Canadian funnyman Brent Butt says the news of Just for Laughs Montreal鈥檚 financial woes has him worried for up-and-coming comedians.
The company that operates the Montreal festival, Groupe Juste pour rire Inc., announced Tuesday that it was cancelling this year鈥檚 event and filing for creditor protection.
Butt first performed at the festival in 1992, and says it was pivotal to his career.
The creator of 鈥淐orner Gas鈥� says connections he made at the festival hooked him up with a producer in Vancouver, and the rest was history.
He says it鈥檚 a common path for comedians, and if JFL Montreal doesn鈥檛 come back after restructuring, it will leave a hole in the industry.
He鈥檚 one of several members of the comedy world say they鈥檙e saddened by the cancellation, whose years of shows have highlighted some of the industry鈥檚 biggest names and launched the careers of many comedians.
Groupe Juste pour rire Inc., said its English and French festivals this summer in Montreal would be cancelled, but it plans to continue operations 鈥渋n a scaled-down format鈥� as it restructures and hopes the festival will return in 2025.
Kelly Taylor, a comedian from Prince Albert, Sask., said performing at the festival was the one opportunity he had to play in front of show bookers who wouldn鈥檛 have come to see his act at home.
鈥淚t was one of these things where you could get something to happen, over a week, you have all these different people come watch you,鈥� Taylor said in a phone interview from a Winnipeg comedy club.
Taylor鈥檚 first performance at Just For Laughs, in 2005, remains his most successful: he placed second in a competition for Canadian comics, and his act got him booked for more shows at the festival that year 鈥� and helped him find a manager.
鈥淎 lot of good came out of it, for sure,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of sad that it鈥檚 not happening this year 鈥� unless I didn鈥檛 get in, then I鈥檓 not too worried about it, as long as it comes back again,鈥� he joked.
Matt Labov, a publicist in Los Angeles who has worked with comedians including Mark Normand, Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen 鈥� and represented Dave Chapelle in the early 2000s 鈥� said the cancellation is 鈥渁 sad day for comedy,鈥�
鈥淭his is not like music, where there鈥檚 tons of music festivals,鈥� he said in an interview. Montreal鈥檚 festival, Labov added, has been 鈥渟uch an important place, a launching pad and such an important destination for comedy in a world that doesn鈥檛 have a lot of destinations, and I can only hope that they get back on their feet.鈥�
Writer and comedian Mark Critch was similarly saddened by the news. He posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that JFL gave him many opportunities.
Meanwhile, Rick Mercer posted that the development was 鈥渁 kick in the guts.鈥�
Julien Provencher-Proulx, a spokesman for Groupe Juste pour rire, confirmed that 75 employees, around 70 per cent of the company鈥檚 workforce, were laid off Tuesday. He wrote in an email that people who had purchased tickets can receive refunds.
In addition to the festival, a number of other upcoming Groupe Juste pour rire performances in Quebec were cancelled 鈥� though several of the artists who had been booked for those dates said on social media they would produce the shows themselves.
Long touted as the world鈥檚 largest comedy festival, Just For Laughs Montreal first ran in 1983. It has expanded with events in other cities and television programs, including the Just for Laughs Gags prank show. Over the years, the festival has presented many of the biggest names in standup comedy, including Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle, Amy Schumer and Jerry Seinfeld. In addition to ticketed indoor shows, the French and English festivals featured free outdoor performances.
The Toronto Just for Laughs festival, set to take place in September, has not been cancelled, Provencher-Proulx said, nor has the festival in Austin, Texas.
Just pour rire blamed its financial woes on a number of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and the changing entertainment industry.
The company, whose officials declined interview requests, said it is looking for new investors, or buyers for parts of its business, and that it hopes to preserve operations 鈥渁s much as possible.鈥� It is 51 per cent owned by Bell and Montreal event promoter Evenko, while Los Angeles-based talent agency Creative Artists Agency owns 49 per cent.
Fran莽ois Brouard, the associate director of the Observatoire de l鈥檋umour, an organization that brings together comedians and researchers who study comedy, said the festival may have struggled to adapt to changing trends in French-language comedy in Quebec.
The festival said in 2023 that it would no longer put on French-language galas, he said, adding that Quebec鈥檚 francophone comedians are increasingly reaching audiences online and have become less dependent on events like the festival to build a fan base.
鈥淢aybe there鈥檚 a lack of renewal,鈥� said Brouard, who is also a business professor at Carleton University.
Martin Roy, the CEO of Quebec festival association the Regroupement des 茅v茅nements majeurs internationaux, said that while he鈥檚 saddened by the news, he鈥檚 not surprised.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been saying for months, even years, that things are not going well in the festival sector, in particular for the festivals that are presented free of charge, among others, in downtown Montreal,鈥� he said in an interview. Inflation has pushed the price of hosting a festival up by 35 to 40 per cent since 2019, he said.
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