Just for Laughs Montreal 'The Review'

I just came back from Just for Laughs Festival, Montreal 2015! What a smorgasbord of comedy! Everything you can ask for! Even though I'm a comic, I took on the role of journalist to obtain content for my radio show on AM640, ‘Inside Jokes’ and the morning shows: Fred and Mel on 102.1 The Edge, and John Oakley on AM640 .I had to play the part! I had no idea what I was doing and I had many Liz Lemon moments that's for sure! Even though my hair started growing back after the chemo last Fall, I still chose to wear my wig so that I could at least look somewhat glam to get me some interviews. My short hair is a cross between Mario Lopez and Lisa Rinna in a windtunnel and I didn’t want that to be my first intro to some of these people. I got there on Wednesday July22 and had 4short days to get some good content. I obtained my media pass and got to meet the awesome folks at JFL and Comedypro like Julie, Talar, Dane and Chelsea. Man these folks work hard! JFL is one of the biggest comedy festivals in the world with so much going on these people don't sleep. I also ran into Bruce Hills, the COO and he was wonderful. We chatted on the phone ahead of time because he knows and works with my peeps at Corus and he gave me a warm welcome. Being treated so well helped. I arrived alone and tired. I had chemo the week before and wasn't sure I would have the stamina to pull all this off at the festival. Plus I had a nasty,gross cold! Piss me off! And after the long train ride, I was exhausted. Ya I'm going for sympathy now but what the heck , I didn't realize how hard it was until after I came back from the trip.

On the theme of not having a clue, I hit the Hyatt Bar in an effort to obtain my first interview. I kept telling myself not to be nervous and that I had already interviewed many comics for my Art of Comedy podcast and these guys and gals shouldn't be any different even with their celebrity status. I had been to many radio and music conferences over my decades in radio, like the NAB conference in the US and CMW in Toronto. I knew enough not to be a total tool but now I had to take the role of a journalist, which was very different. The first comic I found was Mike Wilmot and what a sweetheart! He was appearing in the popular Nasty Show and he gave me a great interview.

My good old friend Sonia, who lives in Montreal, met me at the bar and we were going for dinner and we ran into Shaun Majumder who most definitely thought I was someone else . It was funny because Sonia kept saying 'oh yeah I remember you', and thought he was someone we hung out with in the hood back home! I played the part and asked for an interview and he agreed and he would be around. I never did run into him again! But I'm still wondering who he may have mistaken me for. Sometimes people think I look like Dina Pugliese which is fine by me! She's a hall of fame superbabe and I'm totally ok with it but I can't imagine she is! I look like a swollen version of her and I'm sure if Shaun did mistaken me for her, he's thinking that Dina has been nibbling on too many cannoli.

Sonia and I went for dinner at a great place near the Hyatt and sat on the patio and enjoyed the view of the street festival. I had no idea JFL had such the street festival! Several city blocks are cordoned off, with massive stages for acts like Weird Al Jankovic and bands. One stage even had the coin swallower from America's Got Talent! It was the first night and I was loving it!

After dinner, we went to see Sebastian Maniscalco and joined a few hundred Montreal Italians at the show. Tim Nutt opened the show to try out some material and was fantastic. It takes a serious talent like Tim's to talk about celery for 30 minutes! I found it brilliant to take such a basic concept like a vegetable and turn it into a great set! I got an interview with Tim and we discussed it and his ability to talk celery and also do a set on buying a plunger! There is specific skill set to talk about such basic things at such length and still keep the crowd engaged. Then we go to Sebastian and he killed! He owned that place. His material was solid and he combines some great physical comedy too which is the icing on the cake. His ability to improvise with the audience and get right back to his set with ease is just an indication of how seasoned he truly is. I was amazed how much energy he put out during his set and wondered how could he pull off 10 shows at JFL and still have the stamina to do so. I'm not sure people truly realize how much stamina is required in stand up and to combine it with physical comedy and improvise with the audience is a whole different skill set. Not all comics can do it. Sebastian certainly can. I had an opportunity to interview him the next day and we discussed what it takes to do a show like that. He is an extremely focused talent and he enlightened me on some things that helps him keep his focus and stamina.

When Thursday hit, I had more time to see some of the speakers at the conference like Dana Gould's "You're Doing It Now". He was tremendous. He just told it the way it is. He had been through so much in his career from a writer for the Ben Stiller Show and the Simpsons to his big successful audition at SNL, He provided tremendous perspective and reminded the talent in the room 'You're doing it now". He told the audience that he had a mission to be on the Late Show with David Letterman and it consumed him. And finally came to realize that appearances on the Tonite Show, SNL and the Late Show 'are not bigger than you'. He quoted Stephen King:"Your art is the support system for your life, not your life as your support system for your art'. What I enjoyed the most is that he discussed this craft as 'Show' and 'Business' and that' s why its called Show Business! Of course I love when artists talk like this. I think too many artists and comedians focus on how funny they are and expect it to be enough to get work. But when you have limited concept on the importance of the business aspect then I don't think comedians , or any artist, should expect anything! Art for arts sake is repectable, but if its not engaging the audience you are standing in front of, then you cannot expect to achieve any monetary success or even enough to support your life. And that's key 'the audience you are in front of'. That's why I respect Maniscalco so much, I have seen him do so many of his sets and he caters it to a broader audience on late show appearances and then when he has a specific Italian audience, like Montreal, he skews it differently. That's why he will always be successful. A lot of local comics have discussed wanting corporate gigs because it pays well. But the audience of a corporate gig is not the same as the people in a comedy club. The audience at a corporate gig did not necessarily go to the event to see a comedian. They went for many other reasons. The audience that goes to a comedy club, pays to see comedy. So right there you have a more captive, and in many ways, easier audience to appease. They want to be there and want to see you. And as a comic, you are in the comfort of being around other comics and the room is set up for comedy. At corporate events, its complete opposite. The room is often too well lit, the tables are not intimiate enough or close enough to the stage to create intimacy with the audience, and often there aren't other comics around to watch your back. I have spent most of my 20 years in stand up comedy doing these types of gigs and you are flying solo! But one thing remains, its about the audience, not your art. If its about your art, then you will just keep playing small rooms. Which is fine too! Why not! In my podcast, and my interviews with comics at the festival I explored this area in depth. And it is clear, the one's who understood the business aspect of the business were among the most successful. After Dana Gould, I watched the 'Comedy Series Gold Rush' which discussed 'content is king and comedy is queen'. It was a panel of executives and programmers from HBO, FOX, Too Funny or Die, Hulu, and CTV. It was fantastic. The panel talked about what it takes to pitch comedy content and how competitive the market is now. They all showed clips of some of their hot shows and I was intrigued by CTV's choice "Letterkenney". The trailer showed 7million views on Youtube" and I loved that , a ready-made audience. As a career salesperson, this is simply scrumptious for advertisers!

I also met Rebecca Trent, who is the owner of a comedy club Creek and Cave in NYC. I had a great interview with her on what she looks for in talent, and comics in general. I feel its important if I'm going to deliver a program on comedy that includes people from all aspects of the industry, not just talent. The talent is only showcased if club owners like Rebecca find them relevant so its important to find out what they look for. Her club has some top talent through its doors like Colin Quinn and Chris Gethard, I look forward to visiting her club soon. Then I met Katherine Middleton, a transgender tattoo artist who will soon host her own reality show. Kate was honest and fascinating and I was excited to conduct my own Diane Sawyer-Caitlyn Jenner interview. Soon after I ran into Todd Glass to have my first Liz Lemon moment. I put on head phones which I hooked into my mic and as I removed my headphones, my wig shifted! It didn't fall off but it moved and while Todd didn't see it, I'm positive all the other people in the Hyatt bar did! I quickly readjusted and started jamming my own hair under the wig and readjusted. Todd is a prince anyway and I'm sure it wouldn't have bothered him. He knows about adversity. I kind of wish I told some comics about my situation but I didn't want to make it about me but I did want to prepare them in case I had an epic fail like I did with my wig. I didn't' want to sound like a hack during the interviews and I wanted them to respect me so that's why I wish I told them.

Later I got to interview Andy Kindler who was an absolute sweetheart. I had asked him for an interview when he was entering an elevator and he couldn't do it but when he saw me later he felt so bad he gave me an interview. Andy was honest and transparent which probably why he gets asked to do the State of the Industry each year at JFL. Its so refreshing to hear such honesty about the comedy world and even some comics. He basically calls them out! He doesn't care their magnitude in thebusiness, he calls them out! After the Kindler interview, I saw the dude I came to see---Bill Burr. He's the interview I wanted. I ran into Bill and his manager in the bar and he wasn't able to do an interview but graciously agreed to a picture. I fumbled for my phone which was DEAD---no batteries left! There was an awkward pause while Bill, his manager and I stared at the stupid thing, how embarrassing. Bill was sweet and simply said that's what's wrong with using phones rather than real cameras these days. He patted my back and said 'maybe next time'. He was sweet and kind and I felt like a total KNOB! I found the whole thing freakin hilarious even and then felt sorry for myself. Then I started laughing. WTF, after cancer , this stuff can't matter. It simply can't. The whole reason going to the event was to check off my bucket list and I couldn't start to get caught up in my old Type A ways . When Friday arrived it was showtime. I had been researching the comics for weeks and even during the festival, going back to my room to google the shit out of them. Red carpet check in was 230pm and I was ready! The media was lined up tight on the red carpet, as only 30 were allowed. I was beyond grateful to Julies Giles for getting me a spot---this was a big deal. I also had an interview with Chris Hardwick but he was only available during the red carpet so I missed him! It was a bummer but I didn't want to risk missing multiple interviews while only getting one. The red carpet seemed to be the right choice, jackpot! I got interviews with Kevin Hart, Dana Gould, Ellie Kemper, TJ Miller, Jeff Ross and the list goes on. They were all enlightening and I was ecstatic. After the red carpet, I had to rush to meet my brother Joe and his wife Norma, who happened to be in town with friends John and Eris. We all had dinner before going to see the Kevin Hart show. Wow, he is one huge talent. On the red carpet , Hart told me its imperative for comics to write every day and be committed to the craft and its evident when you watch his show. I was amused by what occurs before his show. There were numerous announcements warning audience members to keep the phones turned off during the show as its all original material. I mean, repeated, repeated warnings. Then the MC came up and he was hilarious! And he also reminded the 14,000+ audience in the Bell Centre to keep phones off. First he came up and said '4 people were removed because they had their cell phone on', then after the next opening comic, he came up said '10 people were removed'. I'm not sure if it was all true, but it was evident they were not taking chances of people recording the show. This is what I discuss in many podcasts with many comics about the subject of stealing of material. Hart is on a multi city tour with his show 'What Now?' and he can't afford any of his material to get out ahead of time. Comedy material is sacred, yet too many people use it as their own. You can be at a party and someone will site a joke but not necessarily give credit to the comic. But a person would never recite music lyrics without indicating which musician sang /wrote it. That's the part of the art of comedy that is gravely unfortunate but understandably difficult to manage. It doesn't mean I can't create awareness on the issue, in name of the craft, and for the artists who work so hard to create it for our entertainment. Overall, the Hart show was stupendous. Truly larger than life. Its evident he takes his work seriously, but of course , like most comics, not himself. Something I think is key to the success of comics, to not take themselves too seriously. After all, it is comedy.

And finally on Saturday night, I attended the famous Nasty Show which was the talk of the festival! It featured host Mike Ward along with Mike Wilmot, Jimmy Carr, Luenell, Gilbert Godfried and Artie Lange. Wow! I had bumped into Jimmy Carr earlier in the day and I raved how great he is and he assumed because of his performance in the Roastmasters event which was also the talk of the festival. I most definitely told him I was a fan way before that! He's the King of Comebacks and his quick wit is inspiring as a comic! Watching the other comics on this bill was a treat in itself then suddenly a surprise set by Louis CK! The crowd roared when he came on stage. He was evidently trying new material and it worked because of his charming delivery.

JFL Montreal 2015 was exhilarating and a treat for a comedy fan like me. I can't wait for JFL42 Toronto in September!

#JFL #JFLMontreal2015 #Comedypro #KevinHart #NastyShow #CreekandCave #SebastianManiscalco #DanaGould #ToddGlass #MikeWilmot #TimNutt