Who could have predicted just 10 years ago that it would be ComediHa! Who would get their hands on the Just for Laughs Group, and not the other way around? Long looked down upon by industry monks, the former Grand Rier Bleue de Québec is now the biggest player in humor. By purchasing its former great Montreal rival, ComediHa! has just achieved a great success, but the challenges awaiting the company are immense, especially since the Just for Laughs festival has lost its luster in recent years.
Many blame the start of the decline of Just for Laughs on the allegations of sexual misconduct that surfaced in 2017 against Gilbert Rozon, pushing him to sell the company he had founded to American interests.
But Michel Grenier, who is among others the manager of Mike Ward and Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais, recalls that Just for Laughs had already started to lose its splendor a few years earlier. “Already, around 2012, several big ticket sellers were no longer going to Just for Laughs. With YouTube, the festival no longer has the same importance as in the 1980s and 1990s. It is no longer the only way to reach the public,” he illustrates.
That said, Michel Grenier is delighted that Just for Laughs has been picked up by a Quebec company after being sheltered from its creditors at the beginning of March. Even if it no longer has the importance it once had, a French-speaking humor festival in Montreal still has its place, believes the artist agent. But this event still needs to attract big names, while renewing audacity.
The big question now is: will ComediHa! will replicate the Quebec formula in Montreal? We hope that these will not be two identical festivals.
For Charles Deschamps, one of the owners of the Bordel Comédie Club, the formula of what was the most important comedy festival in the world deserves to be reviewed. Especially when it comes to galas with several guest comedians. “That there is stand-up on TV, it’s not an outdated idea. The problem is that the galas, in recent years, had become TV shows before being comedy shows. The lighting was much too bright. Certain subjects could not be discussed so as not to displease the broadcaster. The galas were broadcast a year later, so it was necessary to avoid jokes that were too closely tied to current events. For several comedians, it wasn’t interesting to go there,” he recalls.
The former management of Just for Laughs had already announced last year the abandonment of the televised galas, citing the decline in interest from spectators and broadcasters. But, in Quebec, ComediHa! Fest still relies on a very traditional model. Televised galas occupy a central place in the programming. Quite silently in the industry, many doubt that ComediHa!, of which Quebecor is a minority shareholder, will take the risk to relaunch Just for Laughs.
“The big question now is: will ComediHa! will replicate the Quebec formula in Montreal? We hope that these will not be two identical festivals,” says the director of the National School of Humor, Louise Richer, who also sees favorably the fact that Just for Laughs avoids bankruptcy thanks to to a Quebec company.
The Just for Laughs brand survives, for now
The court on Monday authorized the sale to ComediHa! of the main assets of Just for Laughs, with the exception of the building which housed its head office, on Saint-Laurent Boulevard. In addition to the French-speaking festival, ComediHa! acquires Just for Laughs, its English-speaking counterpart, and Zoofest, the more “alternative” part of Just for Laughs. The precious catalog of Just for Laughs, which includes the very lucrative show The gagsis also part of the transaction.
The president of ComediHa!, Sylvain Parent-Bédard, was not available Tuesday to answer questions from the Duty. On the airwaves of ICI Première, he indicated that he intended for the moment to perpetuate the Just for Laughs brand, even if it has been tainted in recent years. “At first glance, we want to keep it [le nom]. Yes, ComediHa! is recognized internationally, but Just for Laughs still has resonance in France, Switzerland and Belgium,” he argued at the microphone of Patrick Masbourian.
Mr. Parent-Bédard also suggested that reflection is needed on the free component of the Just for Laughs festival, whose operating costs have jumped in recent years. “We need to rethink the entire free nature of festivals. The costs have to be paid for somewhere. And to contribute to these costs, you have to have income, which potentially comes from fans and festival-goers,” said the man who founded ComediHa! 25 years ago.
In the absence of a Just for Laughs festival this summer in Montreal, ComediHa! has already planned to organize a comedy event in the metropolis. ComediHa! salute Montréal will be held from July 18 to 28. Its programming will be announced on Wednesday.