Just For Laughs comedy festival cancelled

After four decades of laughs, one of the world’s biggest comedy festivals has been cancelled due to a “dire financial situation”.

One of the world’s biggest comedy festivals might have told it’s last joke.

Canada’s Just for Laughs festival has announced it is seeking creditor protection and cancelling this year’s upcoming stand-up shows after some four decades in the business.

The festival, usually held in Montreal in July, is a major stop on the comedy circuit and falls just before the EdinburghFestival.

It is an invite only curated schedule that has opened international doors for many an Australian comedian.

Joel Creasey, Tommy Little, Wil Anderson, Adam Hills and Hannah Gadsby are just a few of the Aussie names to have performedat the festival.

When contacted, Creasey was shocked to hear the news.

“I got to work with people from Sir Patrick Stewart to Jane Lynch, Sarah Silverman and Margarat Cho, it was an exciting opportunityfor us Aussies who don’t usually get to rub shoulders with such great names,” Creasey said.

Joel Creasey and Jane Lynch at the Just for Laughs comedy gala in 2015. Picture: Channel 10

The JFL board said in a statement it is facing a dire financial situation after effectively ceasing operations for two yearsduring the pandemic, and soaring costs since then that have “placed unprecedented financial pressures on the organisation”.

It said also that television productions of comedy shows have become “more difficult” amid industry consolidation and shrinkingnetwork budgets.

“After considering all possibilities, the JFL board of directors came to the conclusion that the financial situation of theorganisation left no choice but to begin restructuring procedures,” it said.

JFL added it will be seeking new investors or a buyer “for all or part of its activities” in a bid to maximise value for shareholders and “where possible, preserving business continuity”.

During the restructuring, JFL vowed to continue operating “in a reduced form,” including not holding the upcoming 2024 edition of its festival, “at least not on the same date and in the same format as in previous years”.

It said it is hoping to bring back the festival in the summer of 2025.

Established in Montreal in 1983, the festival describes itself as “a world leader in the comedy industry”.