OFF-JFL and Zoofest kick it up a notch this summer

This summer’s going to be a scorcher! OFF-JFL and Zoofest, presented by Bell in association with Pabst Blue Ribbon, are cranking up the temperature this July, promising to deliver one of the hottest OFF-JFL and Zoofest lineups in festival history.

Running from July 11^th through July 28^th, Montreal will play host to some of comedy’s freshest faces and sought-after voices as they perform in the most intimate spaces the city has to offer.

OFF-JFL continues to grow this summer, providing comedy lovers unmatched experiences to bear witness to some of today’s most coveted stand-up, sketch and improv material.

SOLO SHOWS THAT YOU’LL WANT TO BRING YOUR FRIENDS TO 

OFF-JFL’s unique programming has something for every die-hard comedy fan, uniting the best-of-the-best performers in Montreal’s smallest spaces for 10 nights of up-close and personal, prime comedy content.

We’ve already spilled the beans on some of the other A-list talent dropping by Montreal as part of OFF-JFL this summer, including Cameron Esposito, Sasheer Zamata, Dan Soder, Mark Watson, Adam Conover, Mark Forward, Lucas Bros, Nicole Byer, Ron Funches, Pete Correale, Kurt Braunohler, Nish Kumar, Emma Willmann &Matteo Lane, Beth Stelling and Andy Kindler!

We’re excited to add to this list with a plethora of amazing comedic talent. Recently featured on Netflix’s The Degenerates, Liza Treyger, will be bringing her new show Liza Treyger: In The Weeds to Montreal for a 6-show run before heading overseas to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  Comedian and actor Brian Posehn, who has a plethora of impressive TV and acting credits under his belt including The Big Bang Theory, New Girl, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends will be bringing his solo show to OFF-JFL for 4 nights in a row this summer. Canadian comic and star of Crave’s massive hit Letterkenny, K. Trevor Wilson will be stopping by OFF-JFL for 6 shows this summer with his brand-new hour, Too Awesome Too Fast.

Additional names and shows rounding out this year’s OFF-JFL solo show lineup include Brad Williams, Donnell Rawlings, Andrew Santino, ISMO, Joe List, Sam Jay, Chanty Marostica, Esther Povitsky, Dave Merheje, Tom Thakkar, Matteo Lane, Solomon Georgio, Rafinha “Rafi” Bastos’ Portuguese solo show, Uma noite com Rafinha Bastos (A Night with Rafinha Bastos), Michael Kosta’s Straight. White. Male, Byron Bowers’ The Byron Bowers Experience, and Nore Davis: Emotionally Attached, and more shows and artists to be announced!

MULTI-COMIC & CONCEPT SHOWS THAT WILL GIVE YOU MULTIPLE LAUGHING FITS

Randy and Jason Sklar, a.k.a. The Sklar Brothers, are bringing their unique stand-up show, Tag It, to Montreal, where the pair pull back the curtain as to what it feels like to be in the writer’s room when comedians pitch each other tags and riff in real time.

Back by popular demand, Ari Shaffir’s Renamed Storyteller Show invites fans to witness Shaffir and guests as they generously share what can only be their embarrassingly true real-life tales in this popular series.

Hosted by Andrew Schulz, Inside Jokes: Live allows comics to workshop their most divisive and publicly INcorrect material. A rare glimpse into how funny is made out of the most dangerous topics, this show will run for 2 nights as part of OFF-JFL.

Big Jay Oakerson is bringing his praised crowd work show, What’s Your F@#king Deal?! back to OFF-JFL this July. In this hit series, Big Jay Oakerson asks the audience to let go of pretension and leave egos at the door as he leads a pack of comics in a completely improvised show based on interactions with the crowd.

The show is at midnight. The rest is a surprise. This year’s fan-favourite late-night series, Midnight Surprise, will be hosted by star of HBO’s The Wire and Comedy Central’s Chappelle’s Show, Donnell Rawlings at Theatre Ste-Catherine, and NBC’s Saturday Night Live star, Chris Redd at Newspeak.

New this year to OFF-JFL is Gayme Show, a game show and crash course on all thing’s LGBTQ2 and fabulous,hosted by comedians Dave Mizzoni and Matt Rogers. The concept is simple: two straight male comedians are put to the test in head-to-head challenges, coached and critiqued by very special guests. Imagine Jeopardymeets Watch What Happens LIVE!

Excited to make their second consecutive appearance at Just For Laughs, Rapp Battlez is the high-energy, strobe-lighting, confetti-tossing comedy party show that’s had audiences going buck wild for going on 10 years. As always, the party is MC’d by the funniest brothers this side of Marx, Miguel Rivas and Dex Vocab (Freddie Rivas). Rapp Battlez is part WWE, part 8 Mile, and unlike any comedy event you’ve ever experienced.

They say that hospitality is a dying art. Every night a different comic will prove THEM wrong as they take you ever so gently by the hand and introduce you to amazing lineups of the best comedians in the world doing their thing. Hosts with the Most will be hosted by a different comic each show, including Ari Shaffir, Michael Rapaport, and Erin Foley.

Mark & Andy & Dave are thrilled to be performing at the Just For Laughs Festival offering up their signature brand of insightful, zany comedy that The Globe & Mail has called “really funny and nice, and it looks like they really love each other, which I like”. They are excited to perform new sketches and to showcase something even more important than comedy: true friendship!

Is a sense of humour really the #1 quality women look for in a man? Married couple, Rich Vos and Bonnie McFarlane put the theory to the test with their LIVE stand-up game show Would You Bang Him? It’s part comedy show, part roast and all female empowerment.

Boast Rattle hosted by Kyle Ayers is also making a return to OFF-JFL this year! This roast style battle has two comedians go head-to-head, delivering alternating blows of the nicest order. Watch these comedians clash with consideration and kindness for two rounds to find the ultimate Master of Magnanimity.

Comedian Matt Besser is coming to OFF-JFL this summer with his show 420 with Matt Besser, where he and his comic friends will perform their weed, pot, and cannabis material. There’s a lot. THIS SHOW WILL GET YOU HIGH!!!

Late Night hosts are always fighting over who gets the 11:35pm or 12:25 time slots. Not Robby Hoffman. Just throw her a casual 7:30pm, have her in bed by 9, and she’s good. It’s The Early Evening Show with Robby Hoffman, featuring different guests each night.

Come see the best comics from all around the globe at One Stop World Tour in Montreal this summer! These multi-comic shows will feature lineups of international comics that’ll share their unique perspectives and guarantee a ton of laughs along the way!

Off-JFL is proud to present 4 nights of Queer Comics, a multi-comic show featuring lineups of LGBTQ+ comedians! Come out and laugh with these incredible comics hand selected from the festival.

Cast your circle and summon your demons! COVEN is here to set you free from the bindings of the patriarchy. Join us as we hex our enemies and reclaim what is ours!  For this special edition of COVEN, House of Laureenwill be bringing you the campiest, most clever, and most creative witches of the realm! A drag show featuring some of Montreal’s most powerful witches, who will be the next supreme of this hysterical Boo! HaHa!

Back by popular demand this year is the revered New Faces series as part of OFF-JFL. New Faces, New Faces: Canada, New Faces: Unrepped, and New Faces: Characters promise to deliver an evening of laughs featuring some of today’s up-and-coming comedy stars.

SPOTLIGHT ON CANADA! 

Do it the Canadian way, and check out some of the top talent this city and country has to offer on this year’s Canadian Spotlight lineup presented by SiriusXM. Established hometown & Canadian favourites include Tranna Wintour‘s Dear Alanis, Rad Dads, Tinder Tales, Amazing Mega World Superstar Tour, Morgan O’Shea, Pantelis,Rag Bag Cabaret, Soul Decision, Lesbian Speed Date from Hell, A Comedy Sketch Extravaganza Eleganza, Confabulation, Life Lessons, Black & Funny, The Food Show, Colour Outside the Lines, Massimo, Precinct: An Improvised Cop Comedy, Dice of Destiny, The Blender, Run D&C, Aliya Kanani, Stand Up Story Slam, High Rollers, Carousel, and JC Surette!

For tickets by phone, online or in person:

The Just For Laughs Box Office, 514-845-2322, hahaha.com and zoofest.com