The president of a Quebec-based leisure group says he’s “reviving” the Montreal Simply For Laughs competition with a scaled-down 2024 occasion that features reveals by Dane Prepare dinner, Bassem Youssef and Bobby Slayton.
ComediHa! CEO Sylvain Dad or mum-Bédard says it’s a “little bit of a miracle” the corporate is ready to announce a July lineup solely weeks after buying quite a lot of belongings from the financially troubled Only for Laughs comedy firm.
Whereas this 12 months’s competition can be smaller on the English facet, with about 15 reveals and 20-30 comedians, he stated it sends a robust sign.
“It was essential for us to make an announcement to the followers, to the completely different companions and to the comedy trade that we’re there, we’re nonetheless there, and we’re going to be there,” he stated in a telephone interview.
Only for Laughs cancelled its Montreal and Toronto festivals earlier this 12 months and sought creditor safety, blaming the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and the altering leisure trade for its monetary woes.
Dad or mum-Bédard’s ComediHa! introduced earlier this month {that a} decide accepted its bid to amass the manufacturers Juste pour rire, Simply For Laughs, Zoofest, ComedyPro, the Gags, in addition to the audiovisual catalogue.
The 2024 competition runs from July 18 to twenty-eight and can characteristic a free out of doors efficiency by Prepare dinner, about 15 reveals at varied venues, and a closing present that has but to be introduced. Will probably be run alongside the corporate’s French competition, referred to as “ComediHa! salue Montréal.”
Whereas the corporate had been planning the French Montreal occasion beneath its personal banner since March, Dad or mum-Bédard stated it solely confirmed on June 7 that it might be capable of run reveals beneath the Simply For Laughs identify.
He stated this 12 months’s version gained’t have a giant English-speaking gala, and the corporate gained’t produce tv this summer time.
Nevertheless, he promised that attendees gained’t be upset by the standard of the lineup. He expects Prepare dinner’s out of doors efficiency at Place des Festivals to attract 1000’s of followers, and stated it’s the primary time Youssef — described within the press launch as “the Egyptian-born coronary heart surgeon-turned-host of the Arab world’s largest political satire present” — has come to town.
Dad or mum-Bédard stated that by subsequent 12 months he needs to return the Montreal competition to its pre-pandemic glory days. Within the quick time period, he additionally needs to carry again touring throughout Canada with the Only for Laughs model.
He stated the corporate nonetheless hasn’t decided on the way forward for the Toronto Simply For Laughs competition however stated the corporate can be again within the metropolis in some type later this 12 months and is planning a fuller occasion for fall 2025.
A courtroom submitting from insolvency trustee PwC stated Groupe Juste pour rire booked a internet lack of greater than $7.9 million within the first 10 months of 2023. Court docket paperwork launched in March confirmed the corporate owed practically $22.5 million to collectors, whereas extra paperwork launched later confirmed an extra $5 million owed by the competition and different affiliated companies.
Dad or mum-Bédard stated he has solely been capable of rent again about 10 of the 130 or so staff who had been laid off from the Simply For Laughs comedy firm. He stated ComediHa! continues to be sifting by means of some 6,000 paperwork related to the belongings it bought, however he expressed confidence it may keep away from the monetary errors of its predecessor.
He stated his firm is beneath his management, making it extra “agile” in terms of decision-making. He additionally stated he wasn’t going to focus an excessive amount of on revenue, no less than for now.
“It’s unusual to listen to, however I’m honest about it,” he stated. “We don’t do it at first for revenue and for cash. We do it as a result of we like comedy, we like festivals, we like Montreal and Quebec Metropolis and we need to be proud to be the flagship of comedy all around the world.”
© 2024 The Canadian Press
