival runs from July 12 to 31 at various venues. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. For reservations and schedule information, go to hahaha.com or call 514-845-2322.
It’s only fitting that the biggest comedy festival in the world lands the world’s biggest name in anglo standup and biggest name in franco standup for its 35th edition. Not only has Just for Laughs conscripted Jerry Seinfeld and Gad Elmaleh, the festival announced Wednesday that it will also have the two wits sharing the stage for the first time as co-headliners on July 26 at the Bell Centre.
This will mark Seinfeld’s first return to JFL — he has appeared in Montreal numerous times outside the fest — since the thenunknown cut-up put the comedy world on notice at the 1989 festival. Elmaleh did a sold-out week-long gig in English at last year’s JFL. The two, who happen to be close buddies, will be spewing their one-liners en anglais at the Bell Centre spectacle.
And on the subject of superstars, Sugar Sammy, considered by many to be the biggest vedette in English and French in the province, will be taking leave from his ongoing stint in France and a coming club tour of the U.S. to host Sugar Sammy’s International Gala, featuring an array of standups from around the planet, on July 28 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier in Place des Arts. A highlight of last year’s JFL was Sugar Sammy capping off his hit You’re Gonna Rire run with one last performance in front of an outdoor crowd of 115,000 at the Quartier des spectacles.
On the subject of superstars, Kevin Hart, who keeps crushing it at the box office with his films and solo concerts, will be back, but in a non-performing capacity. Hart’s Laugh Out Loud Network and Just For Laughs have teamed up to track down the funniest short films from the U.S. and Canada. The best of the bunch will be screened July 27 at 7 p.m. at the Imperial Theatre, where Hart will also present a development deal to the winning director, followed by a Q&A. Now if JFL could only entice Hart to perform.
Also heading back to JFL this year is Daily Show anchor and bestselling author Trevor Noah, who will bring his standup act to Maison symphonique for two performances on July 28. In addition, JFL ComedyPro will feature a chat with Noah on July 29 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Judd Apatow, the director of such smash film comedies as The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Trainwreck, will be returning to his standup roots. Apatow will be recording his new show for Netflix over four live performances, July 28 and 29 at Cinquième Salle at Place des Arts.
Coming back to JFL is reigning Canadian satirist superstar Rick Mercer — who absolutely killed as a gala host years back — to get down and skeptical and to take the reins of another gala, July 27 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.
Count on Saturday Night Live alumnus David Spade to bring a satirical spin to political events when he hosts, for the first time, a gala on July 26. And count on more fireworks when Laverne Cox, the Emmy Award nominee and star of Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, takes to the stage to host a gala on July 29.
And what would the fest be without serial visitor Howie Mandel, who returns as master of ceremonies for a July 29 gala, which will again be filmed for a CW Network special.
Additional gala hosts will be announced in the coming weeks. But as is almost always the case, there is so much more to the fest than the galas.
Where to begin? How about Emmy Award-winning writer and standup John Mulaney and Netflix star Ali Wong? Or the equally brilliant and edgy Jim Norton and Moshe Kasher? Or the incomparable Chris D’Elia and the ever-unpredictable Tom Segura? Or the up-and-coming Natasha Leggero and master babbler Mike Birbiglia, bringing his latest Broadway-bound show The New One to the Gesù? Or the fast-talking Jimmy Carr and the ever-wise Robert Kelly at the Nasty Show series?
Then there are Maz Jobrani, Jessica Kirson and Vlad Caamano breaking down cultural barriers at the Ethnic Show series. And on a similar vein, Elon Gold is back with his latest solo show, ProSemite.
And, as always, there are Brits galore — Gina Yashere, Aisling Bea, Joe Lycett, James Acaster, Seann Walsh and the fab Sarah Millican — coming together to smooth the comic transition from Brexit.
Also worth checking out is a conversation with actor-creator Danny McBride and his fellow cast members from the HBO hit series Vice Principals.
And what would a comedy festival be without a little rassling? On that note, say hey to The Fighter & The Kid: Live (July 27 at Maison Théâtre), featuring UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub and his sacrificial lamb, the Hangover series actor and comic Bryan Callen, clearly a glutton for punishment.
JFL COO Bruce Hills is, not surprisingly, pumped about this year’s lineup: “We wanted to deliver on the promise for a memorable 35th, and I think our team did just that, and much more — starting with Jerry Seinfeld and Gad Elmaleh together in a joint concert at the Bell Centre, the return of both the amazing Trevor Noah and hometown superstar Sugar Sammy, and all the way through the list of some of comedy’s greatest names.”