Unlike the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, the ComediHa! Fest-Québec has no plans to give up its comedy galas, and its founding president, Sylvain Parent-Bédard, believes the concept has many good years ahead in the capital.
“It’s not an option at all,” assured Mr. Parent-Bédard on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the unveiling of the program for the 24th CodiHa! Fest Quebec.
In April, Just for Laughs announced that due to a noticeable drop in interest in recent years, it would be hosting its final comedy gala this summer, putting its main card on hold since the festival’s inception.
“I’m sad that this JPR motor vehicle is gone, but we didn’t take that into account. It’s always a big hit in Quebec. On TV, we are targeting 20-25% market share at Radio-Canada. For us it remained a loss leader,” says Sylvain Parent-Bédard.
After a brief transfer of a few years to the Capitole Theatre, the Galas ComediHa! will even return to the Grand Théâtre in 2023, in a space that can accommodate more spectators.
“I don’t know if that’s because there’s more humorous content in Montreal, but in Quebec the galas are sold out, they’re sold out, people come, they appreciate it, and artists like to come and do it in one.” Gala,” says Sylvain Parent-Bédard.
Tribute to Daniel Lemire
The ComedyHa! Fest-Québec, which had already announced that Marc Dupré, Laurent Paquin, Anthony Kavanagh, the Dominic and Martin duo, the Cathy Gauthier/Silvi Tourigny duo and Michel Courtemanche will be hosting its galas, revealed the long list of artists who will be in Quebec from August 8th to 26th.
In particular, we learned that André Robitaille (Jean-Michel Anctil), Claude Legault (Guylaine Tremblay), Charles Lafortune (Guy Jodoin) and Phil Roy (Michel Charette) will be hosting Les grands bien-cuits.
A special evening on August 22 will be dedicated to Daniel Lemire’s 40-year career. Denis Bouchard, Laurent Paquin, Jean-François Mercier, Sonia Vachon and Yannick De Martino will pay tribute to him.
The Europeans: See you next year
No European comedy star appears on the poster. “We’re focusing them on the festival’s 25th anniversary in 2024,” says Sylvain Parent-Bédard, who explains that the end of the pandemic is limiting artist availability.
“Éric Antoine came, but he could do two days. The same goes for Kev Adams, and not at the same time. It was complicated. By mutual agreement with the artists, we decided to plan the 25th a year and a half in advance.
- All information about the program and ticket sales can be found at comedihafest.com