Just for Laughs - Russell Peters

The WestJet Friday night Just for Laughs Gala at Massey Hall was hosted by Russell Peters, pictured above, after Garry Shandling backed out. As soon as I heard that Russell was hosting the show I arranged to get tickets. I attended the 9:30pm show which also featured Lavell Crawford, Jim Breuer, Noel Fielding and Tom Papa. I laughed my ass off - what a great night of fun.

Lineups start at the entrance to Massey Hall and stretch out to Yonge Street and then head south.

Besides the comedy gold of Russell Peters, comedian Jim Breuer of the movie "Half Baked" had me laughing the hardest at times with his impressions of his kids and Tom Papa of the television show "The Marriage Ref" was the most consistently funny. I pictured Tom as the bland guy television host but his jokes about marriage and relationships were both true and extremely funny. England's Noel Fielding was a little lacking although his bit about whispering was funny. In the photos below Russell welcomes Lavell into the spotlight while Tom salutes the crowd.

2010 Just For Laughs - Take it and go

The 2010 Toronto Just for Laughs event starts this coming Tuesday, July 6 to Sunday, July 11 and Toronto needs a good laugh.

The HaHaHa website says that "from July 6 to 11, the Toronto Just For Laughs Festival presented by WestJet will once again bring the world’s best comedians to Toronto. Since 2007, the Festival has already entertained over 350,000 visitors with such renowned stars such as Russell Peters, John Cleese, Sarah Silverman and Sugar Sammy. To date the Festival has generated more than $10 million in tourism and economic activity in Toronto. More than just a platform for entertainment, The Toronto Just For Laughs Festival presented by Westjet is also a viable economic driver that creates jobs in the cultural sector and supports continued employment in all aspects of the tourism industry."


I will be going Friday to watch the show headlined by Russell Peters - he is one of the best in the biz and I look forward to his performance. It is hard to find information on the Yonge Street Just for Laughs Festival which closes down the street for a party with plenty of performers putting on free shows in the street and at Yonge-Dundas Square. Once the information is confirmed I will post the information.

Photo Vault - Just for Laughs

The Just for Laughs Festival which has moved from Montreal to Toronto takes place over several days in the downtown core. It includes comedy in several theatres and a street festival that closes down Yonge Street and also takes over Yonge-Dundas Square.



The street festival is full of amazing costumes and buskers that have several fixed stages and a parade of creatures. In this video I have posted on YouTube you can see the praying mantis rip through downtown Toronto, probably swallowing tourists along the way.



In 2008 we saw Jason Alexander aka Seinfeld's George Costanza and Robert Klein.

Festival central

Toronto plays host to some exciting events that focus the attention of the world onto our fair city.

The arts festival Luminato begins this week and takes place from June 5th to the 12th. Preparations are now underway at Yonge-Dundas Square.



Toronto's Pride Week is June 19th to the 28th.

Much Music Video Awards hits town on June 21.


The TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival for the more musically inclined from June 26th to July 5th.

Just for laughs runs from July 15 to the 19th, 2009. I have been to a few Just for laughs shows and they are great fun. I also love when they close down Yonge Street and have a weird street festival. Here is a short clip of a praying mantis destroying Toronto from the 2008 festival.

Toronto's most famous festival being the http://tiffg.ca/default.aspx, or TIFF, that runs in September. A TIFF tent has been setup in the park area beside City Hall and this tent is the Festival Box Office (their phone number is 416-968-FILM or toll free 1-877-968-FILM). Inside the tent preferred ticket packages can be purchased by donors (if they use visa) and then on July 13 everyone can purchase tickets to the festival. If you want to donate to the festival you can visit tiff.ca to support the film-lovers festival.