Two festivals come together as one with Zoofest & OFF-JFL ... and Trevor Noah returns to Montreal

What happens when you put together two interesting summer festivals that have established themselves in Montreal for nearly a decade – one devoted to off beat French comedy, theatre and music, and the other devoted to some of the best English language comics performing in a series of intimate venues – together for the first time?

You get Zoofest & OFF-JFL.

Last week (June 7), organizers, performers and media gathered at the Le Balcon club (a converted room in the historic St. James United Church), to announce this festival merger and its varied line-up, which will offer well over 100 shows of all sorts for comedy lovers of all sorts.

And for Montreal comedy fans, the OFF-JFL side of Zoofest & OFF-JFL will be a feast of solo shows, concept shows, multi-comic shows and local comedy shows that will certainly cater to those who enjoy quality comedy by top-name comics in the venues that they are meant to be performed in (such as Le Balcon, the MainLine Theatre, Montreal Improv and the Wiggle Room).

Some of the recent additions to the OFF-JFL line-up includes: Alan Carr, one of the top comics in the U.K. today, performs his solo show “Yap, Yap, Yap” for the first time in Canada; Australian comedian (and Just For Laughs favorite) Adam Hills, who will be performing his solo show “Adam Hills: Clown Heart” (which will also be making its Canadian debut); “The Goddamn Comedy Jam”, in which some of the best comics around today perform a stand-up set, and then belt out a cover version of their favorite song accompanied by a live band … and totally unrehearsed; “Trump vs. Bernie” an exercise in the hypothetically absurd, in which impressionists Anthony Atamaniuk and James Adomian will engage in a lively onstage comedy debate in the guise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders (and political comedy will never be the same as a result); and of course, the perennial favorite “Midnight Surprise”, in which the audience is treated to an hour of comedy filled with a line-up of surprise guests (and let’s see who can top last year’s ultimate Midnight Surprise line-up of Louis C.K. and Dave Chappelle?).

And this year, Zoofest & OFF-JFL goers will enjoy their festival experience even more with the newly-announced “Zooff” passes. With prices at $49.99 (Zooff pass), $89.99 (Super Zooff pass) and $119.99 (Ultra Zooff pass), the pass holder will get their opportunity to reserve their choice of any Zoofest and OFF-JFL show tickets in advance (3, 6, and 6 shows, respectively), plus take advantage of special show offers and discounts.

For more information to how you can get the best of both festival worlds, go to www.zoofest.com.

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Since he hosted a gala at last year’s Just For Laughs festival, South African-born comedian Trevor Noah has had quite an interesting year. First he successfully inherited Jon Stewart’s big-shoes-to-fill mantle as host of Comedy Central’s mega-successful “The Daily Show”; then he recorded a stand-up special called “Trevor Noah: Lost in Translation”, which also aired on Comedy Central, and offered his take on American culture, as well as some of the major events that took place over the past year in the U.S. and around the world; then, he went on a successful stand-up tour, where he played to sold out crowds in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia.

And on September 24, Noah will bring his comedic take on the world to Montreal, as he performs that sold-out solo show in person at the St. Denis Theatre. Tickets are $45.50, $55.50 and $65.50, and are now on sale at the St. Denis Theatre box office, or by calling 514-790-1111, or online at www.theatrestdenis.com.

(This article originally appeared in the June 11, 2016 edition of The Montreal Times)