Just for Laughs Festival Announces Stellar Lineup

just for laughs montreal

Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival announced a huge chunk of their lineup today and, big surprise: it’s full of killer performers. The festival, which takes place from July 13th – 31st, will have a little something for everyone, from interviews with TV show casts and podcast recordings to roast battles and stand-up shows. The 34th iteration of the festival features some of the biggest stand-up comics and comedic actors the industry has ever seen, and the festival is trying harder than ever to deliver its content to American audiences via Comedy Central, so this year’s performances promise not to disappoint.

First and foremost, the stand-up acts!

Lewis Black will be showcasing his famously righteous anger at the Theatre Maisonneuve in the Place des Arts on July 27th. The comic will perform at JFL as part of his tour, The Emperor’s New Clothes: The Naked Truth. Black is the absolute personification of fury; he even played the emotion Anger in Pixar’s recent Academy Award-winning Pixar film, Inside Out. He’s best known for his appearances on The Daily Show and his own Comedy Central show, Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil.

Gad Elmaleh brings his Oh My Gad tour to Montreal. The French-Morrocan comic, referred to as “The Jerry Seinfeld of French Comedy,” will be performing his all-english set during five different shows at Le Gesù, from July 25th – 29th. He’s currently in the midst of a residency in NYC, and will be <a href=“https://theinterrobang.com/gad-elmaleh-play-carnegie-hall-next-spring/“>embarking on a short tour</a> across the U.S. and Canada after the festival comes to an end.

Jimmy Carr, one of the most popular British comics in the game right now, will also be doing a series of shows at Le Gesù, from July 25th – 30th. Having done a well-received set during last year’s Nasty Show, Carr will return to perform some of his brand-new material from his most recent stand-up show, Funny Business.

David Cross will host a gala event, accompanied by a to-be-determined roster of comics, at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier theater in the Place des Arts on July 27th. Cross is an Emmy Award-winning actor, writer and producer who is best known for his turn as Dr. Tobias Fünke on Arrested Development, as well as his roles as Todd Margaret on IFC’s The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret and as the co-creator and star of Mr. Show with Bob and David (now rebooted by Netflix as With Bob and David.)

Hannibal Buress, of Broad City and The Eric Andre Show fame, will perform his patented lazy everyman routine at L’Olympia on July 28th. The comic has exploded onto the scene in just a few short years, putting out four comedy albums and selling out theaters since he first entered the spotlight in 2010.

Maria Bamford, one of the funniest and hardest working ladies in the business, will be doing two stand-up shows at the 5e Salle in the Place des Arts on July 28th and 29th. Bamford is the star of Netflix’s upcoming series, Lady Dynamite, and has also had roles on Louis C.K.’s beloved Louie, the Netflix reboot of Arrested Development, and the classic tour documentary The Comedians of Comedy.

Brian Regan, comedy juggernaut, performs in nearly 100 cities and sells out massive venues every year, all in an effort to hone his comedy blade even further. Fresh off the heels of his first-ever live performance from Radio City Music Hall, the comic will be performing his material at Theatre Maisonneuve at Place des Arts on July 30th.

These are only a fraction of the stand-ups that will be making appearances throughout the 18-day festival; other brilliant comics like Nikki Glaser, Iliza Shlesinger, Kathleen Madigan, Russell Howard, Tom Green, Janeane Garofalo, Louie Anderson, Cameron Esposito, Kurt Metzger, Big Jay Oakerson, Mark Normand, Barry Crimmins, and Matt Braunger are just some of the giant roster of comics that will likely make this festival one of the best that Montreal has ever seen.

Old JFL standby The Nasty Show will be taking place again this year, hosted by “the Celine Dion of dick jokes” and hometown hero Mike Ward. This show, which highlights comics who are most at home in a sea of vulgarity, will feature Brad Williams, Bobby Slayton, Ralphie May and Tiffany Haddish.

Stand-up comic and Roast Master extraordinaire Jeff Ross will also be in attendance, spearheading JFL’s new initiative to televise the festival and reach unprecedented audiences by hosting Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle. The show will be just that, a one-on-one roast competition in which comics will verbally tear each other to shreds in the cleverest ways possible in a bracket style competition that will take place over multiple nights, from the 27th to the 29th. On July 31st, the finals will air live on Comedy Central and a winner will be crowned. This event is sure to be one of the highlights of the whole festival, as there are most definitely some killer roasters featured among the comics in attendance.

While the festival is set to deliver some great stand-up performances, the JFL folks also have your other comedy needs covered. In addition to the various stand-up shows planned, JFL will also play host to a few podcast recordings, as well as a panel with the cast of HBO’s hit comedy, Veep.

An Evening with the Cast of Veep: Veep is HBO’s Emmy Award-winning (and Golden Globe-nominated) political sitcom starring Seinfeld’s Julia Louise-Dreyfus. Louise-Dreyfus plays Vice President Selina Meyer (who just recently became President,) a brilliantly capable and yet flawed woman who struggles to perform her duties as second in command while also wrestling with her less-than-adequate staff, a role that she’s won four consecutive Emmy Awards for. Louise-Dreyfus will be joined on stage by Tony Hale (who plays personal aide Gary Walsh,) Timothy Simons (who plays Meyers’ White House liaison, Jonah Ryan,) and showrunner/Emmy-nominee David Wendel.

Living in Fictional Times: A Political Conversation with Lewis Black: This one’s pretty straight forward — Black will critique U.S. politics and culture, during the height of the Democratic National Convention and right before the Republican National Convention, at the Hyatt Grand Salon on July 28th.

Ari Shaffir’s This is Not Happening: The comedian will be filming at least one episode of his hit Comedy Central storytelling series, which is going on its 3rd season on Comedy Central. His guests are still un-announced.

Scott Aukerman’s Comedy Bang! Bang!: The writer, actor and comedian will be bringing his hit television/podcast show Comedy Bang! Bang! to the Hyatt Grand Salon on July 29th, where he and guests (to be announced) will take part in a totally improvised program that is sure to feature some familiar faces from the show’s past.

Again, these are only a smattering of the shows that folks can catch during the weeks-long festival: Hosts with the Most with Cameron Esposito and Tommy Johnagin, The Alternative Show with Andy Kindler, Midnight Surprise, Best of the Fest, and Rachid Badouri’s The Ethnic Show are just a few more of the many shows that will be taking to the stage to record this July.

The list is long, I know. What’s more, these aren’t even all of the acts: the festival is promising that there are more performers and tapings to be announced in the coming months, so stay tuned to the Interrobang and the Just for Laughs website for more information as it is released!

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Bill Tressler

Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.
Bill Tressler
Bill Tressler
Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.