21 shows in 19 days: A Just For Laughs post-festival report

Gilbert Rozon

Just For Laughs founder Gilbert Rozon and COO Bruce Hills looked a little tired, but were all smiles as they met the press late last Sunday morning to officially wrap up the 32^nd edition of the festival.

And they had every reason to smile. This year, the festival attracted over 1.3 million visitors and sold over 200,000 tickets during its 19-day run of shows in English and French that were performed by over 200 comics from around the world.

“This is a great, vast festival,” said Rozon. “And I have to thank the Juste pour rire and Just For Laughs teams, because what they did was out of this world.”

Hills remarked how Just For Laughs exploded on social media this year, with more than 10 million followers on Twitter, and how it captured a younger demographic, not to mention attracted 20% more industry people, especially due to the fact that the monumental Comiccon in San Diego was happening at the same time.

“The (comedy) industry can’t believe the caliber of talent and fans that come to the festival. It shows their increasing love affair not only with the festival, but also with the fans and Montreal,” he said.

Personally speaking, this is the 29^th time I have attended Just For Laughs (and the 15^th time I am covering it as a member of the media), and I am increasingly impressed with how this festival has evolved and grown tremendously since I attended my first Just For Laughs show back in 1986 (which was Jerry Lewis’ Vegas-style show at Place des Arts). After watching a near personal record of 21 shows over the past 19 days of the festival, I have gathered my share of highlights and favorite moments; so here is my highlight reel of what I saw at the 2014 Just For Laughs festival.

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The old and new school of comedy were well represented by the hosts of the flagship Videotron Gala shows. Don Rickles’ gala started off with performances by four top comics (Alonzo Bodden, Tom Papa, Adam Hills and Caroline Rhea). This was followed by an hour-long concert performance by Rickles, which was reminiscent of a typical Las Vegas-style show of the 1960s, complete with dancing girls and a live orchestra onstage. Rickles, who is 88 years old, might have looked frail and performed his entire set seated on a chair, but his insult comedy spark was still there, as he masterfully interacted with audience members and dished out one jab after another without missing a beat. He also showed his rarely-heard talent as a singer, and expressed his humble gratitude of having a long career alongside some of the greatest names in show business, as well as a loving and supportive family. It’s great to see a legend as Don Rickles still going strong after 60 years in the entertainment scene.

Seth Rogen at the Just For Laughs Awards Show

On the other side of the comedy spectrum was Seth Rogen, who hosted one of the most energetic galas of the entire festival. The day after he accepted the Just For Laughs Award for Comedy Director of the Year along with Evan Goldberg, Rogen played to a sold out crowd at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier in a gala that featured such rising young comedy talents like Hannibal Buress, Al Madrigal, Joe Mande, Jerrod Carmichael, as well as surprise guest Joseph Gordon Levitt, who wowed the audience with his rendition of a classic Jacques Brel song (and in flawless French to boot). Rogen ended the gala with a finale that pandered to his native Canada on an extreme level. First, Habs’ mascot Youppi brought in a wheelbarrow filled with Timbits that he threw into the crowd; then a group of young women distributed Coffee Crisp bars and bags of ketchup potato chips to the audience, and then Habs’ defenceman P.K. Subban walked onstage with two pitchers of beer that he poured into the bowl of the Stanley Cup, in which Rogen then proceeded to drink from (and got a massive beer shower as a result). And in the end, all of this benefitted Rogen’s “Hilarity for Charity” foundation, which helps research into combating Alzheimer’s Disease (there was also volunteers selling raffle tickets before the show, in which three winners were picked to have a selfie taken with Rogen backstage immediately after the show).

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In light of the recent closing of the Comedyworks club after 24 years in business, it was refreshing to catch the premiere of the documentary “Eat Drink Laugh” at the Cinema du Parc, which focused on the legendary New York City comedy club The Comic Strip, which has been a comedy institution – and a launching pad for such superstar comics as Jerry Seinfeld, Paul Reiser, Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock – since it opened its doors in 1976.

The "Eat Drink Laugh" gang at the premiere screening

Five years in the making, with over 100 people interviewed, “Eat Drink Laugh” tells how the Comic Strip was more than just a club, it was like a second home to many of these rising comics, whom regarded it as an “incubator for talent” and a “college for comedy”, as it tells its story through interviews, as well as rare grainy videotape footage of Seinfeld, Reiser, Murphy, Larry Miller and Adam Sandler performing on the club’s stage. After the screening, co-directors Abby Russell and Brent Sterling Nemetz, owner Ritchie Tienkin, co-producer Jeffrey Gurian, and Comic Strip alumni George Wallace, Judy Gold, Paul Provenza and Robert Wuhl engaged in a lively Q&A, as they shared their fond memories of starting their careers at the Comic Strip.

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The Green Room with Paul Provenza

Since it made its debut at the 2007 festival, “The Green Room with Paul Provenza” was one show that I always wanted to catch, but somehow never got the opportunity to do so. “The Green Room”, which took place at Place des Arts’ Salon Claude Leveille, is basically a free-for-all comedy bull session, in which a select group of comics sit around and unabashedly talk about a certain topic that was picked by Provenza. On the night I went (July 24), comics Bill Burr, Dom Irrera, Robert Kelly, Darrin Rose and Dave Attell joined Provenza in an introspective discussion on the topic “Tribute to Our Recent Fallen Comedians”, which focused on a group of comedians who tragically passed away at a young age over the past decade (John Pinette, Greg Giraldo, Mitch Hedberg, Patrice O’Neil, Richard Jeni and Robert Schimmel). It was great to see these comics swap stories and find out another side to these departed comics (Darrin Rose, who was Pinette’s opening act during one of his Canadian tours, remembered the only time Pinette snapped at him, which was when he went to a nearby donut shop without letting Pinette know, and almost got kicked off the tour as a result). “The Green Room” had a brief run on the Showtime network, and I hope some enterprising TV producer will have the sense to bring this excellent, revealing show back on the tube again.

Me and Brody Stevens

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There were three comics whom I saw perform for the first time this year at Just For Laughs and were so good, I deem them as my “discoveries” of the fest: Irish comic David O’Doherty combined sharp storytelling and way out comedy songs on his keyboard in a show that became one of the smash hits of the OFF-JFL series; Brody Stevens walked onto the stage of the Montreal Improv without a set list of material, and ended up performing one of the most unconventionally entertaining shows I have seen at the festival in a very long time. Somehow, Stevens pulled off something that mere mortal comics couldn’t, and held the audience spellbound for 90 minutes (and he can drum a pretty mean table top, chair and floor); Doug Benson brought the art of interruption from something obnoxious to something hilarious with “The Doug Benson Interruption”. Accompanied by the manically multi-talented Sean Cullen, Benson had a group of comics perform their sets, and tried to see how they can handle Benson’s constant interruptions. The results were pure hilarity (especially when him, Cullen and Greg Proops broke into a hysterical spoof of the James Bond movies).

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My favorite lines: From Paul Varghese at the Ethnic Show (about the controversy surrounding the Cleveland Indians’ mascot, which is of a smiling Indian): “The last time a Native American smiled? 1491.”

From Alonzo Bodden at the All Star Show, (about the L.A. Kings winning the Stanley Cup this year): “At the parade, there were one million people looking for Kobe Bryant.”

From Ruben Paul at the Russell Peters gala: “Haiti is so poor that we didn’t have an earthquake. We made it up so we can get some help.”

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Paul F. Tompkins

Other Just For Laughs highlights: Russell Peters closing the festival hosting two strong galas; James Adomian, who tirelessly bounced from show-to-show without showing any signs of slowing down (and offered killer impressions during his sets); Orny Adams’ display of showmanship (and effective improvising) after his microphone gave out during his set at the Chevy Chase gala (and after he kicked down the mic stand in a flash of anger); Paul F. Tompkins and his impersonations of Richard Branson and the Cake Boss; the Sean Cullen and Greg Proops podcasts;  Mike Marino, who killed at the Ethnic Show with his routine about Walmart; Andy Kindler’s State of the Industry Address; Tommy Tiernan and Mike Birbiglia’s solo shows at the Gesu; Jim Jefferies, whose solo show played to a near full house at the Maison Symphonique (and proved that the MSO’s majestic concert hall can also play to comedy shows); Godfrey, who can host the Relationship Show (or any Just For Laughs show) anytime; the powerhouse Club Series foursome of the Nasty, Ethnic, Relationship and All Star shows; and Stand Up/Strip Down at the Mainline Theatre hosted by Montrealer DeAnne Smith, which effectively revived the good old days when burlesque and comedy played on the same stage, in a series of highly entertaining two-hour late night shows.

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Finally, a big thank you goes to the Just For Laughs PR team – led by Jamie O’Meara -- for helping to make my 15^th year covering this festival such a fun adventure; shout outs also go out to PR team members Danny Payne, Michelle Aikman-Carter, Stephanie Morin Robert, Talar Adam, Alexandra Pakis and Dane Stewart. Also, I would like to thank the following people for making Just For Laughs 2014 a memorable one for me: Allan, Bill, Paul, Mo, Jeffrey, Rob, Pat, Rudy, Jony, Abdul, Valerie, Christina and George. See you next year at JFL #33.

Just For Laughs: chatting it up with Jim Jefferies

Australian-born comic Jim Jefferies, who is known for his edgy style of comedy that touches upon such hot button topics as atheism, alcoholism, religion, recreational drug use and sex, has some helpful advice for those uninitiated who will be catching his solo show this Friday at the Maison Symphonique of Place des Arts, as part of this year’s Just For Laughs festival.

“I suggest that they should do a little bit of You Tubing and catch some of my past performances, because I am not as offensive as people think,” said Jefferies in a recent phone interview.

He also said that controversial, offensive material doesn’t always centre around swearing and obscene language. “It’s more about the subject matter, especially the subjects that make people feel a little uneasy. During my show, I will talk about gun control, my childhood in Australia, having a baby, sex, a few name-dropping celebrity stories and a few other topics depending on how the show is going.”

A native of Sydney who now lives in L.A. with his wife and son, the 37-year-old Jefferies was a fan of stand-up comedy since he was a kid, and was an avid watcher of stand-up comedians on TV specials. The urge to take up the microphone got stronger when he was studying musical theatre in Perth. “I got all the comedy roles in our school stage productions,” he added. He then decided to do open mic nights at the local club in Perth (“There was only one bar in Perth, and they did the open mic night every Wednesday.”). However, he realized that in order to establish a career in stand-up comedy, he had to make his way to Britain.

“Comedy sells well in Australia; however, the Melbourne Comedy Festival is a great showcase for international comics who fly in to perform there, and not for local Australian comics,” he said. “The U.K. is the best place to do stand-up. It’s the perfect environment, in which it is a compact country with 60 million people, and you can travel by train from town-to-town and do club gigs. It was a good way to make money, even if you weren’t famous.”

One incident that became a defining moment in Jefferies’ comedy career, and gave him plenty of notoriety, was when he was attacked onstage during a performance at the Manchester Comedy Festival eight years ago (which can be seen in his 2008 DVD release “Contraband”), and the incident is now an integral part of his act. The incident is strikingly reminiscent of the time when Scottish comedian Gerry Sadowitz was assaulted by an audience member during his set at the 1991 Just For Laughs festival, in front of a stunned crowd at the St. Denis Theatre.

“You know to this day, I still don’t know why it happened,” admitted Jefferies. “It took place 15 minutes before the set ended, and there was this guy whose date wasn’t enjoying the show. It must have been a combination of being drunk and stupidity, but the guy must have thought ‘I’ll punch this guy and my date will be happy again.’”

Jefferies has performed around the world, including comedy festivals in South Africa, England, and the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival, appeared on TV and radio across the U.K., and has released four comedy DVDs. His most recent TV project, of which he is quite proud of, is “Legit”, which ran for two seasons (and 26 episodes) on the FX network. The sitcom, which Jefferies co-created and starred in, tells of his exploits on his quest to trying to be a good person with his best friend Steve and Steve’s brother Billy, who has muscular dystrophy. Although it was cancelled back in May, “Legit” was lauded for its fair and positive treatment of people with physical and mental disabilities.

“It was never our intention to portray a holier-than-thou attitude against people with disabilities. ‘Legit’ was the first time on TV that people who were physically and mentally disabled were part of a sitcom, and not a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie or an episode of ‘The Facts of Life’,” he said. “The show made them out as regular people, who liked to have sex and get drunk, and they didn’t have to hide their disabilities. After all, is there any other to treat them?”

Jefferies admits that the appeal of controversial comics to large numbers of audience members is not necessarily isolated to how they channel through their routines what people really want to think or say. “After my shows, I pose for photos with fans and many of them come up and tell me that I say things that they’re afraid to say, and I think not really true,” he said. “I think it’s basically that we put single thoughts they’re afraid to say. Also, many comics take a whole series of concepts and put them into a nice amount of words that people can identify with.”

“Another good way of testing what kind of controversial material people like is when you sit next to your wife or husband at a show, and see what they laugh at. That way, you will find out what your wife thinks is funny … or how deviant your husband is,” added Jefferies.

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For more information about Jim Jefferies’ solo show at Maison Symphonique, or any other Just For Laughs show, as well as to purchase tickets, check out the festival’s website at www.hahaha.com.

Some Just For Laughs capsule show reviews -- Relationship, Ethnic and All Star shows, plus OFF-JFL

So far at the 32nd edition of the Just For Laughs comedy festival, I have seen six shows (with about a dozen more on tap before it ends next weekend), and so far, I have been batting .1000 when it comes to strong line-ups and killer material. Here are capsule reviews of some of the Just For Laughs shows I have seen so far during the first half of the fest.

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The Ethnic Show at the Metropolis is a virtual United Nations of comedy, in which a cross section of ethnic and religious backgrounds were well represented. Persian comic Maz Jobrani, as in previous years, was the perfect host for the show, and gave his take on the recent World Cup soccer tournament, to how Team U.S.A.'s cheer was the least confident cheer he ever heard, to how orgasmic the game of soccer can be. East Indian Paul Varghese gave the best line of the show "The last time native Americans smiled? 1491". Montreal-born Greek comic Angelo Tsarouchas explored the true meaning of the Greek term "Malaka"; New Jersey native Mike Marino (pictured at right) represented Italians everywhere, and gave a killer routine about Walmart, especially when using the self-serve checkout lane, and thinks he deserves a 10% employee discount as well (it was like comedy with a Soprano attitude to it). Erik Griffith gave new meaning to "purging", and token Jewish comic Elon Gold talked about "pro-Semitism", and did a dead-on impression of Woody Allen as Abraham as he bargained with God about the first circumcision. The Ethnic Show continues until July 23.

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Since 1991, Just For Laughs explored the sensitive topics of dating, mating and relating with Date Night: The Relationship Show; and I am happy to say the tradition has continued. New festival favorite Godfrey (pictured at left) served as the show's host, and genuinely enjoyed entertaining audiences (especially when he punctuated a lot of his routines with plenty of chuckling between the jokes), especially when he talked about how women were always feeling chilly around bedtime and slept with 200-pound comforters in order to keep warm. Joe Matarese talked about what it was like to have a psychologist for a wife (and him a mental patient). Brassy Lynne Koplitz spoke about her 11-year relationship with her pet Yorkie dog, which she compared to an abusive little Italian man). And John Heffron gave advice to a 15-year-old couple about married life, especially about he was not allowed to use the bathroom, and has to carry a bag filled with his own toiletries every time he has to use it. The Relationship Show's final performance is on July 25 at the Metropolis.

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Perhaps the hottest ticket during the early part of the festival was the inaugural All Star Show, a showcase of six of Just For Laughs' most popular fan favorites. Host Dom Irrera was in top form once again, talking about his love of Montreal (and his "people", the hookers and heroin addicts who inhabit St. Laurent Blvd.) to how he uses soccer matches to help him fall asleep. Ryan Hamilton used his boyish Idaho charm to explain how it's very difficult to meet people and the hazards of riding on a bike's handlebars. Angst-filled Judy Gold spoke about her 92-year-old mother's constant battles with her string of home care professionals. Adams Hills sang quite a revolutionary new version of "O Canada" if Bryan Adams composed it. Robert Kelly talked about how when men get older, they don't care about their appearance any more (which means they reach the "fuck it, tuck it" stage in their lives). And Alonzo Bodden (pictured above) was the highlight of the show, giving a killer set on his take on some of the issues of the day, including how Toronto mayor Rob Ford is actually an "honest" politician. The final All Star Show is ready to invade Club Soda on July 26.

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The OFF-JFL Series offers the best value for your comedy buck, with comics giving one-hour solo or specialty shows in an intimate club setting, with a special offer of two OFF-JFL shows of your choice for only $30.

One comic's show that you should invest your two-for-$30 deal is Irish comic David O'Dougherty's solo show at Theatre St. Catherine. His one-hour showcase of storytelling, keyboard playing and bizarre songs offers non-stop laughs, and made me wish I could spend another hour watching him in action. He spoke on such wayout topics as Toblerone bar smuggling in your anal cavity, "ghost mice" in his attic water tank, and how disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong was responsible for all of O'Dougherty's personal problems and troubles. And his songs about bad, uncaring corporations and life in general had me crying with laughter. This is a must-see show!

The Midnight Surprise Show, also at Theatre St. Catherine, reminded me of the old Bubbling with Laughter series that ran for nearly 25 years at Club Soda, where there were always surprise appearances by top name comics who used the show as a sounding board for sets that would be performed at a gala the following night. At the Midnight Surprise Show that I caught, which was hosted by the talented James Adomian (loved his bit about why there is no Disneyland in New York City), had a mixture of comics who appeared in the All Star, Ethnic and Relationship shows, including Godfrey (who did a dean-on impersonation of Denzel Washington as a stand-up comic), Maz Jobrani, Judy Gold, Jarrod Christmas and Orny Adams, whose furiously-paced, anger and frustration-laden set killed at both the Relationship and Midnight Surprise shows. And the best thing about Midnight Surprise, is that no two shows are alike. It's a great way to cap off your night of comedy clubbing at Just For Laughs.

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For more information, or to purchase tickets, to any Just For Laughs show between now and July 28, go to their website at www.hahaha.com.

Just For Laughs: Paying some attention with Alonzo Bodden

There’s no doubt about it. Alonzo Bodden loves Montreal in general and the Just For Laughs festival in particular.

It was back in 1997 that Alonzo got his big break as a stand up comic, when he  performed a killer set at that year’s New Faces of Comedy showcase. And from there, his career took off, and his affection for the city and the festival remained unabated.

And the Alonzo Bodden/Just For Laughs/Montreal love triangle continues this week, as he returns as part of the line-up of the All Star Show, which is wrapping up this Saturday at Club Soda before it moves to the Metropolis on July 24 (which is hosted by Dom Irrera whom, coincidentally, emceed the New Faces show where Alonzo made his festival debut); and he will be spotlighting his own solo show “Alonzo Bodden: News is Not News” from July 21-26 at the Salle Claude-Leveille of Place des Arts.

“I always look forward going to Just For Laughs year after year. This is the best and the biggest comedy festival I have performed at. It’s where the most comics get together to perform and have a good time doing it. This is one of the few chances we get to see each other in a relaxed setting and crash each other’s shows,” he said in a recent phone interview. “And by the way, I forgot to mention that Montreal has the most beautiful women on Earth, who also happen to speak French.”

“I love the vibe that this festival brings. You have about 100 of the best comics in the world gather in Montreal every year to hang out and do what we do best,” he added.

Alonzo’s path to comedy actually began in the aeronautics industry, where he worked as an aircraft mechanic for Lockheed Martin. “When I was at McDonnell Douglas, I used to train new mechanics, and I would put in some jokes during those training sessions. I found out that I had more fun making them laugh,” he said.

From there he took a comedy writing class, did five minute spots at open mic nights and realized that stand-up comedy was more to his liking than showing mechanics the inner workings of an aircraft. His successful set at the 1997 New Faces of Comedy show convinced Alonzo to give up his full time job and pursue a career in comedy, which has proven to be a good career move, in which one of his crowning achievements was clinching the grand prize during the third season of NBC’s reality competition show “Last Comic Standing”.

Alonzo’s style of comedy is quite relaxed and matter-of-fact, seasoned with a great deal of personal observations, which he credits to many of the life experiences that he went through, whether it be healthcare, politics or relationships.

“I talk about healthcare because when I was an aircraft mechanic, I was also a union guy, so I know what healthcare plans are all about,” he said. “As for relationships, I have had a lot of failed relationships all my life, so it’s better to hear it from someone who has experienced them than from some smartass 24-year-old. And about the issues of the day, well, I have been in that world, so I look at that world through my eyes. For example, America has a Black president, and coincidentally, I happen to be Black!”

And Alonzo not only has the comedy club to use as his soapbox to comment on the issues of the day; he shares them with listeners on his podcast “Who’s Paying Attention?” During our phone interview, he admitted there was no shortage of issues for him to comment on that his fans and listeners should be paying attention to (Rob Ford notwithstanding).

“Right now (former U.S. Vice President) Dick Cheney is blaming President Obama for the mess in Iraq, which I find tragically funny,” he said. “Then this past week, no school shootings have been reported, mainly because school is out for the summer. Then there’s our favorite go-to person Sarah Palin, because whatever she has to say, it should always make us feel much better about ourselves.”

Besides giving his opinions, Alonzo was also noted recently for what he gave of himself. In March of last year, he underwent transplant surgery to donate a kidney for his brother, so he wouldn’t have to go through dialysis any longer. As of this writing, Alonzo is extremely happy to say that both he and his brother are doing fine. As a result of the successful procedure, he has become a spokesperson for the National Kidney Foundation, advocating not only kidney donations, but also taking better care of your kidneys.

“Donating a kidney to my brother was like giving a gift; it totally changed the quality of his life and I was happy to do it,” he said. “It’s really important that people should consider being an organ donor, because they are really needed. Also, it’s important to take care of your kidneys; you should be tested regularly and drink lots of water. And don’t forget, if you’re in need of a kidney, find a brother!”

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For more information about the All Star Show, Alonzo Bodden: News is Not News, or any other Just For Laughs show, as well as to purchase tickets, check out the festival’s website at www.hahaha.com.

Just For Laughs: In conversation with Dom Irrera and Sean Cullen

Dom Irrera

Comedian Dom Irrera has been an ongoing festival favorite since he made his debut at Just For Laughs in 1988. This helped to make Irrera the obvious choice to host the All Star Show, which is playing at Club Soda from July 16-19, and at Metropolis on July 24.

“I have been popular here in Montreal for years. I have been popular here even before there was a Montreal,” boasted the Philadelphia native during a recent phone interview from his home in Los Angeles.

A new addition to the National Bank Club Series, the All Star Show will have Irrera helm a line-up of comics who have performed at Just For Laughs multiple times and have quickly become fan favorites, like Irrera, such as Alonzo Bodden, Ryan Hamilton, Judy Gold, Robert Kelly and Adam Hills.

“This is a very strong line-up, and this show will have something for everyone,” said Irrera. “And I know the audience will get a good show. In fact, I guarantee that people will love the All Star Show, to the point that if they don’t, you, Stuart Nulman, will refund all of their money back.”

While the pressure to deliver a good show has now been lifted off the shoulders of Irrera and his all star co-stars, he has maintained throughout his career that he likes being a comedian because it gave him leeway to be more honest and say things that are on his mind without having to worry about the repercussions. “The world is more politically correct these days, in which someone can get fired for saying anything at work,” he said. “Comedy is the last vestige of freedom around now, and comics have that license to freely say what they want.”

And it was his upbringing in a large family in Philadelphia, in which everyone spoke their mind with a humourous edge to it, that gave Irrera the impetus to become a stand-up comic more than 30 years ago. “In my family, everyone was a clown, but they never wrote down anything that they said, but I did it, and f--- them for being so lazy,” he said. “If they did write down their material, my family could have been massive in Quebec. They could have been hosting festivals around the province like the Verdun Local Comedy Festival.”

A rabid sports fan, Irrera loves Montreal for many reasons, and one of them is for its sports tradition. “Montreal is one of the most peaceful loving cities around, but those Stanley Cup riots they had, that was so f------ crazy. What happened there? It’s like a guy who wins the lottery and celebrates the win by beating up his wife,” he said.

And he’s not shy to be in the minority position about the global mania that is surrounding the World Cup this summer. “Because I live in L.A., I rooted for the home team during the World Cup, which is Mexico,” he said. “But a soccer game runs too long. If I can’t get to sleep, I turn on to a soccer match on TV and I fall asleep right away. As far as I’m concerned, let the rest of the world have this sport.”

With a career that has seen him perform at comedy festivals in Australia, Ireland, France and Denmark, and has compiled an impressive resume of movie and TV appearances (many remember him as prop comic Ronny Kaye in an episode of “Seinfeld” 20 years ago), Irrera admits that he is always making stand-up comedy a constant work in progress.

“I’m always honing my act, and I keep on working towards making myself a better stand-up comedian,” he said. “I enjoy this career of mine where I am always making people laugh. If I get laughs, and people recognize me as ‘he’s the guy’, that’s fine with me.”

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to make my way to the bank to get that All Star Show “refund” money.

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Sean Cullen, like Dom Irrera, made his Just For Laughs debut back in 1988.

Sean Cullen

However, while Irrera made his debut at a gala in the St. Denis Theatre, Cullen, as one-third of the manic musical comedy trio Corky and the Juice Pigs, made his debut outside the theatre. Actually, it was right across the street from the theatre, in which he, Greg Neal and Phil Nicol opened up a guitar case with a hand drawn sign in the middle of St. Denis Street, and began to entertain the spectators waiting outside the theatre before that night’s Louie Anderson gala (myself included) with their attention-getting repertoire of offbeat comedy, songs and jumping around.

“Me, Greg and Phil actually crashed the festival that year, but in retrospect, it was pretty nice,” admitted Cullen in a recent phone interview from his Toronto home.

From there, Corky and the Juice Pigs began to establish themselves as Just For Laughs regulars, which was capped off with their gala debut in 1992. When Cullen went solo in 1998, he debuted his first one-man show  “Wood, Cheese and Children” at Just For Laughs, and from there became a festival regular himself, appearing in numerous club shows and galas as recently as last year. This year, Cullen continues his association with Just For Laughs performing a solo show on July 23 as part of the Off-JFL Series, he will be part of the Talk of the Fest lineup with host Nick Offerman on July 25, and he will be doing a live taping of his podcast “The Seanpod: With Sean Cullen” on July 24.

“The Seanpod will be me and my co-pilot Mark Edwards. There will be talk, we will make up sketches between the talk, we will play extemporaneous songs and even be opening up to the audience for suggestions to make up some of those songs and sketches. It will be a multi-weird show,” said Cullen.

The thing with Sean Cullen, is that he is so multi-talented, it’s difficult to place him into one category of comedian. He can sing, perform on the stage (he played the role of Max Bialystock in the Toronto production of “The Producers”), host his own TV show, do a variety if voice overs, write a series of children’s and young adult novels (including a series featuring the character Hamish X), do improv comedy, and be a game show panelist (which he does with great comic effect on the updated version of “Match Game” that’s seen on Comedy Network).

“The idea of being so multi-talented is a throwback to some of the greats during the golden age of comedy like Jackie Gleason, and the team of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, who had to have a variety of talents in order to survive,” he said. “Also, in order to survive in the Canadian entertainment industry, you have to be able to do 10 different jobs, which is not like in the States, where if you do one thing very well, you become famous.”

“And I love the broadness of it all, because it elevates any show that I do. On Match Game, I enjoy being spontaneous and having to think on my feet when I preface every response that I reveal to the contestants. I also have to remember that I want them to win some money on the show, too,” he added.

Cullen admits he enjoys working on "Match Game"and says that the spirit and camaraderie he has with the other panelists (which includes fellow regular Debra Di Giovani) equals that of the panelists that were part of the "Match Game" crew of the 1970s, which made stars out of host Gene Rayburn and regulars Bret Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly and Richard Dawson.

"We taped five shows a day, and there are five other talents who were always trying to be just as funny, so there was always tons of pressure to come up with something funny when you gave your response," he said. "Backstage, we always had a little something to drink between tapings, so by the time we got to the third taping, we became quite juiced, which raised the element of weirdness on the show, which translated pretty well on TV."

And while he awaits word regarding a third season of “Match Game”, Cullen has several projects in development or about to be released in the near future, including a science fiction novel, more touring, developing a new hour-long TV detective series (“which will be like Monk meets Columbo”), and a new comedy CD that’s schedule to be released next month called “Live from Planet Serpo”.

For Sean Cullen, being multi-talented certainly has its benefits.

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For more information about The All Star Show, The Seanpod taping or any other Just For Laughs show, check out the festival's website at www.hahaha.com.