Just For Laughs 39th festival goes hybrid this summer

The 39^th edition of the Just For Laughs comedy festival will be back to provide Montreal comedy fans its annual summer fix of laughs from July 26-31. However, as a result of the changing face of international travel and public health and safety guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s festival will offer a hybrid of in-person and digital programming not only from Montreal, but also originating from Los Angeles and New York City.

Laugh Out Loud (LOL), comedian Kevin Hart’s global comedy brand and multi-platform entertainment company, will once again participate as the festival’s official programming partner, and will include over 200 artists from around the comedy world as part of this year’s line-up.

And the best part is that all digital Just For Laughs shows will be offered to the public free of charge.

This year’s highlights include: digital stand-up shows and concept shows originating from Montreal, L.A. and New York; the annual Just For Laughs Awards Show, which honors the best in the comedy business and was previously open to solely industry people, will be not only 100% virtual, but for the first time, will be open to all audiences so that they could stream it free of charge; live, in-person tapings of original programming featuring some of Canada’s finest comics, which will both air and stream on the Bell Media network; tapings of in-person comedy specials that will also feature a line-up of Canada’s top comics for Just For Laughs’ new record label JFL Originals, and will be internationally released as an album this fall; the return of the popular ComedyPRO industry conference, which will run from July 28-31 and be 100% digital, and feature such returning events as the New Faces showcase, Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch presentation, Eat My Shorts, Stand Up & Pitch and 15 Minutes with A Power Broker.

More programming announcements, as well as the unveiling of this year’s festival line-up, will happen within the next few weeks. For more information, go to www.hahaha.com .