Latest news with #JustforLaughs
Montreal Gazette
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Montreal Gazette
Brownstein: Satirist Roy Wood Jr. will win hearts at Just for Laughs
Festivals By Roy Wood Jr. should touch all the bases when he hits Just for Laughs — both literally and figuratively. One of the sharpest satirists on the continent, the former Daily show correspondent and host of CNN's Have I Got News for You news-panel series is equally adept at discoursing on American political buffoonery as he is on baseball. Audiences may even catch him sporting his beloved Expos jacket when he takes to the stage hosting a Gala, July 25 at Théâtre Maisonneuve, or when he does his solo 'experimental talk-show,' Today, Tonight … Tomorrow, July 26 at Théâtre Ste-Catherine. Though a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, Wood can feel our city's collective pain on the loss of the 'Spos. He makes his living taking shots at the powers-that-be, but baseball remains his holy ground, and little is more sacred to him than the power of a home run as exemplified in his new TV special, Going, Going, Gone: The Magic of the Home Run, now streaming on Roku. Wood was in suburban Atlanta on Tuesday, both taking in the baseball All-Star Game in suburban Atlanta and commenting on the pure poetry of hitting dingers for the MLB Network. As always, Wood, who played some high-school and college ball, took his glove to the game — just in case. 'I love that old-school Expos logo and I'm also a big Andre Dawson fan,' says Wood in a Zoom interview, referring to the star outfielder known here as the Hawk, who spent most of his career with the Expos and Cubs. Wood, like many an up-and-coming comic, got his start in the JFL New Faces series in 2006 and came back a decade later to perform in another show. But this is the first time he'll do the fest as a solo artist. 'I felt that an Expos jacket as a non-Canadian would be the safest thing to wear,' he cracks, noting he purchased the jacket in — yikes — Toronto on a JFL tour — that didn't come to Montreal — two years ago. As a non-Canadian, he is also up to speed on the angst his president is imposing on Canadians with his ever-volatile trade tariffs. 'It's definitely a time now when as an American you're paying the price for someone else's policy,' he says, before jumping in with this chestnut: 'I just almost want that our voting results be made public so I could just go through Customs in the I-Didn't-Vote-for-Him Lane.' 'Regardless of what's happening on the federal level, Americans still have to pay close attention to state and local politics — when you look at the flash flooding that's happening in Texas that's taken over 100 lives. And when it's time to figure out who to blame, it's state and local … But I'm thankful to get up to Canada and argue with you guys about your politics,' he quips. Anything to get his mind off the current state of affairs back home. 'It's almost surreal what's happening now. You've got one group of Americans who are basically still celebrating the (Trump) win, but still can't really tell you what they won. There's another group of Americans still fighting it. And then there is a third group who are in their own Dystopian let-me-know-when-this-is-over type situation. It's like a roller-coaster … you've got people up front with their heads down and their eyes closed, and you've got people in the back hanging on for dear life. 'People who love Trump still love him, but we will still need more time on blowback of some of his policies. It will be interesting to see what happens with his cuts on Medicaid in the next couple of years, with his spending-bill cuts. I'm not calling it 'a Big Beautiful Bill.' That's part of the problem: Americans want to give everything a title to make everything more glorious than what it is. … Stop it. 'It used to be kick-ass to be an American … now you just have to tuck your head down and go whoops and say 'sorry about that.'' The good news is American political parodists have an abundance of fodder, and Wood's career has been going gangbusters of late. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that with his carving skills, Wood headlined the White House Correspondents' Dinner in 2023 — under Biden as president — to its highest ratings since 2017. He also served as a Daily Show correspondent for eight years and later guest-hosted it for a period. Apart from his baseball special, he appears in the coming film comedy Outcome, alongside Keanu Reeves and Jonah Hill. And his book memoir, The Man of Many Fathers, will be released in October. 'That book is about all the dads who helped raise me after my father passed when I was 16,' elaborates Wood, the father of a 9-year-old son. 'We all encounter various people from whom we get our values. I don't feel our parents are exclusive instructors of a child's moral core. This is a collection of stories of random people, some of whom I can't even remember their names, and others like high-school coaches and Trevor Noah, all of whom helped me in one capacity or another. I'm just thankful to all these people who saw enough in me to take me under their wing. 'And I just want my son to learn and appreciate failure, because that is the key to success.'
Time of India
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Who is Shane Gillis? Comedian who roasted Donald Trump over Epstein cover-up
Comedian Shane Gillis is currently making headlines after he strolled onto the stage at the ESPYS 2025 on Wednesday night to make people laugh as usual, but instead of making people laugh, he received more silence with occasional boos from the crowd. The 37-year-old comedian kicked off the star-studded ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, taking jabs at top athletes including Caitlin Clark, Shohei Ohtani, Simone Biles, and Megan Rapinoe. However, much of the audience appeared unamused, with many of his jokes falling flat. Shane Gillis roasts Donald Trump over the Epstein cover-up During the show, Gillis kicked off with a biting reference to the Justice Department's recent statement that there was 'no evidence' of a Jeffrey Epstein client list, one claim that many doubted. Following this, he quipped, saying, "There was supposed to be an Epstein joke here, but I guess it got deleted." "Probably deleted itself, right? Probably never existed, actually. Let's move on as a country and ignore that." The joke received chuckles from the audience, and many had stunned reactions to it. But he wasn't done yet as Gillis shifted gears to joke about former President Donald Trump's much-discussed proposal to host a UFC fight on the White House lawn, using it as a springboard to take a dig at former Vice President Mike Pence and the January 6 Capitol riot. Shane Gillis tricked the ESPYS crowd into believing his friend's wife was a WNBA star 😭'4x WNBA All-Star Brittany Hicks is here. Give it up for Brittany, everybody. I'm just joking around; that's my friend's wife, I knew none of you knew WNBA players.' Who is comedian Shane Gillis? Shane Michael Gillis is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster. Gillis started performing comedy in 2012, and in 2016, along with his fellow stand-up comedian Matt McCusker, he began co-hosting Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast, which was one of the most subscribed-to podcasts on Patreon as of 2024. Gillis had a breakout year in 2019, with the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal naming him one of its 'New Faces' in July, and in September, he was announced as a newly hired cast member on NBC's sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live (SNL). The comedian was born on December 11, 1987, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, a town located outside of Harrisburg.
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Montreal Gazette
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Montreal Gazette
Just for Laughs returns from the dead with a money-back guarantee
The Corner Booth Mommy, it's not over: Just for Laughs is back from the dead. It was a tumultuous 2024 for the city's premier comedy fest. In March of that year, the fest was abruptly and shockingly cancelled and the old ownership group sought protection from its creditors. Later, it was saved by Quebec City's ComediHa!, who delivered a small but mighty version of the fest to laugh-starved Montrealers. A year later, Just for Laughs' owner Sylvain Parent-Bédard and program director Nick Brazao, who joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on this week's episode of The Corner Booth at Snowdon Deli, are bringing a star-studded lineup to Montreal this July 16-27. 'It's a massive undertaking, but we want to do it with humility and resilience because it's not easy,' said Parent-Bédard, who called it a 'a dream come true' going from the francophone comedy world to the anglophone one. 'And thanks to the JFL team that used to be there, who built this great Canadian institution.' One of the remaining team members is Brazao. He first started working at the fest in 2009 and said comedians were just as eager to sign up this year. 'There's been excitement about the news of it coming back. It's a testament to the power of the Just for Laughs brand for 42 years,' Brazao said. But wait, there's more. If you bought a ticket for one of this year's galas — Fortune Feimster, Michelle Buteau, Roy Wood Jr., Mikey Day are your hosts — and didn't feel like you got your money's worth in belly laughs, then you get your money back. Seriously. 'I think it's important to make something with the anglophone community that has built this brand and who can have maybe some questions about what we're doing this year,' Parent-Bédard said. 'And to prove we're secure in the programming we've done. I know people are going to laugh, they're going to have fun, and those galas are the cornerstone of the festival.'
Montreal Gazette
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Montreal Gazette
Just for Laughs pillar Nick Brazao eyes ‘next generation of great standups'
By Nick Brazao has all the necessary comedy bona fides for his role as head of programming and talent at Just for Laughs. Prior to working in the JFL programming department 16 years ago, the Montrealer paid dues on the other side of the stage for 15 years as a much-sought-after standup on the local scene. After leaving the stage, much of Brazao's time in programming was spent under the tutelage of one of the best comedy trackers in the business, Robbie Praw, who went on to head Netflix's live comedy division. 'I gave up the standup to get on to the production side, to get a closer connection to the world-class comedy scene, and that satisfies a lot of the reasoning I got into comedy in the first place,' Brazao, 44, says. One of the few employees of the previous JFL regime still with the festival, Brazao helped put together talent for last year's last-minute inaugural event under the leadership of Sylvain Parent-Bédard, the JFL president and CEO who took over the fest a year ago amid much turmoil. But whereas Brazao had a few weeks to book talent last year, he's had nearly a year to put together anglo programming for this year's fest as well as others in Toronto, Vancouver, Bermuda and Sydney, plus travelling shows and one-nighters across this country. 'About 15 months ago, there was concern that Just for Laughs could disappear, but the opportunity to bring everything back has been so uplifting,' Brazao says. 'So many great memories have been made over the four decades the festival has been around. Now, we have the opportunity to make many more.' Parent-Bédard doesn't mince words in crediting Brazao's contributions: 'Nick has been our organization's cornerstone.' Brazao's programming goals have changed over time. 'One of our guiding principles is try to provide something, both international and local, for all comedy tastes, which are so very widespread,' notes Brazao. 'That applies to fans as well as to other comics and industry players. 'There have been so many great comics to come out of here and the challenge is always to find new voices. Just as I was blown away by Bill Burr nearly 20 years ago, I'm on the lookout for the next generation of great standups.' On that note, Brazao offers eight picks he's sure will click with audiences: 1) Che Durena, host of the Nasty Show series, July 16-25, mostly at Club Soda: 'A viral Canadian comedy sensation with over eight million followers on social media platforms, he's done galas and shows with us over the years. But this year will be his first at the helm of one of our legacy events and he won't disappoint with his spin on nasty. The subject matter may have changed over the years, but he will let loose with the best of them.' 2) Asif Ali, host of the Culture Show, July 16-23, mostly at Club Soda: 'Coming off acclaimed performances in the streaming series Deli Boys and The Mandalorian, Ali, an L.A.-based comic, has been a hit on gala shows in past festivals. Like the Nasty Show, the plan is also to keep another of our most popular series, the ex-Ethnic Show, continuously evolving.' 3) Nick Mohammed, solo show Nick Mohammed is Mr. Swallow: Show-Pony, July 23-26 at Le Gesù: 'Best known for his role as a rival soccer manager in one of TV's most acclaimed series, Ted Lasso — for which he netted two Emmy nominations — this outstanding comedian/writer will be seen in an entirely different and hilarious light in a 75-minute revue. There will be roller skates, there will be musical numbers, and, above all, many laughs.' 4) Mary Beth Barone, solo show, July 26 at Club Soda: 'One of the stars and writers of the hit series Overcompensating and a repeat guest on Jimmy Fallon's late-night talk show, her first standup special, Thought Provoking, was just that. Currently on an extended and sold-out U.S./Canada tour, this American standup is on a roll, having headlined at the New York Comedy Fest, the Netflix Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe and is co-host of the podcast Ride with Benito Skinner. This will mark her first performance in Montreal, but definitely not her last.' 5) Stamptown, July 23-25 at Club Soda: 'A full-on fevered show hosted by the unforgettable Zach Zucker and featuring some of the most energetic, over-the-top comics from around the world, it is totally bananas, raunchy and chaotic; 90 minutes of pure spectacle and has sold out rooms everywhere it has played. Past shows have included the likes of Neil Patrick Harris, Richard Kind, Mae Martin, David Cross and Sarah Sherman.' 6) Rhys Darby, The Legend Returns, July 24 at MTelus: 'A legend indeed is this comic from New Zealand, who cracked up audiences big time in the Flight of the Conchords series. An unbelievable talent, he's so unique and such a delight. Every time he's done JFL, he's left audiences in stitches.' 7) Cat Cohen, July 23 at Le Studio TD: 'U.S.-based, but well known around the world for festival and TV appearances as well as her two Netflix specials. A comedian, actress and songwriter, she appears in Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building and in the Sirens series with Julianne Moore and stars opposite Elle Fanning in the film Sentimental Value. Her career got off to a roaring start in 2019 having won the coveted title of Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her show is music, comedy and incredibly entertaining.' 8) Andrea Jin, featured performer in the Culture Show, July 16-23, mostly at Club Soda: 'Originally from Shanghai, she grew up in Vancouver, and is now based in L.A. She has a huge following online and is a former New Face of Comedy. She'll also be doing a gala and our Roast Battle as well as an Off-JFL solo show July 25 at Café Cléopâtre. Sky is the limit here. Could well be the breakout star at this year's fest.'
Winnipeg Free Press
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Cheers to 50 years of the Folk Fest — & 50 more
Opinion Five years ago, there were no festivals. It was the summer of 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic meant no live… anything. No music. No theatre. All the festivals that have come to define summer in Manitoba were purged from the calendar. Organizations did their best, of course, offering smaller, virtual presentations for a time defined by staying home. But it wasn't the same. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Lineups stretch far past the entrance before the gates open at Folk Fest on Thursday. Five years on, music festivals, in particular, are still feeling the aftershocks of that time, owing to both financial losses sustained as well as increased operational costs in a post-pandemic landscape. A spate of cancellations of American music festivals last summer prompted NPR to call it 'the festival recession.' It was a trend we saw on this side of the border as well. Just for Laughs cancelled its 2024 events in Montreal and Toronto. And some of these festivals — popular, beloved festivals, even — never recovered. The Regina Folk Festival, which was supposed to celebrate its 53rd year in 2025, announced it would be permanently shutting down in March after going on hiatus in 2024. The Vancouver Island MusicFest is not happening this year, while the 2025 edition of the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival could be its last. It's against this backdrop that the Winnipeg Folk Festival is celebrating its 50th anniversary this weekend. Fifty years is an incredible — and, these days, an increasingly improbable — run. Especially since it was supposed to be a one-off, originally conceived by founders Mitch Podolak, Ava Kobrinsky and Colin Gorrie as a celebration for Winnipeg's centennial in 1974. But a legacy festival isn't built by mere endurance — or survival — alone. It's built by people who have a vision for it, who can recognize both where it came from and where it could go. MANITOBA ARCHIVES Winnipeg Folk Festival founders Mitch Podolak (left) and Ava Kobrinsky in 1977. It's built by the generations of people who have grown up with it, who take their kids or grandkids to Birds Hill Park every second weekend of July. It's built by the people who dedicate hard-earned vacation days and money to attend every year, regardless of who is performing. It's built by the people who volunteer their time and energy to making sure the whole thing runs as planned and can pivot when it doesn't. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Festivals need stewardship. We all saw the grotesque failure of Woodstock '99 and its wholesale abandonment of the peace and love ethos that made the 1969 event so iconic; organizers didn't care about making it a safe temporary community. So much of what makes folk fest what it is is exactly that: community. Sure, there's the annual kvetching about the lineup — someone's best-ever year is always someone else's worst-ever and vice versa — or even the definition of 'folk 'music. But even that is part of the ritual. Creating the kind of place where people want to return again and again, year after year, decade after decade is no small feat and it doesn't just happen. Nor will it continue to happen if we don't keep supporting it and our new normal will look a lot like that summer of 2020. Crowds at the Little Stage on the Prarie during the 2011 Folk Festival. Folk fest is special and rare and ours. Cheers to 50 years — and here's to 50 more. Jen ZorattiColumnist Jen Zoratti is a columnist and feature writer working in the Arts & Life department, as well as the author of the weekly newsletter NEXT. A National Newspaper Award finalist for arts and entertainment writing, Jen is a graduate of the Creative Communications program at RRC Polytech and was a music writer before joining the Free Press in 2013. Read more about Jen. Every piece of reporting Jen produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print – part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
