Just For Laughs announces ComedyPRO programming. Awards recipients include Bert Kreischer and Quinta Brunson
June 23, 2023 Matt Kleinschmidt Features, Festivals, Just For Laughs
We’re a little over a month out from the ComedyPRO programming part of Just For Laughs festival and as the weeks tick on we’re hearing more an more about what the industry-facing portion of the festival has in store for us.
JUST FOR LAUGHS COMEDYPRO AWARDS
Today they announced the winners of their annual comedy awards that honor some of the movers and shakers in comedy, awarding them for their work. The initial list of this year’s recipients include….
Quinta Brunson to accept Comedy Person Of The Year
Bert Kreischer to accept Stand-up Comedian Of The Year
Ronny Chieng to accept Breakout Comedy Star Of The Year
Mae Martin to accept Rising Comedy Star Of The Year
The awards show will be held on Friday, July 18th at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Grand Salon Ballroom at 3pm.
MORE COMEDYPRO EVENTS
AIRPLANE! Live All-Star Cast Read directed by David Zucker – Thursday, July 27 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Grand Salon Ballroom | 4pm
Join us in celebrating the 43rd anniversary of the ground-breaking and legendary comedy film, AIRPLANE! with a raucously fun live staged reading of select scenes from the original script, by an All-Star cast of comedians and surprise fan-favorite guests. Writer-Director David Zucker will then join us “In Conversation” for candid insights and stories from his upcoming book, Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! (St. Martin’s Press, Oct, 3, 2023).
Universal Television presents: The Cast of KILLING IT – Thursday, July 27 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Grand Salon Ballroom | 2:30pm
Meet the cast of KILLING IT, Peacock’s hit series about class, capitalism, and one man’s quest to achieve the American Dream. But first he has to overcome vicious criminals, nature run wild, and worst of all, corporate America. This panel will feature never-before-seen clips from the series’ upcoming sophomore season, and hilarious behind-the-scenes stories from its stars who are sure to leave you laughing! KILLING IT, Season 2 returns this summer on Peacock.
Panel Features: Craig Robinson, Rell Battle, and Claudia O’Doherty
HULU presents THIS FOOL: Sneak Peek Screening And Cast Conversation – Wednesday, July 26 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Inspiration Room | 4:30pm
Join us for a special sneak peek screening of the season two premiere episode of the critically acclaimed HULU series THIS FOOL and a conversation with its “primo” stars, Chris Estrada and Frankie Quiñones. Chris and Frankie will discuss their journey from stand up to scripted TV, their hilarious on-screen dynamics and the importance of authentic on-screen representation. If we are lucky, they may even give some hugs to us thugs. THIS FOOL season two premieres on July 28th on Hulu.
Panel Features: Chris Estrada and Frankie Quiñones
CRAVE presents: The Cast and Creators of THE DESSERT –Thursday, July 27 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Inspiration Room | 3pm
Crave serves up the next generation of irreverent Canadian sketch comedy with an all-out, boundary-pushing expedition to the edge of decency. Join the executives, cast and creators of THE DESSERT as they take us through the creative development process of this audacious and rapid-fire celebration of the absurd. Executive Produced by Bruce McCulloch (Kids In the Hall), and Produced by LaRue Entertainment and Platonic Friends Productions the series premieres on Crave July 7th.
This panel discussion will be moderated by Executive Producer, Max Kerman and joined by Shane Cunningham, Nathan Popalis, Mike Veerman, Isabella Campbell, Jillian Smart, Justin Stockman,
Faith In Comedy: In Conversation with Ramy Youssef – Saturday, July 29 2023 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Inspiration Room | 1pm
Award-winning creator and comedian Ramy Youssef artfully portrays his Muslim faith with both devotion and defiance in his hit Hulu comedy show Ramy, while also expressing his faith in the divine art of stand-up comedy each time he takes the stage. Ramy and a special guest will discuss the polarizing, unifying, and contradictory intersections of religion and comedy in their personal writing and performance.
Featuring: Ramy Youssef
In Conversation with Please Don’t Destroy – Saturday, July 29 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Grand Salon Ballroom | 12:30pm
From Twitter to Studio 8H and now to the silver screen! Please Don’t Destroy trio Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy are live and In Conversation for the first time at JFL.
Join this hysterical trio as we hear the origin story of how they came together, rose through the SNL Digital Shorts ranks, and made the leap from short-form to long-form with their feature film, which is produced by Judd Apatow, coming out on November 17th on Peacock.
Panel features: Ben Marshall, John Higgins, Martin Herlihy
COMEDYPRO’S PREMIUM PODCASTS
The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi – Wednesday, July 26 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Ovation Room | 2:30pm
Stand-up comedian and lifelong cynic Gianmarco Soresi interviews people more famous than him about all the downsides to their life. This is a podcast where complaining is encouraged, and negativity is celebrated. Misery loves company, and so does ComedyPRO! Leave your optimism at the door, and join Gianmarco and co-host Russell Daniels in debunking silver linings.
Let’s Make A Sci-Fi – Wednesday, July 26 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Ovation Room | 4:45pm
Can three comedians create a legit sci-fi movie? Comedians Ryan Beil, Maddy Kelly, and Mark Chavez are going to find out. In this hour-long live presentation of the Webby Award-winning podcast from CBC Podcasts, the three hosts sit down with a guest to pitch each other ideas for a serious science fiction movie and then hilariously hash it out to determine which idea Hollywood should make. Named, “Best Podcast of 2022” by The New Yorker; “A fun and lovely series” by Vulture and “Best Podcast of 2022” by Amazon Music.
StraightioLab – Thursday, July 27 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Ovation Room | 12:30pm
Straight culture: terrifying, fascinating, and endlessly entertaining. Very smart comedians George Civeris and Sam Taggart get to the BOTTOM of the mystery that is heterosexuality and its intricacies on their intellectual and hilarious TOP notch podcast StraightioLab. Scared? Good. From Big Money Players Network.
Kill Me Now with Judy Gold – Thursday, July 27 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Ovation Room 2pm
Award winning comedian and writer, Judy Gold always seems to be pissed-off about something. Whether it’s your cheap friend who always gets up from the table when the check comes, to socio-economic injustices, we can all get angry at the mundane sometimes. So, come laugh your ass off while Judy vents with wit, humor and passion on her podcast Kill Me Now.
My Momma Told Me – Friday, July 28 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Ovation Room | 11am
From Big Money Players Network, Comedians Langston Kerman and David Gborie take a deep dive into the most exciting, ground-breaking and sometimes problematic Black conspiracy theories. They’ll have guests cover silly conspiracies, scary conspiracies and conspiracies they learned from that uncle who used to wear jeans when he went swimming in the public pool.
Steph Infection: The Podcast – Friday, July 28 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Ovation Room 12:30pm
Comedian Steph Tolev wants to know what’s going on with your body. Gross ailments, crazy accidents, things doctors can’t figure out, and anything in between. Drop by and check in at the Ovation room for Steph Infection: The Podcast.
What’s Up Fool? – Friday, July 28 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Ovation Room | 4:30pm
Comedian Felipe Esparza talks with random people he finds interesting. It might be somebody kind of famous or it might be that homeless guy at the end of your street who you walk past every day without saying hello. Everyone has a story to tell about how they got where they are, no matter who they are.
The Best Hang Podcast – Thursday, July 27 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Ovation Room | 11am
Acast’s The Best Hang Podcast is a comedic weekly pop culture review, co-hosted by seasoned conversationalist Mike Veerman, Arkells frontman Max Kerman and comedian Shane Cunningham. Authentic and candid updates that cover media, pop culture, sports and the hosts’ unconventional circle of friends.
Phone a Friend with Jessi Cruickshank – Saturday, July 29 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Ovation Room | 12pm
Comedian Jessi Cruickshank needed a safe space to talk about EVERYTHING without getting in trouble, and she’s found it at ComedyPRO. On her podcast, Jessi gives her hot takes on what’s happening in the world, in her home and in Pop Culture. But when she wants to dive deeper, she’ll get to Phone a Friend!
and the previously announced Giggly Squad – Thursday, July 27 | Club Soda | 9:30pm
NEW FACES
The highly anticipated New Faces showcase happens every year which highlights some of the funny people that the industry should pay attention to. Festival organizers usually announce those selected a bit closer to the ComedyPRO event (this year the plan is to announce on July 24th) but in the meantime they did announce the dates for when the shows will happen.
New Faces of Comedy: Group 1 – Wed, July 26 | Monument National – Ludger-Duvernay | 7pm
New Faces of Comedy: Group 2 – Wed, July 26 | Monument National – Ludger-Duvernay | 9:30pm
New Faces of Comedy: Creators – Thurs, July 27 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Grand Salon Ballroom | 1pm
New Faces of Comedy: Characters – Thurs, July 27 | Monument National – Ludger-Duvernay | 7pm
New Faces of Comedy: Unrepped – Thurs, July 27 | Monument National – Ludger-Duvernay | 9:30pm
New Faces of Comedy: International – Fri, July 28 | Monument National – Ludger-Duvernay | 7pm
New Faces of Comedy: Canada – Fri, July 28 | Salle Ludger-Duvernay, Monument-National | 9:30pm
VARIETY’S COMICS TO WATCH
Variety announced its annual list of Comics To Watch a few weeks back. This list is celebrated at the festival with a daytime mixer/conversation followed by a night time stand-up performance showcase.
Variety “10 Comics To Watch” Showcase – Saturday, July 29 | Monument National- Ludger-Duvernay | 9:30pm
Participating: Hannah Berner, Kurtis Conner, Zarna Garg, Ian Lara, Joanne McNally, Leanne Morgan, Nimesh Patel, Brian Simpson, Sabrina Wu.
Varietys’s “10 Comics to Watch” Uncensored – Friday, July 28 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Inspiration Room | 12:30pm
We sit down with Variety’s 2023 “10 Comics to Watch” for an hour of spontaneous and honest conversation about comedy. Hear about their struggles, epiphanies, crashes and breakthroughs, as these best and brightest comics of the year come together to share their comedy origin stories and what’s next for them on the road ahead.
Participating: Hannah Berner, Kurtis Conner, Zarna Garg, Ian Lara, Joanne McNally, Leanne Morgan, Nimesh Patel, Brian Simpson, Sabrina Wu.
Tickets for ComedyPRO are available for purchase on JFL’s website.
