The waitress has left the building
Johanne Britton, co-founder of Mobtreal.com, confirms her transition to Yuk Yuk’s Montreal.
Now there comes a time in everyone’s life where one has to make a change for the better. In order to move forward, one must make drastic moves and career choices that will help one grow. Here’s the story about a comedy blogger who waitressed at a local comedy club. She loved her job, as it gave her opportunity to meet so many great comedians over the years. In a very short time, her blogging world grew so fast and gained so much attention, opportunities started to appear everywhere. While looking for partners to help take her goals national, she met a grand funk wizard. Everyone had an opinion about the wizard, but no one doubted he has to power to cast many spells. When the time was right, this ‘lil waitress was sprinkled with some fairy dust and caught a new glimpse of the future. Images of a magical place called Yuk Yuk’s started to appear in her dreams, ringed by a marquee. Upon meeting the wizard, the curtains were pulled back and what was revealed was new light, hope and happiness in the shadows of greatness. The ‘lil comedy waitress has left the building.
Ok really guys. It’s time to set the record straight. Did I leave the Comedy Nest? Yes. Did I get an offer from David Nankoff to come work at Yuk Yuk’s? Yes. Did I decide as a career choice for me and my blog to make the full move despite all the noise surrounding the topic? Yes. I made a decision. Nobody stole me or took me away in the middle of the night. That’s called abduction and it usually involves aliens and rednecks.
As you know, I’ve been blogging for the past 3 years about comedy. I rebranded TuJoHaHa with Mobtreal as to make it more memorable, a name people can connect with and which gave me the option to cover more than just comedy. After that, I recruited some of the best bloggers around town and from different cities across Canada, and key cities in the USA. Why? Because the strategy has always been to grow into a national/international property. I started on this business plan about year ago and within the first 6 months, my team, now at 30 bloggers and I built up Mobtreal’s reputation, and have put it on the media radar in Montreal and across Canada.
My goal has and always will be to cover and promote ALL comedy in Montreal. The Comedy Nest, Comedy Works, satellite rooms and special events will always be covered by the mob. Plus, we’re rolling out in other cities such as Calgary, Halifax, Las Vegas and soon New York city. The next step is to start exporting talent and producing shows from Montreal to these key locations.
I have done my homework. Yuk Yuk’s is the only network of comedy clubs that is national in Canada.
“The first Yuk Yuk’s shows were held on Wednesday nights in 1977 in the basement of The 519 Church Street Community Centre in Toronto. It was replaced by a full-time club on Bay Street that opened on March 14, 1978 with Chas Lawther as the featured performer during the first week. Howie Mandel, Rick Moranis, Larry Horowitz, Tom Green, Norm Macdonald, Mike MacDonald, and Jim Carrey were some of the most popular acts from the Toronto comedy scene in the early years of Yuk Yuk’s. Mandel hosted the 25th anniversary celebration of Yuk Yuk’s in 2002.” Wikipedia
By making this move and teaming up with Yuk Yuk’s, I hope to bring access to Montreal comics so that they can get the opportunity to play stages across our nation and get them the exposure their talent deserves. I want my people that have made me laugh for the past 3 years, who have supported me and who deserve a chance to stop struggling and start making some money in this game.
Montreal is stacked with great talent like Andrew Searles, Eman, Jess Salomon, Abdul Butt, Darren Henwood just to name a few who are working their craft and I’ve seen grow in their careers and it makes me proud to see succeed.
We all know how hard it is to get recognized here. Festivals are criticized openly for not using more local talent. I plan to reverse that. Comedians in Montreal need a gateway to the world. My vision is to combine Yuk Yuk’s national brand, Mobtreal’s media support and Montreal talent with a path to open that gate.
Mobtreal.com now has the potential to reach every major city in Canada as Yuks Yuks has 16 clubs from coast to coast .
This decision was well thought out, but I’ll admit, it’s been an eye opener. This past week, there has been all kinds of feedback flying around the interweb. I choose to always be positive. So I’ve headed to Toronto to cover JFL42 with my two bloggers Boss Shaw and Boss De Bortoli, to further bolster my network plus meet up with Yuk Yuks Toronto and to check out my buddy Ben Roy, Pete Zedlacher, and my girl Eman who is representing Montreal at the Sirius XM Next Top Comic Competition. Back to what I love doing the most which is meeting comedians, promoting comedy and laughing my sweet ass off!
So, back to work and keep your RSS feeds locked to Mobtreal because a lot of new things will be coming your way. Remember, it’s Jo we’re talking about here, and I made this decision with eyes wide open. I hope to see you all opening weekend at the Rialto, 5723 du Parc, Thursday October 3rd 7h30pm. You can reserve your tickets here for 25$ tax included. Your headliner Dave Foley will be there with special guest Mike McDonald, Martha Chaves and your host, the hardest working comic in town, Sébastien Bourgault. Call for more info (514) 770-7773.
Media inquiries please contact:
Johanne Britton
Mobtreal.com Inc.
c/o JJ’s Press
Montreal, QC
1-819-410-0296
BossJo@Mobtreal.com
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