The Road to Just For Laughs

The Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal will be celebrating its 30th year in July 2012. Described aptly by The Hollywood Reporter as the, “Woodstock of Comedy,” the festival is the yearly gathering spot for comedians from all over the world to showcase their talents, check out new comedy and (hopefully) get noticed.
Over 1,400 executives and industry people flocked to the festival this year. The Just For Laughs website describes the festival as, “the hottest breeding ground for new talents,” and 2011 proved to be their most successful year to date. An extension to the length of the festival to 20 days was a gamble that greatly paid off. Over 135,000 tickets were sold to 158 shows, featuring almost 3,700 artists, from 20 different countries.
Toronto-based comedian, Eric Andrews, 23, received a Canadian Comedy Award this year for Best Stand-Up Newcomer. Just under four years into his career, Andrews has showcased for Just For Laughs producers twice; his most recent time this fall. Having a solid reputation in the community has helped him get noticed.
“The first time I got referred by a bigger comic and the second time I was referred by an agent,” he said.
Zoe Randall, talent booker for Just For Laughs, travels all over the world scouting talent for the festival. In an average year, she sees about 150 comedians in venues across Canada, with about another 150 video submissions. Included in that mix are additional names that are well-known enough that a showcase isn’t needed. When it’s all said and done, just 20-30 comics are selected for the festival, including the Homegrown Comic Competition, which features only Canadian comics.
“The guidelines for what I’m looking for year to year for the showcasing process may vary... It’s hard to set rules and it’s hard to get the word out to the community that it isn’t such a black and white process,” she said. 
Randall added that some comedians may be considered years after they have showcased, due to the varying needs of the shows each year. Notes are always taken and a lengthy database of comedians is frequently reviewed.
“There’s no real list of particular qualities that I look for in a comic, other than a quality performer with writing skills, who can deliver under pressure in the environment we’ve put them in,” she said.
Comedy Bar in Toronto recently hosted a Just For Laughs showcase that featured four well-known sketch troupes. The club’s owner, Gary Rideout, Jr., visits Just For Laughs every year to not only seek out talent for his club, but to see friends perform as well. He said that Just For Laughs reps are always looking out for talent and will call him and ask what’s going on, even if there isn’t a showcase.
Along with the nation-wide Just For Laughs comedy tours that could potentially be booked from an appearance at the festival, Rideout also emphasizes another common reason why Canadian comics want to be featured there.
“The great thing about going to the festival for a comic is the opportunity to - especially for a Canadian comedian - if you’re doing sets there, then you’re being seen by a room full of American industry,” he said.  “Then you can have meetings while you are there. There are times set up during the day for meetings with different managers and agents. If you can get representation before you go to the States, it’s better than just leaping into the ocean and hoping to find a boat.”
Andrews said that naturally this is the big draw for him and other Canadian comics; to be seen by execs from the U.S. He suggests, however, to build your act and hone your craft as much as you can, before you take that leap.
“Canada is a great place to start and to get your base,” he said. “Just For Laughs is very important and it’s a very prestigious thing, to be invited to the festival, but you shouldn’t rush it. It should come when you can handle everything after it, if it all goes well. Have a plan and be ready for what might come from it.”

-Leslie Marciniak