House Seats Please: JFL HAS ITS BEST LINEUP IN TWENTY NINE YEARS!

The San Francisco Chronicle uses rather clever images to rank theatre in the city, and when I was thinking how to rank the Just For Laughs 2011 Festival, only one image came to mind. The highest rank that the Chronicle gives is the above image of a guy jumping on a chair and clapping. In it’s 29^th year, Just For Laughs really did deliver! This year, the Festival got a facelift with its new hub at Place des Spectacles, new venues, new shows, big stars, and world-class emerging talent. A perfect combination!

There was something for everyone at this year's festival; from 9 blockbuster Galas to the underground Zoofest Comedy shows produced by Just For Laughs, the programming team ensured that all comedy palates were pleased. One night I was watching mega-sitcom star Eric Stonestreet and then later on I was in this intimate theatre watching DeAnne Smith who for me, was a standout comedian at this year’s festival.

Some of my other favs included: Adam Hills, Danny Bhoy, Jimmy Carr, Jeffrey Ross, Modi, Tim Minchin, Garfunkel and Oates, and Bo Burnham.

The Just For Laughs Festival put on more than 1,762 English and French shows during its extended 3-week Festival, hosting more than 3,695 artists and participants, close to 1,000 entertainment industry professionals, over 300 local, national and foreign media, received 2.9 million page views on hahaha.com in July alone, and over 20 countries represented. Many changes were brought forth for this edition that were welcomed with huge success; three weeks of programming, themed galas, venues within walking distance, and creative outdoor programming. Impressive numbers!

ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

Just For Laughs Festival

This year, the most tickets in Festival history were sold for the prestigious Gala series, including four sold-out shows (over 10,000 tickets sold) hosted by international superstar Russell Peters at Just For Laughs’ new home at Place des Arts.
A Tribute to Nerds hosted by The Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar and Simon Helberg (filmed for The Comedy Network), and Decline of the American Empire hosted by John Oliver (filmed for CBC), were among the new concepts and Gala highlights that appealed to a new, younger demographic.
Louis CK, "JFL Comedy Person of the Year," performed the show of the Festival. And topped things off by sharing his wisdom in an “In Conversation” in front of a capacity crowd at the Comedy Conference.
Daniel Tosh (star of Tosh.0) sold out his much anticipated first concert in Montreal.
Amp’d (Hosted by Weird Al and filmed for The Comedy Network) was a Festival highlight and featured an all star musical comedy lineup including: Bo Burnham, Reggie Watts, Tim Minchin, Garfunkel & Oates, and Tom Green (with Organized Rhyme).
The Ethnic Show and The Nasty Show sold over 10,000 tickets in the first two weeks. Hosted by Comedy Central Roastmaster Jeffrey Ross (The Nasty Show) and Maz Jobrani (The Ethnic Show), both shows had standout performances by Jay Oakerson and Sebastian Maniscalco respectively.
Just For Laughs exploded with over 20 intimate 100-seater shows as part of "Zoofest" with an insanely popular and strong lineup. Led by Hannibal Burress, John Mulaney, Paul F. Tompkins, Eugene Mirman, DeAnne Smith, Maria Bamford and concepts like CHEAT starring Bill Burr, Robert Kelly and Joe Derosa and Ari Shaffir’s So I’m F***ing This Girl.
Hot roster of international stars including Eddie Izzard (performed in English and French), Jimmy Carr, Tim Minchin, Danny Bhoy (sold out run with added shows), Beardyman and Russell Howard.
The Insider Series, now in its second year, featured tons of cool shows including Kenny Hotz’s Triumph of the Will, The Comedy Network’s Picnicface, Funny or Die’s What’s Going On? with Mike Mitchell, My Damn Channel’s Wainy Days, and Colin Quinn’s Broadway show Long Story Short which was a hit with audiences.
Podcasts made their first appearance ever at the Festival and were an instant hit:

Chris Hardwick, Matt Mira and Jonah Ray recorded their popular podcast The Nerdist in front of a capacity crowd.
Marc Maron’s popular WTF podcast recorded in front of a sold-out crowd.
Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier received a standing ovation from a full house as they stepped on stage to record an episode of SModcast.

Adam Hills along with DeAnne Smith, Jimmy Carr, and David O'Doherty visited Hope & Cope’s Wellness Center / Lou’s House to put on a free performance for more than 75 cancer fighters and survivors. Laughter is indeed the best medicine!

Comedy Conference

More than 400 of the biggest players in the industry, including high-level executives from the worlds of feature film, television, digital media and live entertainment attended the Just For Laughs Comedy Conference and close to 1,000 industry people total attended the Festival. High profile companies and representatives, and shows such as Adult Swim, My Damn Channel, Funny or Die, The Onion, Cracked.com, CollegeHumor, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, The Simpsons, 30 Rock, YouTube, Blip.tv, IFC, The Comedy Network, BBC America, Comedy Central, FOX, CBC, CTV, CBS, Disney, FX Network, HBO and much more.
The Podcasts panel featured some of the best podcasters in the business, including Greg Proops (The Smartest Man in the World), Chris Hardwick (The Nerdist), Marc Maron (WTF), Paul F. Tompkins (The Pod F. Tompkast) and Scott Mosier (SModcast).
Bridesmaids’ director, producer and JFL “Comedy Director of the Year”, Paul Feig, participated in a Q&A Master Class.
The industries best showrunners – including David Mirkin (The Simpsons), Michael Reiss (The Simpsons), Michael Schur (Parks and Recreation), Robert Carlock (30 Rock), Steven Levitan (Modern Family) – gathered together, in “Showrunners: The Kingpins of TV.”

Just For Laughs Awards Luncheon

Garry Shandling received the Just For Laughs Lifetime Achievement Award.
Steven Levitan (Modern Family) was presented the “Comedy Writer of the Year” award by Eric Stonestreet.
Ken Jeong (The Hangover 2, Transformers 3, The Zookeeper and Community) was presented the “Breakout Comedy Star of the Year” award by David Wain.
Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) was presented the “Director of the Year” by Richard Crouse.
Louis C.K. was presented the “Comedy Person of the Year” award by Tom Green.