Although the 39th edition of the Just For Laughs festival is over, there’s still time to catch many of the shows that were recorded in Montreal, New York and L.A. on www.hahaha.com, until August 31, or for later broadcast on CTV Comedy Channel and/or the Crave streaming service. I managed to catch five in-person shows at the L’Astral and Club Soda last week, which featured some of the best that the Montreal and Canadian comedy scenes have to offer. The solo specials that featured comics David Merheje, DeAnn Smith, Chris Locke, Sophie Buddle, and Chris Robinson could have been titled “The Complete (insert name here)”, with each comic giving a 30-minute showcase of their best material, and were ideal for fans who like their comedy in either ethnic, cerebral, ridiculous, blue, or edgy modes. New Faces: Canada gave living proof why this series of showcases are a much sought-after barometer of the future of comedy, and this one was no exception, especially up and comers Travis Lindsay, Al Val, Harrison Weinreb and Salma Hindy. Just For Laughs Live in Montreal, hosted by the always reliably funny Jon Dore, was another fine showcase of Montreal’s and Canada’s comedy elite, such as Dino Archie, Jen Grant, Cassie Cao and Rodney Ramsey.
Also on the Just For Laughs front, they will be presenting popular American comedian Sebastian Maniscalco in Montreal for one night only on March 18, 2022 at the Bell Centre, as part of his “Nobody Does This” Tour that has been playing to sold out crowds across the U.S. There will also be shows at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on March 17, and at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on March 19. To purchase tickets, go to www.evenko.ca.
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Another Montreal festival that its multitude of fans await its eventual return is the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival. However, from August 7 – 20 at the L’Astral or Mtelus venues, those devoted Osheaga fans can have a taste of some of the festival’s best past performers with “Osheaga Through the Ages”, a series of concerts that star some of Osheaga’s best known local performers who helped to put Osheaga on the not-to-be-missed festival map since its beginnings. Scheduled to appear in the concert series are Rymz and guests and Foreign Diplomats (both August 7); Le Couleur & Paupiere (August 12); Kallitechnis with Nana Zen (August 13); Elephant Stone with Meggie Lennon (August 14); and Matt Holubowski with Marilyne Leonard (August 20). To purchase tickets, go to www.evenko.ca.
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The dates for the series of performances of Helen Simard’s multi-disciplinary show “Papillon (L’Envolee), which mixes dance and hip-hop music through three short solo presentations, have just been unveiled. Two different ways of experiencing this show are going to be offered to the public. Two performances that will feature live music takes place at the Garden of Centre St. Jax on August 16 and 23 and no reservations are required. Four performances in an intimate setting will take place at private locations in these Montreal districts: Plateau Mont Royal (August 12), Centre Sud (August 22), Verdun (September 11) and Cote St. Luc (September 12). Reservations are required for each show (tickets are free of charge) and can be made at www.wafdcreations.com. The actual location of each performance will be revealed 24 hours before show time. Spaces are limited.
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The critically-acclaimed Canadian TV series “Mohawk Girls”, which is produced locally by Rezolution Pictures, was recently picked up for broadcast in the U.S. Right now, all five seasons can be viewed on the Peacock streaming service, which is owned by NBC/Universal. The award-winning dramedy series offers a comedic look at four modern-day 20-something women who have the dilemma of trying to stay faithful to their Mohawk roots, while navigating everyday life in the 21st century and the issues that go with it such as work, love and sex. “Mohawk Girls” can also be seen on the CBC Gem streaming service.
Throughout most of this month, Montreal will be covered in the red, white and green of Italy with the annual ItalfestMTL (formerly known as Montreal’s Italian Week), which is being presented by Mastro and San Daniele as a cornucopia of everything Italian when it comes to art, culture, history and especially food.
The festivities were formally announced at a press conference that took place on August 3, and its programming will be a hybrid of in-person and virtual presentations.
ItalfestMTL highlights include concert nights starring a number of singers such as Daniela Fiorentino and Brigitte Pace (August 13), Anna Liani (August 19) and Marco Bocchicchio and Manny Blu (August 20); a performance of the classic Italian opera “Rigoletto” (August 22); a fashion show featuring the works of a number of Italian-Canadian designers (August 21); stand-up comedy shows featuring popular Italian Montreal comics Franco Taddeo (August 11), Guido Grasso (August 18) and Joe Cacchione (August 19); culinary capsule presentations featuring three chefs who will cook their favorite Italian recipes (August 8, 15 and 22); for the kids, there’s storytime in Italian with Sara Ottoboni and actor Tina Mancini (August 7, 14, and 21); a virtual exhibition called “A riveder le stelle. Dante Istoriato” that celebrates the 700th anniversary of the birth of Italian author Dante Alighieri and makes his most famous work “The Divine Comedy” more accessible to the general public (August 6-22).
For more information about this year’s ItalfestMTL and its schedule of programming, go to www.italfestmtl.ca.
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