Montreal's 'Just for Laughs' comedy festival cancels 2024 event, seeking to avoid bankruptcy
Jo Koy attends the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton in January. Koy is among the many comedians who got their big break via the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal over the years.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
MONTREAL — The Montreal company that operates the “Just for Laughs” comedy festival said Tuesday it has canceled this year’s event as it seeks to avoid bankruptcy.
Groupe Juste pour rire Inc. said in a news release that it is seeking protection from its creditors as it begins formal restructuring under Canada’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
The comedy group got its start in the 1980s as an annual festival (known as the largest in the world) where Los Angeles and New York talent scouts discovered the Next Big Thing for Hollywood sitcoms and movie roles.
The company plans to continue operations in what it called a scaled-down format as it restructures, it said in a news release, adding that it hopes the festival will return in 2025.
The company has attributed its financial challenges to the pandemic, inflation and a changing entertainment industry, and has said it is looking for investors or to sell parts of its business.
Julien Provencher-Proulx, a spokesman for Groupe Juste pour rire, confirmed that 75 employees, or around 70% of its workers, were laid off Tuesday.
The company is 51% owned by Canadian telecommunications company Bell and Montreal event promoter Evenko, while Los Angeles-based talent agency Creative Artists Agency owns 49%. The festival has presented many of the biggest names in standup comedy, including Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle, Amy Schumer and Jerry Seinfeld. In addition to ticketed indoor shows, the French and English festivals featured free outdoor performances.
The festival, a prime vehicle for up-and-coming comedians to get noticed, for a time expanded its reach to Chicago as well.
The first local iteration of the festival took place in 2009, the last in 2013. A statement in 2014 from Just for Laughs made no indication that 2013 would be the last Windy City run. "We decided to take a year off to rethink the festival model to adjust to the current marketplace," the statement noted. But it never returned.
Contributing: Hollywood Reporter; Chicago Sun-Times