The Just For Laughs Festival returns to Toronto from September 22 to October 1
Oz Weaver is the Just for Laughs Toronto Festival 2022 festival director. Taking place between September 22 and October 1, the Just for Laughs Festival brings over 50 comedians to the city, including household names such as John Mulaney, Trevor Noah, and Amy Schumer.
The Strand: What was a highlight of organising and producing this year’s festival?
Oz Weaver: “It’s really exciting to finally bring the Toronto festival back from the pandemic. It’s been two years of cancelled festivals and I’m just really excited that we get to connect artists and fans with comedy again. It’s nice to do our tenth year anniversary by coming back with our new street festival.”
Were there any challenges this year, coming back from the pandemic?
“It’s actually gone pretty smoothly. We did a number of digital festivals and we did our festival in Montreal so we learned some good things there. It’s just taking everything in stride for the most part. We’re really growing this festival this year too so that should be really exciting.”
If you could only see one of the many fantastic comedians in town this year, which one would it be?
“I’ll tell you, but I’m also going to say it’s almost impossible to decide. We have over 200 artists in the festival this year, so there’s just something for everyone. That was something that was really big on the programmer’s mind this year. We specifically focused this year on the diversity of voices throughout the festival, whether that be BIPOC or LGBTQ2+ people.
As a queer person myself, it’s really lovely to see that because comedy comes from everywhere. I think when you look at the lineup this year, you can really see the diversity of voices come through, which is so important to me. That being said, if I had to just pick one artist to see this year, ALOK is who I’m most excited about.”
What does comedy mean to you?
“The bedrock of our festival is stand up. Stand up is a really intricate and beautiful art form that takes years to hone; I’m always impressed by artists who can do that. But comedy is also so much more than stand up. With our daytime programming and our new street festival, we’re looking at what else is in comedy and it’s the talkbacks, the panel conversations, podcasts, the content creators from TikTok. They may not be stand up but they’re still funny. I think these are important parts of comedy from a 360-degree perspective.”
What’s your 30-second elevator pitch for why people should check out the Just For Laughs Festival this year?
“I think there’s nothing better than to laugh and connect with an artist who is bringing you through a journey. That’s what really good stand up is about—bringing you through that journey of their life, their experiences, their thoughtfulness in the world and what they’re seeing. You’re going to connect with an artist on these stages and you’re going to be able to laugh along with them and feel your life up on that stage. It gives you a way to unpack some of those harder moments in life. Great comedians can take the darkest situations and spin them so you can laugh at your own misfortune because it’s their misfortune too.”
