Just For Laughs

My love of stand up comedy has been pretty well documented over the years. What can I say? I love to laugh. I prefer seeing a good stand up comedian than a band. I have no problem dropping $30 to see someone like Steven Wright or Billy Connolly (who I’ve seen 3 times, actually) rather than paying hyper-inflated ticket prices to see any number of untalented hacks music groups.

So now that I’m living in Montreal, I’m taking advantage of the renowned Just For Laughs comedy festival, taking place as we speak. There was no way I could spend the summer here and miss out on the festival, so once I got my internet hooked up this past weekend, I hopped online and started checking out the available shows. Most of Canada will be familiar with the gala events, as seen on the Comedy Network, but I wanted to see something a little bit more raw and unrefined. So that solved it: I had to check out the Club shows.

Naturally, club comics are a bit more of a risk, in terms of the quality of the content, than the higher profile shows, but I think I’ve found a good one. Yes, dear friends, ol’ Al grabbed a ticket for The Nasty Show this Thursday. To be honest, I haven’t heard of the majority of the acts that will be performing, but when I saw that Dom Irrera was on the bill, I had to grab a ticket.

I came across Dom’s work back in about 1988 when I picked up one of the Just For Laughs comedy cassettes. I won’t pretend that he’s a comedic genius, but the man makes me laugh and, really, that’s all I’m asking out of a comedian. In all reality, he’ll probably be using much of the same material I remember from back in the 80s, but that would be the case with most comedians nowadays. The only one I ever saw who put on completely different acts each time I saw him was Billy Connolly.

At any rate, after years and years of talking about seeing the festival, I’m FINALLY going to see a part of it in person. Til next time…

****UPDATE: I decided I didn't feel like waiting another day to enjoy the festival, so I picked up a "last minute" ticket to Stewart Lee's show at the Cabaret Juste Pour Rire. I know nothing about this guy, aside from the fact that he's British, so it's anyone's guess as to whether he's any good. Here's hoping he is!****