News from Canada

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on August 1st, 2007

In case you’d forgotten, Just For Laughs had a mini-Fest in Toronto for three days after their monster one in Montreal. According to the account in Variety, it was a raging success, but not without a hitch or two:

Unlike the Montreal streets, where organizers have traditionally shied away from standup comedy so as not to alienate either French or English spectators, in English-speaking Toronto the core of the main stage at the outdoor events was standup.

Some of the acts let rip, with the blue material of Italian-Canadian parody/musical duo The Doo Wops in particular raising some eyebrows in the crowd, which included children of all ages.

Though there have been no complaints, Hills said that in the future acts will be asked to tone it down in public places. “Halfway through that concert I was already dealing with that one for next year,” he said.

Comedy outdoors. Never a good idea. Not even under the best circumstances. Most of the indoor shows sold out.

And in other Canadian news, the London Free Press had an article about the nominees for the Canadian Comedy Awards.

The CBC TV series Royal Canadian Air Farce received five nominations, including best male performance for political satirist Alan Park. He’s also up for best male stand-up comedian against Mike Wilmot, Peter Kelamis, Steve Patterson and Gerry Dee.

Also nominated are Debra DiGiovanni, Erica Sigurdson, Kate Davis, Kristeen von Hagen and Nikki Payne. The winners will be revealed on October 12. London (the Canadian town, not the British town) will host for the fifth year in a row, with showcases, a comedy industry conference and galas, October 9-13.

from → News • View 1 Comment • Print-Friendly • Back To Top