JUST FOR LAUGHS 2010 WRAPS UP ITS BIGGEST FESTIVAL EVER

Montreal, Monday, July 26, 2010 – The Just For Laughs Festival presented by Videotron in association
with Loto-Quebec brought all things funny to Montreal audiences, treating them to a star-studded selection
of industry heavyweights, award-winning performers and internationally-renowned comedy stars. Comedy fans
turned out to enjoy 2027 artists from over 10 countries, 180 shows and 471 performances. The attendance
figures reflect the success of the 28th edition of the Montreal Festival with more than 200,000 tickets sold and
counting thanks to shows that have been extended. The Montreal event, voted in an Angus Reid poll as the
most interesting cultural event for people in Quebec, rounded out a comedic coup in a hat trick that began with
Festivals in Chicago and Toronto in June and July.

Hit of the Festival

  • This year’s hottest ticket had to be the two Just For Laughs Presents: Steve Martin special events
  • at the St-Denis Theatre that sold out in minutes! The shows featured a stellar line-up of comedians,
  • Martin’s band The Steep Canyon Rangers and a surprise performance by Dane Cook on the second
  • show for an unforgettable night that brought audiences to their feet in a standing ovation.

Other Hot Shows

  • In breathtaking performances that have sold more than 12 million tickets worldwide Tap Dogs, part of
  • the Prestige Series presented by WestJet, have thrilled Montreal audiences and critics alike. With close
  • to 12,000 tickets sold at the Festival so far, this spectacular show is sticking around for more with
  • performances extended until July 31.
  • Back at the Festival following his 2009 Zoofest performances, Aziz Ansari performed a sold-out show
  • at Metropolis as part of his Dangerously Delicious Tour, proving for the second year in a row why he’s
  • one of the biggest names in comedy.
  • Tickets to the first five John Pinette shows at Place des Arts went so quickly that Just For Laughs had
  • to add two more, for a grand total of seven sold-out shows that had audiences laughing at the hilarious
  • tales of this Festival favourite.
  • Montrealers were treated to one of the finest theatrical performances the city has ever seen in John
  • Leguizamo’s Klass Klown plus they were lucky enough to be able to see it before it hits Broadway in
  • the fall.
  • Music fans fell in love with the Young@Heart Chorus as they captivated all ages with their covers of
  • pop and punk songs in a one night only performance at Place des Arts.
  • The first edition of the Insider Series - live events featuring casts and show creators as well as
  • performances by your favourite TV and film stars – delivered major comedy industry players to the
  • Festival including JB Smoove’s An Evening with Leon Black and Friends, An Afternoon with
  • Kevin Smith, and Kenny vs Spenny, three of the hottest shows in this brand new series. The
  • Insiders Series was also the place to catch previews of television shows yet to hit the small screen
  • including the upcoming Showcase series The Drunk and on Drugs Happy Funtime Hour featuring
  • the team behind The Trailer Park Boys, including The Boys themselves and Adult Swim’s Childrens
  • Hospital where audiences were able to get up close and personal with Rob Corddry, Jonathan Stern,
  • David Wain, Erinn Hayes, Lake Bell, Rob Huebel and others. Also new this year was COMICPRO – The
  • Just For Laughs Ultimate Fan Package, the public’s first chance to participate in the Just For
  • Laughs Comedy Conference events, as well as attend the first edition of the Insider Series, film
  • screenings, and Zoofest Comedy shows.
  • In its second year Zoofest Comedy’s unique programming for an adventurous audience seeking new
  • experiences broke even more new ground with a slew of solo shows that had people talking like Bill
  • Burr, Jim Jefferies, Bo Burnham and Noel Fielding.
  • AMP’D - The Musical Comedy Show, where the hottest musical comedy acts came together, was
  • the Festival’s must-see midnight show with performances by Beardyman, Tim Minchin, Reggie
  • Watts, Bridget Everett and more. The Festival can be summed as those who saw it and those who
  • didn’t!
  • Fresh off his successful run at the Toronto Just For Laughs Festival, sensational stand-up Mike Birbiglia
  • presented My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend at the Gesu Centre de Créativité before it makes its way off-
  • Broadway later this year.
  • Intimate, funny and entertaining, The TomGreen.com World Stand-Up Comedy Tour saw this
  • unpredictable personality take on his life and the world around him in his first ever Festival appearance.
  • Gala stand-ups who stood out with memorable performances were Andrew Maxwell, Mike Birbiglia,
  • Bill Burr, Paul Zerdin, Tom Papa, Kathleen Madigan, Orny Adams, and Canadians Mark Little,
  • and Steve Patterson.
  • Amazing club sets seen around the Festival include Ryan Hamilton, Hannibal Buress, JB Smoove,
  • Pete Johannsen, Sean Patton, Eric Andre, Brendon Walsh, and Louis Katz.
  • Congratulations are in order for John Hastings of Montreal, who beat out eight other Canadian cutups
  • to win the Homegrown Comic Competition presented by the Comedy Network in association
  • with XM Canada. Coming in second place was Nathan Macintosh of Toronto.
  • Ben Roy, Jesse Case, Nick Vatterott, Jack Whitehall and others gave their careers a boost at
  • New Faces as industry once again flocked to take in six shows over three nights and witness the best
  • group of talent in years.

Just For Laughs Television

  • Top-rated Australian broadcaster Network Ten was back at the Festival for the tenth year in a row coproducing
  • highly-energized television specials for their audiences Down Under. The special that aired
  • on July 12, 2010 and was created at the 2009 edition of the Festival was a huge ratings success with
  • an overall audience of 1.1 million people and a commercial share of 32.6%.
  • We filmed several shows for future broadcast including six episodes of the new series Funny as Hell
  • for The Movie Network and Movie Central. Hosted by Jon Dore the shows feature a line-up of edgy,
  • fearless and funny comics including JB Smoove, Donald Glover, Tim Minchin, Bo Burnham, Jim
  • Jefferies and The Doo Wops. We also filmed our five star-studded Videotron Just For Laughs
  • Galas, and our two Just For Laughs presents: Steve Martin special events for networks around
  • the world.
  • Rocket Studios, a film production company based in Munich and Berlin, were on hand at both the
  • Toronto and Montreal Festivals to film German comedy star Michael Mittermeier as he experienced
  • everything that these two Festivals had to offer.

Just For Laughs 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, which included high profile companies
  • such as NBC, ABC, CBS, CBC, FOX, Paramount, HBO, MTV, Warner Bros TV, Universal Pictures, Comedy
  • Central, The Comedy Network, Funny or Die, The Onion and more, came to Montreal for the Just For
  • Laughs Comedy Conference.
  • The Comedy Conference presented five awards this year honouring Dinner for Schmucks director Jay
  • Roach with Comedy Director of The Year; NBC Parks and Recreation star Aziz Ansari with Breakout
  • Star of the Year; NBC Community star Donald Glover with Rising Comedy Star of The Year; FOX Glee
  • creators/producers/writers Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy with Comedy Writer of
  • the Year, with Ian Brennan on hand to accept the award; and The Second City with the Lifetime
  • Achievement Award for its 50th Anniversary. On hand to accept the award were Colin Mochrie, Fred
  • Willard, and Andrew Alexander, co-chairman, CEO and President.
  • Late Night TV was the focus of Late Night: In The Writers’ Room the popular panel that looks at
  • television’s most progressive comedy and featured inside stories from a stellar group of comedy and
  • late night TV writers including Brian Stack (Writer, Actor and Editor, The Tonight Show with Conan
  • O'Brien), AD Miles (Head Writer, Jimmy Fallon Show), Colin Jost (Writing Supervisor, Saturday Night
  • Live) and Bob Odenkirk (He wrote some of SNL's most memorable pieces in the pre-Mr. Show era).
  • Moderating this panel was the very insightful Bill Carter (Reporter, National Media, The New York
  • Times) who wrote the very popular book The Late Shift and has a new late night book due out in
  • November.
  • Why is comedy the most embraced genre on the web? The panel Web Face-Off: Comedy’s
  • Kingmakers examined this question with panellists Ricky Van Veen (CEO CollegeHumor/Notional),
  • Rob Barnett (Founder/CEO My Damn Channel), Joe Randazzoo (Editor, The Onion) Peter Ignacio
  • (Director of Acquisitions and Development, Atom.com) and Simon Assaad, (Co-Founder / Co-CEO,
  • Heavy.com).
  • Two great programs invited comedy makers to get valuable face-time, as well as advice, from veterans
  • in the comedy film, Web and TV industry. Pitch ‘Til Your Sides Split featured projects for the Web
  • and television that were presented to a panel of leading comedy industry executives and decisionmakers
  • in an open-forum pitch session. The Comedy Bootcamp for Film, presented by the 2010
  • Telefilm Canada Features Comedy Lab, a Canadian Film Centre film program, in collaboration with Just
  • for Laughs featured three teams selected to present a five-minute pitch followed by a round of
  • feedback and a 45-minute script meeting. The panel was comprised of high-ranking film executives
  • which included Kit Giordano (Creative Executive, Red Hour Films), Joe Medjuck, (Executive
  • Producer, Montecito Picture Company), David Miner (Producer/Executive, 3Arts Entertainment), and
  • Kirsten Smith (Writer/Producer, 10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, The Ugly Truth).
  • Festival troublemaker Andy Kindler had folks in stitches as he humorously ripped into his peers at his
  • sold-out annual State of the Industry Address and the acerbic Lewis Black gave a sold-out
  • Keynote Address that set the tone for what was the most successful edition of this event ever.

Just For Laughs Film

  • Now in its 14th year, Just For Laughs Film was delighted to welcome Jay Roach (Dinner for
  • Schmucks), Matt Harlock and the Hicks Family (American: The Bill Hicks Story), Ahmed Ahmed
  • (Just Like Us), Phil Rosenthal (Exporting Raymond), Jordan Brady (I Am Comic), the filmmakers
  • and cast of Peepers, and the cast and crew of Cabotins including Rémy Girard, Gilles Renaud and
  • director Alain Desrochers.
  • The event proudly presented 2 feature films, 7 independent films and 45 short films from a host of
  • different countries on formats ranging from 35mm to MiniDV to HDCam.
  • • Comedy director Jay Roach presented the sold-out premiere of Dinner for Schmucks starring Steve
  • Carrell and Paul Rudd in front of a packed house at the Imperial Theatre.
  • The cast and crew of Cabotins, including director Alain DesRochers (Nitro), writer Ian Lauzon (De
  • père en flic), producer Jacques Bonin, and stars Rémy Girard (De père en flic, Les Boys), Yves
  • Jacques (La Dernière Fugue), Dorothée Berryman (Les Invasions barbares), Gilles Renaud (Le
  • Survenant), and Pierre-François Legendre (Horloge biologique), presented the premier in front of a
  • packed house at the Imperial Theatre.
  • Winner of the Just For Laughs Best Short Film was The Hardest Part by director Oliver Renson. The
  • film shows just how far an aging actor will go when he finally secures the audition of a lifetime.

Juste pour rire

  • The French side of the Festival has a huge hit on its hands with La Melodie du Bonheur, directed by
  • Denise Filiatrault, the French-language version of the iconic musical The Sound of Music. The show
  • which began its run on June 25 has been extended four times for a total of 55 performances making it
  • the biggest theatrical event of the summer.
  • The Gala Videotron Juste pour rire Hommage à Claude Meunier, with its forays into the
  • collective consciousness and humour of Quebec, will remain in the memories of all who saw it as an
  • unforgettable moment.
  • Audiences travelled back in time with, L’Avare by Molière, part of the Theatre Series presented by Le
  • Groupe Financier Banque Nationale. Directed by Serge Postigo, the show used more than 2,000
  • candles each night, staying true to the time the play was written in - because there was no electricity
  • in 1668! With such a warm reception it’s no wonder it was extended until July 31 at the Monument-
  • National.

Outdoor Programming: A Sweet Success

  • The Street Arts – officially in its new home at the Place des Festivals and on the esplanade of Place des
  • Arts – attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors from July 17 – 25 as the area was transformed into a
  • wonderland of color, sound and light.
  • ROY BOX and LE GRAND CHARIVARI ensured the turnkey delivery of the fourth edition of the
  • Montreal Carnival. This great night parade was the result of the participation of over 1,600 citizens who
  • strolled to the sound of brass bands (over 200 musicians) in the streets of Montreal on the night of July
  • 18. Created by Danielle ROY and directed by Frederic Metz the parade was inspired by the legendary
  • satire parade in Basel, Switzerland.
  • Perennial favourites like the Twins Parade continued to delight crowds of all ages, with more than
  • 500 pairs of twins participating. Pink Cendrillon presented on the Loto-Quebec stage and Le Grand
  • Bisou presented by Videotron were two highly creative events produced by Danielle ROY, and the
  • explosive performance of David “The Bullet” Smith, the human cannonball who shot 154 feet in the
  • air out of a cannon, delighted thousands.

SEE YOU NEXT JULY FOR THE 29th EDITION!

The Just For Laughs Festival thanks the Government of Canada, the Government of Québec and the City of Montreal for
their support and their trust which are essential ingredients to its continued growth and renewal. The Festival also salutes
Tourism Montreal and the Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles’ commitment to our major event’s development in the
heart of Montreal.

About the Just For Laughs Group

Founded in 1983, the Just For Laughs Group’s growth is concentrated on four major focal points: Festivals (in Montreal,
Toronto, Chicago and Paris); television production (most notably Ga gs seen in 135 countries and on 95 airlines); live shows
(Canadian tour dates for Jerry Seinfeld, Jeremy Hotz, John Pinette, Louis C.K., the Capital One Just For Laughs Comedy
Tour, North American dates for Family Guy Live!, Arturo Brachetti’s show Change in London); and talent management. Its
inaugural Montreal Festival 27 years ago is now the world's largest and most prestigious comedy event. The Group has
offices in Montreal, Paris, Los Angeles, Toronto and London.

Contact: Corrine Leon, Press Relations
Just For Laughs Festival presented by Videotron
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