Just For Laughs speaks the language of funny for its 31st edition

On May 23, organizers for the Just For Laughs comedy festival announced the lineup for its 31^st edition at the Buonno Note restaurant on St. Laurent Boulevard … the same Buonno Note restaurant where the infamous “Pastagate” incident erupted.

Why they chose this certain venue to unveil their lineup is simple. In a time when language tensions have once again risen in Quebec, Just For Laughs wanted to prove that they speak one language and one language only: funny.

And after learning about the impressive selection of shows and comedians who will be plying their trade across the downtown core from July 10-28, I can readily say that comedy enthusiasts will be laughingly proclaiming “they’re speaking my language!”

Let’s start off with the flagship series of shows that have defined Just For Laughs since the beginning: the Videotron Galas. This year, they will be helmed by British comedy legend Eddie Izzard (July 24), who will commemorate the 20^th anniversary of his festival debut by hosting a gala for the very first time; future “Late Night” host Seth Meyers (July 25); Sarah Silverman, who will host two all-star galas (July 27); and stand-up legend (and “Celebrity Apprentice” winner) Joan Rivers will be doing the talking on July 27 during a special matinee gala at 5 p.m.

And the ever-popular Club Series will once again present the series of stalwart shows that have attracted sold-out crowds to the venerable Club Soda and Metropolis, including the Ethnic Show hosted by Shaun Majumder (July 10-13 at Club Soda, July 26 and 27 at Metropolis), The Relationship Show hosted by last year’s breakout star Godfrey (July 17-20), The Bar Mitzvah hosted by comedy’s good Jewish boy Elon Gold (July 25) and of course, the always blue, always shocking Nasty Show, hosted by the Pitbull of Comedy himself Bobby Slayton, for two separate runs: July 17-20 at Club Soda, and July 24-27 at Metropolis.

And to make the Club Soda experience a little more interesting, Just For Laughs is offering for the Nasty, Ethnic and Relationship shows a chance to get much closer to the action with the "Sit In The Pit" package. For an extra $50 per person, fans get a private table right in front of the stage (and directly in the line of fire of the comics' barbs, zingers and insults), as well as VIP access to Club Soda.

Just For Laughs 31 will also mark the return of several comics who have quickly become festival favorites, such as Mark Maron (who will do a brand new stand up show on July 27, plus a live taping of his immensely popular podcast “WTF”); Amy Schumer (July 24); Danny Bhoy with a new solo show called “Dear Epson” (July 26 and 27); Hannibal Buress (July 24 and 25); Bo Burnham (July 25 and 26); and Colin Quinn, who will be performing his solo show “Unconstitutional” (July 25-27), as well as delivering the keynote address on the opening day of the Just For Laughs' ComedyPRO (formerly known as the Comedy Conference) on July 25.

And another Just For Laughs favorite who will be returning to the festival after a six-year absence is the duo of Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood, who will bring three nights of original, unpredictable improv comedy to the Gesu from July 26-28.

For those who want to catch some of the brightest, most relevant comics today as they perform full-length shows in an intimate club setting, then don’t miss the brand new “Off-JFL Presented by Sirius XM” series, which will feature an impressive lineup of comedic talent including Maria Bamford (July 18-24), Todd Barry (July 22-26), Todd Glass (July 22-27), Montreal’s DeAnne Smith (July 22-24), Tig Notaro (July 23-27), Judah Friedlander (July 22-27) and “Set List” (July 23-25), an experimental show that I saw last year, in which comedians perform a routine based on a set list that’s presented to them just minutes before, and I found to be one of the highlights at last year’s festival. And best of all, the Off-JFL series offers the best value for your comedy buck, with tickets going for $20 each, or two shows for $30.

"Saturday Night Live" fans will not be disappointed at this year's Just For Laughs festival. Besides Seth Meyers hosting one of the Videotron Galas, SNL cast members Taran Killam and Bobby Moynihan will be two of the three hosts (along with Kristen Schaal of "30 Rock" and "The Daily Show") of Just For Laughs' popular break star showcase "Talk of the Fest", which takes to the stage of Club Soda from July 23-26.

Finally, Just For Laughs will do its part to promote linguistic harmony in Quebec with Le Bilingual Show (July 23). Hosted by the fluently bilingual Quebecois comic Mike Ward, the show will feature a group of Francophone comics performing their sets in English; and in turn, several Anglophone comics (including Joey Elias) will take the stage and perform stand-up comedy in French. This is certainly a show that should get OQLF approval.

Stay tuned to my blog for further reports, reviews and interviews from Just For Laughs 31.

For more information about the lineup of this year’s Just For Laughs shows, or to purchase tickets, go to www.hahaha.com.

Just For Laughs journal: A double-barrelled dose of Zoofest with Dave Gorman and Mike Ward

What started out as the Flying Solo Series back in 2006 (where people got to discover Zach Galifianakis, Demetri Martin and Marc Maron, amongst others), as evolved into a terrific alternative comedy festival that is a branch of Just For Laughs, which offers American, British, Australian, Canadian and Quebecois comics a chance to perform one-hour sets in an intimate club setting. And best of all, it offers reasonably priced tickets for the best comedy value around every summer.

This is what Zoofest is all about.

Don't get me wrong. I still enjoy attending Just For Laughs shows, and I always look forward to catching its flagship galas and specialty shows such as the Nasty Show, the Ethnic Show, the one-person show series and Talk of the Fest (the new name for the long-running Bubbling with Laughter series). But the Zoofest shows give me a chance to see popular and up-and-coming comics that normally wouldn't get to see at a comedy club, as they perform some of their best material to eager Montreal comedy fans. As Zoofest's slogan accurately states, it's a "festival of discoveries".

I started my Zoofest comedic adventure on July 20 with "Dave Gorman's Powerpoint Presentation", which played at the Underworld Club (which is situated above a skate shop). The British comic made his Just For Laughs debut over a decade ago with his solo show "Dave Gorman's Googlewhacked Adventure", in which he chronicled the misadventures he experienced as a result of his quite thorough informational digging using the famed internet search engine.

This time, Gorman uses his expansive computer tech knowledge and his fascination with social media to come up with a damned funny show. Armed with a MacBook Pro laptop, a remote control and a large backlit screen, Gorman talks about different aspects of his life and career, which he breaks down into a business-style power point presentation. To the packed crowd gathered to see and hear his presentation in this cramped, intimate venue (whom he deemed as "the 80 most cultured people in North America"), Gorman tackled such concerns as how everyone thinks he is Jewish (he is actually a Christian), which goes as far as being listed as #12 in a British magazine's ranking of the top 25 literary Jews (he placed two notches above Nobel Prize-winning novelist Saul Bellow), anti-perspirant commercials that promised 48- to 96-hour protection, why clock and cellphone ads always have the time "10:08" displayed, and a personal experiment involving asparagus, beets, a vitamin C drink mix and a sugary cereal that goes awfully wrong.

Gorman may spend too much time in front of his computer, but his penchant for thorough research and his unending curiosity makes his power point presentation both very funny and quite informative in a rather unorthodox manner (my only disappointment was that it lasted only an hour; it could have easily run for another hour and he still would have held the audience's attention).

As Gorman succinctly puts it: "Is it not human to be curious?"

On the extreme other end of the comedy spectrum, Quebecois comedian Mike Ward unabashedly went for the throat and succeeded with his English language solo show "Pedophile Jokes and Death Threats", which attracted a sold out crowd at the Katacombes club (a rather dark, heavy metal-type club on St. Laurent Blvd.).

A big star on the French language comedy scene in Quebec (he has hosted several Just pour Rire galas over the years) and his comedy DVD sold hundreds of thousands of copies, Ward's material has tackled many taboo subjects, which has garnered his share of controversy throughout his career.

The reason behind the show's title was based on a joke he said during an appearance at a JPR gala three years ago, which made reference to a recent abduction of a little girl in Quebec. His set got him a standing ovation, but the press pounced on that one joke, and a firestorm of controversy evolved from it. It got to the point that angry citizens were lining up outside his home. Then there were the death threats; in particular, an e-mail he got from an elderly woman named Huguette, a woman, according to Ward, who "should be making strawberry jam and funeral arrangements." The message stated that Ward likes to kill and rape children. "When I have kids of my own, Huguette is not coming to the baptism," said the fluently bilingual Ward.

The rest of the show dealt with Ward's take on other subjects that were part of his life and career, such as his trip to entertain Canadian troops in Afghanistan (and how "traumatized" he got when he saw an Afghan local defecate on the roof of his home); how comfortable he is renting gay porn movies with his wife; taking viagra (and how the drug's effects take place at the most inopportune time and place); sex with his wife; and how creative editing on a Radio-Canada newsmagazine show item dealing with comics going too far made Ward looked like he was going WAY too far with his material.

Witnessing Mike Ward in action with "Pedophile Jokes and Death Threats" is vivid proof why he is one of the busiest comics/vedettes in the Quebec entertainment world. Hopefully, he will do more shows to build a following with English language comedy fans. And with an upcoming appearance on the JFL XXX gala (hosted by Bob Saget) this Friday night -- and if he succeeds -- hopefully Mike Ward will take his comic talents (controversial jokes, death threats and all) south of the border to the lucrative, yet heavily competitive, U.S. market.

Much more Just For Laughs stuff to come this week ... more Zoofest shows (Amy Schumer, Adam Hills, Paul F. Tompkins) ... Mario Cantone ... Hannibal Buress ... Marc Maron's WTF podcast ... Comedy Conference ... and galas with Lewis Black, Bob Saget and the Muppets.