Jumping Around Montreal Just for Laughs with Jeffrey Gurian: Thursday July 24

Montreal Just for Laughs with Jeffrey Gurian ThursdaySo today was my first full day jumping around the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in 2014.

We started out the day at the Comedy Pro Networking Lunch where you meet people from all parts of the industry.

After that we went to the Jim Norton event.  Jim is the keynote speaker this year and he was introduced by Tom Papa. And it was very funny because Tom Papa gave him a very generic introduction. He said “Jim Norton is a very nice man. He’s a very good person. A very hard worker.” Needless to say, Jim didn’t like his intro.  His speech was called “I Insincerely Apologize” and it was about all the comedians these days who are being asked to apologize for their material. And of course he alluded to Anthony Cumia. He ended it by talking about  yours truly, and I was glad to help him out by letting him abuse me. “Jeffrey Gurian… if you don’t know who that is, he’s the guy who interviews you at the most inappropriate times. When I’m at the urinal he wants to do an interview. At Patrice O’Neal’s funeral he was in the casket! He was in the casket with Patrice trying to interview me.”

And so i became the foil for his ending which was very funny and i was happy to be abused by Jim Norton. On the record, i never tried to interview him at a urinal or at the casket. They like to kid people, comedians.

Of course, I’m on the go all the time. Speaking of interviewing at inappropriate times,  on my way to the next event,  I ran into Michael Che in the street. He was on his way back with food, but we really wanted to do the interview, so I talked to him while he was holding his food.  He had like a turkey roll and some other stuff and we switched hands so i held his food, while we talked.  What a great guy.

After lunch we went to the Brooklyn Nine-Nine event.  The entire cast was here, Terry Crews, and Chelsea Peretti, and Andy Samberg and Michael Schur who created the show.  The entire cast was on the stage.  That was very cool and we’ll be seeing them tomorrow on the red carpet of the comedy awards.

Later we hung out at the cocktail party for Variety’s Ten Comics to Watch.  The place was insane, and there were just hundreds of people there!  It felt like everyone in comedy was there, and it was hard to find a quiet place to talk.  I saw the Lucas Brothers, who are twins, and counted as one comedian of the ten– I guess cause they came from one egg.  Pete Davidson who is Nick Cannon’s protege was also there.  And I got to talk with with Greg Poehler– Amy Poehler’s brother- who has a new show on NBC called Welcome to Sweden.  So I got the whole story;  he really was  a lawyer, moved to Sweden, and then after six years created this show and NBC is running it.  I also saw Last Comic Standing’s Monroe Martin at the Variety Party.

Later I was jumping in and out of shows.  There were so many at the same time– it’s a good thing I jump around!  I went to four show at four different venues.   I got to check out The Talk of the Fest with host Vanessa Bayer, she is a good friend and she’s of course from Saturday Night Live, and that was at Club Soda. I ran into Alonzo Boden who had his own show and then I jumped into the Comedy Nest As Seen on TV, to catch Pete Davidson and Lynn Koplitz. I saw Ryan Hamilton later, at a club with a long french name.  And then the Andy Samberg Gala at the Place des Artes where all the big videotron galas are.

After all the shows, we headed back to the Comedy Central open bar party at the Hyatt.  It’s a party but it takes over the whole bar. The Hyatt has a huge bar in the center of the room and it runs outside to the outside deck and its just packed and packed with people.   I ran into my girl Loni Love and she told me she’s going to be on the show The Real starting in September.  It’s like an urban version of The View, but so much hipper. Then we hung out with Russell Peters, who is coming to New York in September- he gave me the scoop that he’s coming to do a show at Madison Square Garden. He’s a really great friend and I’m going to his show to be backstage with him on Sunday.  He’s actually doing two galas, Sunday and Monday night, and I’m staying till Monday just to see Russell’s gala.  At the bar last night I also ran into Lewis Black who was holding court. Everybody was there!

There were thousands of people! It…was crazy!   I also saw Zainab Johnson, from Last Comic Standing, she’s so gorgeous with her shaved head, she could easily be a fashion model. She and I had to sneak off to a little place in the lobby to be able to talk because the party is so loud.

Lou Wallach, the ex-head of comedy central who now has Wallach media and he’s developing a few pilots for television. Kurt Metzger was there. Fortune Feimster was there from Chelsea Lately. Its a blur! And then this cool group called the Downtown Girls, a new comedy group that’s putting together a pilot.

That’s about all the party I could handle, more tomorrow when Jeffrey Gurian jumps around Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival!

GURIANJUMPS


make em laughFriday Night Jeffrey will be signing copies of his book, “Make ‘Em Laugh: 35 Years of the Comic Strip, the Greatest Comedy Club of All Time!” in conjunction with the premier of the documentary film, “Eat Drink and Laugh” all about the New York Club “The Comic Strip.” Jeffrey is one of the producers along with Richie Tienken, the owner and founder of The Comic Strip, who also discovered Eddie Murphy,  and . Come on by the book signing and say hello. You can purchase a copy of Jeffrey’s book, “Make ‘Em Laugh: 30 Years of the Comic Strip, the Greatest Comedy Club of All Time” on Amazon.com and at booksellers everywhere.

Friday July 25th @ 7pm be at  Cinema du Parc (3575 Avenue Du Parc) in Montreal to see the world premier of the documentary and attend Jeffrey’s book signing.

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Jeffrey Gurian is a comedy writer, comedian, author, producer, comedy connoisseur, comedy journalist, and an all around bon vivant. You can find him on red carpets, at comedy events across the country and hosting Comedy Matters TV. He’s the author of the book Make ‘Em Laugh with an intro by Chris Rock”. You've seen him on Comedy Central's Kroll Show and he's a regular on SiriusXM's Bennington Show and it's predecessor the Ron and Fez Show. He's also A BIG BELIEVER in Happiness and Love.
Jeffrey Gurian
Jeffrey Gurian
Jeffrey Gurian is a comedy writer, comedian, author, producer, comedy connoisseur, comedy journalist, and an all around bon vivant. You can find him on red carpets, at comedy events across the country and hosting Comedy Matters TV. He’s the author of the book Make ‘Em Laugh with an intro by Chris Rock”. You've seen him on Comedy Central's Kroll Show and he's a regular on SiriusXM's Bennington Show and it's predecessor the Ron and Fez Show. He's also A BIG BELIEVER in Happiness and Love.