Just For Laughs Northwest 2020

Just For Laughs Northwest returns next month with shows running from February 13th to the 25th. This year’s headliners include Bill Burr, Hannah Gadsby, Ron Funches, Bobcat Goldthwait, Margaret Cho, Patton Oswalt and Middleditch & Swartz. The comedians will be preforming at various venues around the city.

This is the fifth year Vancouver will host their own version of the Just For Laughs festival. Originally founded in 1983 in Montreal, Quebec, Just for Laughs is now considered the largest comedy festival in the world. Vancouver’s version has been growing and gaining momentum since its inception in 2016.

Tickets went on sale earlier this month and many of the dates are already sold out. But don’t fear, new performers are being added to the lineup and additional shows have been announced for some of the most celebrated comedians. This list includes Bill Burr, Ron Funches and Ronny Chieng. Chieng’s popularity skyrocketed last month after his Netflix special Asian Comedian Destroys America! took off on the popular streaming platform.

The festival will also include tapings of well-known comedy podcasts. This year’s biggest podcast draw is the comedy trio known as How Did this Get Made?. HDGTM is comprised of June Diane Raphael (The Long Shot), Paul Scheer (The League) and Jason Mantzoukas (Brooklyn 99, The Dictator). The group invites a celebrity guest to join them on stage for a deep dissection of a terrible film. Previous episodes focused on films ranging from Street Fighter to the highly divisive Drop Dead Fred. The trio has chosen the Jesse Ventura classic, Abraxas: Guardian of the Universe, for their Vancouver date.

For those looking for local weekly comedy, check out Graham Clark’s Laugh Gallery every Monday night at the Havana Theatre.