Getting back to funny business

Just For Laughs Sydney celebrates its 10^th Anniversary this year with a cracker line-up of local and international acts and new, exclusive events. 

If ever we needed a good laugh it’s now. And while the world plays out the final verses of the Bible and society becomes more tik-toxic, it’s a relief to know there are real heroes out there whose only goal is to make people feel good. That’s what Just For Laughs is all about. 

Launched in Montreal in 1983, Just For Laughs is now the biggest comedy festival on the planet, with events taking place in many major cities. The Sydney edition launched ten years ago and featured a gala event at the Sydney Opera House which has become a mainstay of the festival. 

Featuring a star-studded line-up of the very best comedians here and from over-seas in a  curated program, JFL Sydney 2022 will be a unique event. 

“You’ll never have these comedians on stage altogether ever again,” assures festival producer, Alana Bohm. Bohm has been in the comedy business for two decades. She’s helped bring out some of the biggest international names and helped local acts become big international names. 

The program for this year’s JFL Sydney is particularly exciting for Bohm as it includes some brand new, Sydney-exclusive shows. 

Musical Comedy Gala is an innovative concept that puts musical comedians on stage. Hosted by the absurdist comedy trio called Aunty Donna and co-produced by Georgia Mooney (All Our Exes Live In Texas), it is untried territory. 

“There isn’t anything like this in Australia, this will be a first. It will be a sort of a test, so it’s going to be fun,” says Bohm.

Then there is The Alternative Show, hosted by an extremely alternative comedian – Randy Feltface.  

“He’s amazing!” says Bohm. “He’s the funniest non-human comedian. He’s huge over in the States, he’s just done so well.”

Joining Randy will be human comedians  Anne Edmonds, Sam Campbell, Scout Boxall, Dan Rath and Frankie McNair. Comedy favourite and TV personality, Wil Anderson will host two live shows with special guests, based on his popular podcast, Wilosophy. 

Big international acts include: Sandi Toksvig, Rob Beckett, Jay Pharoah, Alan Carr, and recently confirmed, Eric Idle who will talk about his battle with pancreatic cancer. 

The centrepiece of the festival, as ever, is the All-Star Gala, hosted this year by Tommy Little (co-host of The Project) and held in the refurbished Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House. Expect A-list performers, glitz and mayhem. 

“It’s our ten year anniversary – there’s definitely going to be surprises!” says Bohm. 

An exciting innovation this year is First Nations Funnies, a collaboration between JFL and comedian Steph Tisdell’s company, First Nations Talent Agency. Tisdell approached JFL expressing a desire to increase the prestige of Aboriginal comedy and create an international footprint for it, and their response was positive. 

“They said: ‘this is absolutely the sort of thing we should be doing. This is exactly what the role of an international festival is, is to show people the best and show people new stuff that they haven’t looked at before. It shows the integrity of the festival , it show the integrity of the company and their willingness to change the status quo to suit the reality of a changing society,” recounts Tisdell.  “So they’ve been unbelievable!”

Tisdell leads a diverse line-up of Aboriginal comedians – Dane Simpson, Janty Blair, Andy Saunders, Kevin Kropinyeri and Jay Wymarra – each with whom she has a special connection. 

Andy Saunders and Kevin Kropinyeri taught Tisdell how to be generous with her art. 

“You have to always see your artform as a way to share love with people,” says Tisdell, describing the advice Kropinyeri gave her. “As soon as you step out with this attitude … it will transform how you perform and transform how your audience feels about you. You get to feel like you’re doing a good deed instead of just performing, you know.”

Tisdell has a palpable respect for Saunders and Kropinyeri, whom she considers mentors, though both have very different types of humour. 

“Andy’s so sarcastic and very dry, whereas Kevin is like this bouncy, bubbly ball of energy.”

Then there’s rising star, Jay Wymarra. 

“He’s a conundrum. He’s so many different things…he’s a queer drag queen from the Torres Strait Islands but he’s also like a massive nerd. He’s a very intimidating-looking man but then he’s very soft and giggly and animated.”

Janty Blair was a mid-wife for 30 years and gives off a maternal vibe but is very cheeky and youthful in her stand-up. Dane Simpson is fast making a name for himself as a line-up must-have.

Tisdell came to comedy by accident. She was studying law and journalism and was dared to do stand-up. She not only loved it, she discovered it could be more affective in changing social attitudes than law or journalism. 

She created her company and inaugurated First Nations Funnies at JFL to champion Aboriginal talent – which is often better received overseas. 

“We don’t have that same presence in Australia because I think a lot of people think that Aboriginal comedy is for Aboriginal people, and it’s not. And this is about showing that. We’re at the Sydney Opera House, this is the best of the best of our performers in comedy and we’re just there to make people laugh, you know.”

A lot of people are introduced to Just For Laughs via the live shows broadcast for many years on Channel 10. Nath Valvo certainly remembers watching live shows from Montreal growing up, although at the time he was much more into sketch comedy. 

His first comic venture was doing a sketch show with some friends. He then started dabbling in stand-up and never looked back. 

“And I love it! I think it’s really hard and challenging and exciting and Aussies – once you go and do Edinburgh Fringe, once you go and do Montreal, you realise that Australians are excellent at stand-up and we have a very high standard,” says Valvo. 

Valvo is hosting the Just For Laughs Australia Live! shows at the Sydney Opera House, which will be broadcast on TV.  There are six shows, each with a different line-up of comedians – more than 30 overall. 

It’s a mix of established and emerging, local and international artists but Valvo can’t hint at any names – because he doesn’t know any yet. 

“They’re being very coy. Even me, you know – the host, they’re keeping names from me!”

It’s hard to imagine it doesn’t get competitive with all those comedians vying for laughs from the same crowd. Valvo says yes it does, but not really. 

“You want everyone to be great because then the audience has a great time and everyone gets a piece of that really fun, buzzed up audience because it’s a great atmosphere. We always want everyone to do well.” However, he confesses: “but then you’ve got this tiny, tiny evil comedian voice in your head going ‘eh, but not better than you!’”

One good thing that’s happened in comedy, according to Valvo, is that there are a lot more rooms as well as opportunities online, so comedians can be more niche and find broader audiences. 

“The other really good thing that’s happening with comedy is people are just getting a lot better at it. People don’t punch down anymore. People have learnt you can’t just be lazy…comedy’s too competitive to be lazy or racist or sexist, so I just think, it’s really fun.”

Nov 28 – Dec 4

justforlaughs.sydney