From The Comic's Comic

A review of Montreal’s New Faces of Comedy at Just For Laughs

When was the last time anyone in show business cared about Montreal’s New Faces, outside of the comedians themselves who received invites, and their agents and managers who shouldn’t be representing “New Faces” to begin with? #ThisIsARhetoricalQuestion

We’ll get to this absolutely real photo above in a hot minute. But first…

NOTE: This is the first of multiple dispatches about the 2021 Just For Laughs Festival, based in Montreal but broadcasted online this July from Los Angeles and New York City and virtually elsewhere due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This post is free, but if you’d like to read my other analysis on JFL, upgrade to a paid subscription to Piffany.

It has long been considered passé to talk about how New Faces used to be the be-all, end-all credit for stand-up comedians coming up in the business in the post-Carson (Johnny, not Daly) era. The 1970s and 1980s found comedians fighting for their chance at a TV spot on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and the make-or-break thumb’s up and/or wave over to the cushy seat next to Johnny, which indeed did make many stand-up comedians overnight stars and provided the spark that fueled a generational move from NYC to LA. After Carson retired in 1992, TV spots on Letterman or Leno or Conan O’Brien still held a lot of sentimental value for stand-ups, if not also crucial credits to get booked in more comedy clubs, but the real power throughout the 1990s shifted north of the border to Montreal and its annual industry bacchanalia each July called Just For Laughs. Over the course of a hot week, a stand-up could go from no-name to New Face to six-figure development deal from one of the TV networks, as the suits in comedy programming looked for the next Roseanne, the next Seinfeld, the next Tim Allen’s Home Improvement or Ray Romano’s Everybody Loves Raymond or insert dozens of stand-up-based-sitcoms here.

Back in 2008, I actually attempted to calculate the full breadth and depth of the stand-up-to-sitcom craze in this post on The Comic’s Comic. Of course, that list only tracked the sitcoms that made it onto the airwaves. For each development deal that resulted in an actual TV show, there may have been a dozen or more other deals each year that only made it to script development, if not also to pilot. Some deals may have gone completely squandered, either by the comedian or by the network, if not both — an investment of $100,000 or even $500,000 into a comedian that made the comedian temporarily rich and kept them from getting richer on another network.

By the time I started attending Montreal’s JFL (every year from 2007-2018), some of the New Faces were no longer even New Faces to anyone in the industry. They had managers and agents already. They had TV credits, sometimes current gigs that very summer in primetime such as Last Comic Standing or America’s Got Talent. JFL had to even expand New Faces to include an Unrepped category to make it still enticing enough for the suits and talent scouts to pay for Industry passes and hotel rooms. JFL also added a Characters showcase to make you think you were at Saturday Night Live auditions, with varying degrees of success, despite the amateurish nature of these showcases. And in even more recent years, JFL added New Faces Creators to seem hip to the new new thing of comedians getting famous without ever getting on a stage, thanks to YouTube (and Instagram and TikTok and Vine (#RIP) and the like).

Perhaps the last time New Faces itself was worth more than a trip to Montreal (let’s not even dare get into the nature of how much it might’ve cost some New Faces to get themselves to and through the festival over the years) was 2018 — that year, JFL struck a deal with Amazon Prime Video to document the New Faces auditions and the festival itself. The series, Inside Jokes, was interesting, sure. Perhaps even more interesting for anyone who wasn’t paying close attention to look back and see how much JFL New Faces booker Jeff Singer seemed to relish playing the bad guy? Singer resigned shortly before this year’s festival, but not before booking it once more. He admitted to making offensive comments, but his resignation steered clear of addressing many other accusations of harassment and worse leveled against him by a generation of women in comedy. Oh, and never mind that JFL’s founder, Gilbert Rozon, had himself stepped down in 2017 only after his own history of sexual harassment and assault came to light anew. But please don’t forget that the courts in Canada somehow let Rozon off the hook, acquitting him for rape in 2020 despite saying his accuser was credible. And we wonder why women don’t enjoy coming forward when men have raped, assaulted or victimized them, onstage or off.

But what does this have to do with New Faces?

The pandemic wiped out 2020 New Faces. Scandal might have clouded this summer’s crop. But the two main showcases themselves, staged in Los Angeles at Dynasty Typewriter before live audiences and hosted by Pete Holmes (a former New Face who stars in an upcoming CBS sitcom based on the life of a pro bowler), went off almost without any hitches.

Almost.

The livestreams offered industry a chance not only to sit and watch in judgement with even more privacy, but also ironically less privacy, as the New Faces livestreams included both a public chat feature next to the screen, as well as an attendee list that allowed anyone with a pass to private message anyone else. Funnnnnnnnnnnnn.

Before Holmes even came out to warm up the crowd, however, we were treated not to the usual JFL musical fanfare, but to some extra special onscreen warnings and announcements.

JFL wanted us to know they took COVID-19 seriously.

JFL wanted us to know they took seriously this summer’s revelations about how poorly Canadians treated their indigenous neighbors.

And finally, JFL wanted us to know they didn’t necessarily condone any of the things any of the comedians said.

Sure. OK. Fine. But why, then, did the festival reissue this warning not once, but twice, during only one of the stand-up performances? What was it about Jes Tom that earned them an onscreen notification that Tom’s opinions were not those of the festival, and then another notification that Tom’s material may contain “mature subjects and coarse language”?

New Faces 2021 included two trans women and multiple other comedians from the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

But Tom was the only nonbinary performer. Tom’s credits include staff writing for Taika Waititi’s HBO Max series, Our Flag Means Death, appearing onscreen in Anna Kendrick’s HBO Max series, Love Life, and writing for the upcoming Audible/Broadway Video series Hot White Heist, produced by Alan Cumming.

Tom joked about using they/them pronouns to sound less lonely, and further delved into self-deprecation with bits worrying about how testosterone therapy might “turn me into an unfunny man,” and how even attempting a men and women are different joke from a nonbinary perspective was fraught with danger. “Just assume everything I’m about to say is wrong!” Tom quipped. Nevertheless, JFL felt compelled only during Tom’s bit about exploring a non-monogamous relationship to plaster a warning onscreen above the comedian.

What about all of the other New Faces?

Ian Lara: A Dominican kid from Queens, NYC. Previous credits: NBC’s Bring The Funny and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, plus HBO’s Entre Nos Presents East Meets West, all in 2019. My take? His look and sound reminded me of a young Keith Robinson, even if he’s not from Philly. His jokes were very current, dealing with lessons he’s learned from the pandemic. But how’s he a New Face, exactly? Lara taped a half-hour special for Comedy Central a few days after this showcase!

Dave Mizzoni: Creator, writer and star of the Jax Media/Quibi/Roku original series, Gayme Show (co-hosting with Matt Rogers). Also previously a producer on RuPaul’s Drag Race, a host of LOGO’s Hosting for the Holidays, and seen on the 2020 CBS Diversity Showcase and the series, The Other Two. My take? If he’s also been at JFL42, how is he a New Face now?

Danielle Perez: After reaching the semifinals of the 2018 and 2019 StandUp NBC contest, and performing in the 2020 CBS/Viacom Showcase, she also appears on the second season of Netflix’s series, Special. My take? I remember seeing Perez back in 2016 at the All Jane Fest in Portland, Ore., and found her performances somehow funnier then than now. Regardless, she’s not a New Face, either.

Starting to wonder if they just booked the people they planned to book last year.

Aaron Weber: Based in Nashville. Born and raised in Montgomery, Ala., Weber performs at the Grand Ole Opry and can be heard on The Nateland Podcast with Nate Bargatze and Brian Bates. My take? Solid enough material about growing up as the principal’s son, but waiting to see where he develops from here.

Erica Nicole Clark: Teacher from Chicago who studied at improvOlympic, and has toured opening for Deon Cole and Hannibal Buress. My take? Wait, she’s still teaching? Her jokes about getting moved to kindergarten duty over Zoom indicated as much, and adjusting to an all-white classroom in the wake of the George Floyd murder certainly provides a lot of cathartic fodder. Hopefully she doesn’t have to go back to school this fall.

Abby Roberge: Based in Los Angeles, originally from Vancouver B.C., and has appeared on an episode of Modern Family. My take? This guy has a story to tell, development-wise, and has a distinct voice, growing up in a Canadian cult and leaving with his family at 13 only to become Jehovah’s Witnesses! Now that he’s in Hollywood, he jokes: “I’m a proud Scientologist,” adding: “If you want to find out if I’m joking, come talk to me after the show.”

Jaye McBride: Proudly transgender, transitioning in 2007, McBride has become a regular at the Comedy Cellar. My take? All of McBride’s material was focused on playing on audience’s misconceptions about trans people, which OK for a start. “Don’t clap. I only did it to play women’s golf,” went one such punchline. But hopefully a 15-minute set or half-hour or an hour has other places to go.

Ariel Elias: A Kentucky Jew living in New York City now, who has performed on the set of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. My take? A welcome addition to any writers room.

Brian Simpson: A Marine Corps veteran based in LA who made his TV debut on Comedy Central’s Lights Out with David Spade. He filmed a half-hour for Netflix’s The Standups a few days after New Faces. My take? He filmed a half-hour for Netflix a few days after New Faces! Simpson’s funny enough to deserve the praise, but why is he in New Faces?

GROUP 2 

Kiry Shabazz: From Cleveland, started comedy in Northern California, now based in LA and former winner of the StandUp NBC competition. Also previously performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Bill Burr Presents The Ringers for Comedy Central, and delivered a half-hour for EPIX’s Unprotected Sets. My take? That’s a lot of credits for a New Face. Feels like he still has unfilled potential to reach, though.

Peter Kim: A Second City e.t.c. veteran who wrote for the 2019 CBS Diversity Showcase and has his own TV credits, including Prime Video’s Fairfax, Curb Your Enthusiasm, NCIS, and Chicago Justice. My take? His self-mocking intro, “I’m gay and Korean, so this body is upsetting to a lot of people. especially my mother,” leads into an impersonation of his mother and other jokes that lead me to believe he’d willing accept your casting role as that stereotypical guy in the supporting cast of the sitcom who always goes for the big laugh.

Sydnee Washington: Featured on Comedy Central’s “Up Next” showcase way back in 2018, Washington has appeared on both Showtime’s ZIWE and Comedy Central’s Broad City, co-hosts The Knitting Factory showcase on Sunday nights and served as a member of Comedy Central’s Creators program. My take? I’m also confused as to how Washington is just only now a New Face. Obviously we needed a new booker for this festival like years ago.

Randall Otis: Otis writes on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and managed to perform on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in the month before New Faces. My take? Which again, defeats the purpose of New Faces, doesn’t it? If you’ve got a cushy gig in comedy already, what is New Faces supposed to do for you, when it could be doing something for a comedian who desperately needs a break?!? I’m not trying to bust Otis’s balls over this, because it’s not his fault. It’s the festival’s fault.

Wally Baram: A Mexican-Syrian stand-up comedian, writer, and actress living in Los Angeles who has written for FX/Hulu’s What We Do In The Shadows, HBO’s Betty, and Amazon/IMDB-TV’s Spring. She also performed in July on Colbert. My take? Again. Sure, Baram is 23, so definitely a bright new face in comedy. But JFL already has a cozy deal with Variety magazine to showcase the 10 Comics To Watch each July as a celebration of comedians who are making it in the business. Some of these New Faces are better suited for that showcase.

Side note: It is funny to see some of the late-night TV bookers, who themselves can and have followed the comings and goings of New Faces auditions, beat JFL to the punch by booking some of these comedians on TV before they make their “New Faces” debuts.

Will Foskey: A Georgia comedian who’s 26 and started at 19, with multiple appearances on the hit podcast, The 85 South Show. My take? Foskey joked about his youthful indiscretions and bad life choices that led him to a choice of jail, but only because of white privilege? He clearly enjoyed making fun of himself, as well as outsider’s misconceptions about who the “cool kids” were in Georgia high schools.

Robin Tran: A trans woman since 2015, Tran appeared on Comedy Central’s Roast Battle, wrote for Netflix’s Historical Roasts, put out an hour special that aired on Hulu in 2018, and performed at Comedy Central’s Clusterfest in 2019. My take? Tran has a great sense of humor about not only being trans, but also about what that means in today’s society. At one point, she closed a story about coming out to her Vietnamese mom by worrying: “I hope nobody steals that joke!”

Maddie Wiener: Originally from North Carolina, Wiener was a 2018 semi-finalist for StandUp NBC and has also performed at the Limestone and Asheville Comedy Festivals. My take? An actual New Face, sorta kinda still!? Well, lordy lordy. What a nice change of pace!

Andre D. Thompson: Made his late-night debut in February 2020 on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and currently writing for Charlamagne Tha God’s Honest Truth for Comedy Central. My take? Feels like another 2019 or 2020 New Face whose invite got extended to 2021 just because. But he has a strong presence and voice that deserves closer attention, with jokes about the racial divide as well as the divide he feels internally between “trying” and being “bum-ass.”

Sarah Squirm: Sarah Sherman aka Sarah Squirm is an LA-based comedian and visual artist who has opened for Eric Andre’s national tour and wrote on The Eric Andre Show, as well as Three Busy Debras and Magic For Humans. She even starred in her own late-night Adult Swim infomercial. My take? Last but not least, Squirm closed out the second of the two showcases because who could follow her character act, which maybe should’ve been in the Characters showcase instead? Or did JFL not know what to do with her? Squirm certainly could be a recurring guest on something like SNL’s Weekend Update.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I’ll talk more about SNL and the JFL pipeline in my next column.