JFL42 is a 10 day comedy festival in Toronto put on by Just For Laughs. It’s held yearly in September and features an array of comedians performing shows throughout the city. Think of it as the spritely lil cousin to the mammoth that is the Just For Laughs (JFL) festival held each summer in Montreal.
I saw several top notch comedians (a definite shout out to the always amazing Maria Bamford! She was absolutely fantastic), but I wanted to give these two very funny Canadian dudes some praise since we don’t seem to enjoy promoting our own talent up here. They had me in tears and I highly recommend seeing them if you get a chance.
Nathan Macintosh
Nathan Macintosh is one of my fave comedians right now. Not just because he’s Canadian. Not just because we apparently have similar opinions on a lot of things (though his delivery of said opinions is much funnier and louder than mine). He is just a really really funny guy. His endless energy, quick wit and spot-on observations led him to appearances on Conan and Stephen Colbert in the last year, including regular spots in NYC’s most prominent comedy clubs. As a former fixture of Toronto’s comedy scene, his comparison of Toronto to the NYC we only know from ’80s movies is my new favourite thing and I may use this as a reference now when comparing the two cities in the future. Seriously though, I laughed so much during his JFL42 show at Comedy Bar that I was still smiling hours later. That’s better than drugs, right? Can I say Nathan Macintosh is better than drugs? Check out his very very entertaining weekly podcast, Positive Anger or catch him onstage if you’re in NYC or Medicine Hat or the Moon, because this guy is everywhere.
“Happy kids!”
Links:
Official site: NathanMacintosh.com
Twitter: @nathanmacintosh
Instagram: @nathanmacintosh
Mark Forward
The first time I saw Mark Forward was at an open mic night in a tiny bar in Toronto well over ten years ago, when a friend of mine was also performing that night. The small “crowd” of about 7 people didn’t laugh at a certain joke of his and he told them to all go back home and watch their Frasier reruns. To this day, I still smirk and think of that whenever I watch a Frasier rerun or see Mark Forward on TV. He has a unique charm that allows him to be one of the few comedians I’ve ever seen who can insult the crowd for not getting a joke, which in turn leaves them in stitches and wanting more. For the festival this year, he filmed an hour long special for CraveTV and performed some test shows at Comedy Bar in the days leading up to the taping. I caught one of the Comedy Bar shows and also the final taping. I don’t want to give spoilers… buuuut: It was ridiculously creative and hilarious and involved bears. He’s working on a whole other level and I love it. All of it. If you’re familiar with his act, you will absolutely love this special too. If you’re not, you can check out his first special, Mark Forward Presents… Mark Forward on Vimeo for just 99 cents (c’mon!) and brace yourself for when his CraveTV special, Mark Forward Wins All The Awards airs next year.
Links:
Official site: MarkForward.com
Twitter: @markforwardd
Instagram: @markforwardd
Patreon: patreon.com/markforward
