Kumar, Acaster, Brady and more...

James Acaster, Tom Allen, Fern Brady, Nish Kumar, Phil Wang and Sindhu Vee will be representing the UK at this year’s Just For Laughs festival in Montreal.

All but Acaster will be taking part in the event’s traditional Brit(ish) showcase gig, which also features the previously announced Dara Ó Briain as a special guest.

Meanwhile, Acaster will be performing his show Heckles Welcome, which invites contributions from the crowd, while Ó Briain will also be presenting a solo show.

Festival stalwart Jimmy Carr –  well-known for his appearances on the late-night Nasty Show there –  has also joined this year’s 40th anniversary programme, with a date of his Terribly Funny 2.0 tour.

The names were revealed as part of a major announcement today that also includes shows from Amy Schumer, Katherine Ryan, Maria Bamford, Fortune Feimster, Jacqueline Novak, Debra DiGiovanni and Jimmy O. Yang.

Just For Laughs also features an Off-JFL strand, described as ‘the festival’s edgy sibling’ which will feature shows from Australia’s Rhys Nicholson and Randy Feltface, Canada’s DeAnne Smith and Mark Forward, and America’s Rosebud Baker, Matteo Lane and Atsuko Okatsuk.

The festival  is a magnet for TV and live comedy executives from Los Angeles and New York, and has been credited with helping to launch the careers of several now famous comedians. A dedicated ComedyPro strand offers events specifically targetted to ‘industry trailblazers and die-hard comedy fans’.

Those comics announced today join previously revealed names such as Tommy Tiernan, Hannah Gadsby, Marc Maron, Patton Oswalt, Chelsea Handler, Jo Koy. Iliza Shlesinger, Russell Peters and Ronny Chieng plus arena shows from Kevin Hart and Bill Burr.

This year’s festival runs from July 13 to 31, with a focus on French language programming at the start, and English at the end.

Tickets will be available to the public at 3pm UK time from  Friday on the official website – www.hahaha.com – which also contains details of all the shows

Published: 25 May 2022