Quebec City’s ComediHa! buys Just for Laughs

Quebec City’s ComediHa! buys Just For Laughs

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The QCT reported two weeks ago that ComediHa!, the Quebec City-based comedy and entertainment company, was planning to stage a comedy festival in Montreal this summer.

It turns out that was only the opening act for a much bigger show. Last week, the 25-year-old company got court approval to acquire most of the assets of the venerable, but bankrupt Juste pour rire/ Just for Laughs company.

In March, Just for Laughs announced it was folding due to financial issues. ComediHa! quickly stepped in to take over the production of the musical Waitress. Then, in May, it announced the staging of a multi-venue comedy festival in Montreal from July 18 to 28, to partly fill the vacuum the demise of Just For Laughs left.

The assets now in the ComediHa! fold include the brands Juste pour rire, Just For Laughs, ZooFest, ComedyPro and Just For Laughs Gags, and the audiovisual catalogue.

ComediHa! founder and CEO Sylvain Parent-Bédard said in a June 4 release, “This asset acquisition will enable us to offer even more diverse entertainment experiences to our Quebec, Canadian and global audiences while supporting the growth and development of our artists and content around the world. We are also becoming a strategic player for international artists who want to perform in Quebec and Canada.”

No sale price has been disclosed for the transaction. Parent-Bedard said in media interviews following the approval of the deal by a judge of the Quebec Superior Court that no decision has been made to change the branding of the well-established Just for Laughs assets.

He said in a Radio-Canada interview, “I have always said that we owe a lot to Just for Laughs, to its leaders, to everything they have opened up and pioneered internationally for Quebec and made Quebec a hub for humour, both in French as well as English with stand-up, but also with Gags, which have been distributed in more than 125 countries. It’s something extraordinary.”

All employees of the Montreal operation still on the job are expected to stay in place under the company’s new owner.