If you're looking for a night just for laughs, there's some good news; Just For Laughs (JFL) has announced the line-up for Vancouver's biggest comedy festival.
Headlined by stand-up superstar Bill Burr (who also popped up in The Mandalorian and Breaking Bad) and international funnyman (and snappy dresser) Ronny Chieng (The Daily Show and Crazy Rich Asians) the festival launches Feb. 15, 2024, and runs for nine days.
Burr has filled arenas for years now, and become a regular on TV, even creating the animated show F is for Family. In Vancouver, he'll be playing Rogers Arena on Feb. 23.
Some of the other big names joining in on the fun are Wanda Sykes (Black-ish, Curb Your Enthusiasm), Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation, Sonic the Hedgehog), and Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra).
Sykes and Chieng will both have shows at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Feb. 24 (Sykes at 7 p.m., Chieng at 9:30 p.m.).
This is the eighth year for JFL in Vancouver; it spun off from the original JFL Montreal festival founded in 1983. JFL also produces the gags show that's on TV sometimes.
With more than 40 comedians coming to town from around the world (including Mexico, Australia, the UK, and Brazil), there's a lot of live entertainment to choose from. Some of the other notable names on the list include Saturday Night Live alum Chris Redd, Emmy winner Kathy Griffin, the "Egyptian Jon Stewart" Bassem Youssef, and Caroline Rhea, who fans might recognize as Aunt Hilda from the 90s TV version of Sabrina.
Along with all of the shows, the festival contains its own mini-festival with the Desi Comedy Fest coming to the Biltmore Cabaret on Feb. 20; it'll feature a group of South Asian comedians.
Here's a full list of who's confirmed so far, including stand-up comedians, podcasters, TikTok stars, and others who specialize in funny:
- Bill Burr
- Ronny Chieng
- Wanda Sykes
- Ben Schwartz
- Marlon Wayans
- Bassem Youssef
- Kathy Griffin
- Nicole Byer
- Bob the Drag Queen
- Christina P.
- Tom Papa
- Jessica Kirson
- Patti Harrison
- Che Durena
- Justin Willman
- Sooshi Mango (Joe Salanitri, Carlo Salanitri, and Andrew Manfre)
- Carlos Ballarta
- This is That (Pat Kelly and Peter Oldring)
- Big Jay Oakerson
- Catherine Cohen
- Chris Redd
- Zarna Garg
- Aparna Nancherla
- Caroline Rhea
- Mo Gilligan
- Rafi Bastos
- Chris Fleming
- Lewberger (Keith Habersberger, Alex Lewis, and Hughie Stone Fish)
- Celebrity Memoir Book Club (Claire Parker and Ashley Hamilton)
- Joel Kim Booster
- Annie Lederman
- Andrea Jin
- Chris Gethard
- Emma Willmann
- Jesus Trejo
- Sydnee Washington
- Aaro Chen
- Nathan Macintosh
- Leslie Liao
- Mark Little
- Josh Johnson
- Emil Wakim
- Tina Friml
More names will be added in the coming weeks.
Tickets go on sale Dec. 1, 2023 at 10 a.m.
