In mid-July, comedian DeAnne Smith skyrocketed to virality with a bit she performed for CBC Comedy in which she encouraged heterosexual men to treat their girlfriends better. Shortly after gaining recognition on Facebook newsfeeds in Canada and beyond, Smith reached Montreal’s annual Just For Laughs comedy festival—an event that she[Read More…]
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
‘Ain’t That Rich’ asks who and what constitutes being “poor”
In today’s context of out-of-touch politicians blaming millennials’ lack of real estate on avocado toast and “Fight for 15” groups across North America protesting the stagnation of the minimum wage compared to the rising cost of living, we are sometimes left wondering: Who and what actually constitutes being “poor”? Kate[Read More…]
Jen Kirkman and her irrational thoughts take Just For Laughs comedy festival
In the summer of 1998, Jen Kirkman came to Montreal’s Just For Laughs (JFL) comedy festival for the first time. Her standup career was only getting started, but her interest in comedy was longstanding. Using a press pass she received on behalf of a small Boston newspaper, Kirkman and her[Read More…]
Comedian Ryan Hamilton to push as few boundaries as possible at Just For Laughs festival
No one walks onto a stage with a bigger smile than seasoned New York-based comedian Ryan Hamilton. This year, audience members at Montreal’s 35th annual Just For Laughs (JFL) comedy festival will witness his kind yet self-deprecating sense of humour in a long lineup of shows from July 24 to[Read More…]
Q&A: YouTube’s Lilly Singh on confidence and life post-grad
A scroll through Lilly Singh’s YouTube channel, called "llSuperwomanll," includes shots of the star wearing wigs and colourful costumes, impersonating her parents, and collaborating with fellow YouTubers to produce outlandish sketch scenes—sometimes all within the same video. Her 12 million subscribers eat her eccentric humour right up, and on July[Read More…]
Instagram’s Mari Andrew on living her happiest life
It often takes trauma and heartbreak to push people into their most creative, inspired places. Such a narrative is common across artists and writers, and is similarly true for Mari Andrew, illustrator and founder of a daily illustration Instagram account, @bymariandrew, now with over half a million followers. Each of[Read More…]
On Melodrama, Lorde reveres being young and dumb
It’s easy to trivialize pop music, or dismiss it as something intrinsically lesser than “real music." It can seem banal, and focus on catchiness in lieu of explicit meaning. But those criticisms often miss the point of the genre. At its best, a pop song isn’t about a message, per[Read More…]
Comedian Yamaneika Saunders opens up at Just For Laughs 2017
It’s festival season in Montreal, and some of the greatest comedians from across the globe are pouring into the city for the annual Just for Laughs (JFL) festival. Among them is Yamaneika Saunders, a New York-based stand-up comic who has been pleasing crowds with her bold, dynamic nature for over[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: OKNOTOK is not what rock and roll needs right now
For all their talk about being so vehemently anti-capitalist, and–by proxy–true to their art, Radiohead loves a good gimmick. It was around this time last year, for example, just days before the release of their first album in seven years, that the British rock band effectively erased themselves from the[Read More…]
From the viewpoint: Montreal Sketchfest
Being funny is not easy. Being funny when people expect you to make them laugh is even harder. Fortunately for us, Montreal attracts humble masters of the art of comedy: Performers who know how to perfectly create humor through the juxtaposition of injury and cheer, but who do not pretend[Read More…]
