RICK MERCER hosts Just For Laughs Comedy Night in Canada

starring Ivan Decker, Debra DiGiovanni and Ali Hassan

TICKETS ON SALE Monday, June 3 @ 10:00 AM

Just For Laughs is thrilled to announce the return of the Just For Laughs Comedy Tour. The 18th edition, titled Just For Laughs Comedy Night in Canada, will be hosted by Canadian comedy superstar Rick Mercer and will feature a stellar line-up of some of Canada’s brightest talents. Following the 15th and final season of the incredibly popular Rick Mercer Report, Rick Mercer will hit the road with some of the best comedians Canada has to offer! Just For Laughs Comedy Night in Canada will see Rick Mercer, along with 2018 Juno Award winner for comedy album of the year Ivan Decker, Gemini award-winning comedian Debra DiGiovanni and host of CBC and Sirius XM’s Laugh Out Loud the hilarious Ali Hassan, perform in prestigious theatres from coast-to-coast starting October 23 in St. John’s, NL and wrapping up in Surrey, BC on November 17. Tickets go on sale Monday, June 3 at 10:00 AM.

Just For Laughs is excited to have Rick return, 16 years later, to host the Just For Laughs Comedy Tour, Canada’s foremost Canadian comedy tour.

Comedy Night in Canada Tour Dates:

WED OCT 23, 2019 | 7:30PM	TUE NOV 05, 2019 | 7:30PM
St. John’s, NL	Winnipeg, MB
HOLY HEART THEATRE	CENTENNIAL CONCERT HALL
THU OCT 24, 2019 | 7:30PM	WED NOV 06, 2019 | 7:30PM
St. John’s, NL	Regina, SK
HOLY HEART THEATRE	CONEXUS ARTS CENTRE
FRI OCT 25, 2019 | 7:00PM	THU NOV 07, 2019 | 7:30PM
Moncton, NB	Saskatoon, SK
CAPITOL THEATRE	TCU PLACE
SAT OCT 26, 2019 | 7:00PM	FRI NOV 08, 2019 | 7:00PM
Halifax, NS	Edmonton, AB
SPATZ THEATRE	NORTHERN ALBERTA JUBILEE AUDITORIUM
TUE OCT 29, 2019 | 7:30PM	SAT NOV 09, 2019 | 7:00PM
London, ON	Calgary, AB
CENTENNIAL HALL	JACK SINGER CONCERT HALL AT ARTS COMMONS
WED OCT 30, 2019 | 7:30PM	THU NOV 14, 2019 | 7:30PM
Kitchener, ON	Kelowna, BC
CENTRE IN THE SQUARE	KELOWNA COMMUNITY THEATRE
FRI NOV 01, 2019 | 7:30PM	FRI NOV 15, 2019 | 7:00PM
Hamilton, ON	Vancouver, BC
FIRST ONTARIO CONCERT HALL	THE ORPHEUM
SAT NOV 02, 2019 | 7:30PM	SAT NOV 16, 2019 | 7:00PM
Ottawa, ON	Victoria, BC
THE ARENA AT TD PLACE	FARQUHAR AUDITORIUM
SUN NOV 03, 2019 | 8:00PM	SUN NOV 17, 2019 | 8:00PM
Toronto, ON	Surrey, BC
ROY THOMSON HALL	BELL PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE

About Rick Mercer
Rick Mercer, Canada’s top political satirist, recently wrapped up the 15th and final season of The Rick Mercer Report on April 10, 2018, with an hour-long special. At the March 2018 Canadian Screen Awards ceremony, the series received the Academy Icon Award “for its ongoing contribution to the media industry within Canada and globally.”

Rick Mercer began his career in comedy performing and writing in his hometown St John’s, Newfoundland with a series of one-man stage shows. Mercer launched his television career in 1993 as one of the creators, performers, and writers on the hit topical weekly show This Hour Has 22 Minutes. In 2001 his CBC Television special Talking To Americans became the highest rated Canadian comedy special ever with 2.7 million viewers.

He is the recipient of nearly 30 Gemini Awards and Canadian Screen Awards for television writing and performance and in 2015 again won the CSA for ‘Best Performance in a Variety or Sketch Comedy Program or Series.’ In 2009 The Rick Mercer Report took home the prestigious Golden Rose Award for ‘best comedy’ at the international Rose d’Or Television Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland. In 2016 Rick received The John Drainie Award from ACTRA in recognition of his contribution to Canadian broadcasting. Rick is also the 2019 recipient of the Governor General’s Lifetime Achievement Award, was made an Officer in the Order of Canada in 2015.

Mercer is the author four best-selling books: Streeters, a collection of his rants from This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and from The Rick Mercer Report (1998), Rick Mercer Report: The Book (2007), A Nation Worth Ranting About (2012) and Rick Mercer Final Report (2018). Mercer has also written for Time, Maclean’s, The Globe and Mail, and The National Post.

About Ivan Decker
Originally from Vancouver, Ivan Decker is a writer, stand-up comedian and actor, known for his sharp, polished, and multi-layered observational comedy.

Ivan has had numerous television performances filmed at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival, the Winnipeg and Halifax Comedy Festivals for CBC Television and can be heard across North-America on Sirius XM radio. Ivan can also be seen and heard on the popular CBC radio program “The Debaters”. Most recently, Ivan was named a “Comic To Watch” by TBS at the New York Comedy Festival and subsequently made his U.S. television debut on Conan. Ivan’s debut comedy album “I Wanted to be a Dinosaur” was the recipient of the 2018 JUNO award for “Comedy Album of the Year” which can be heard on all major streaming platforms, including iTunes, Ivan is also a featured performer on the Netflix Stand up Series “Comedians of the world.”

About Debra DiGiovanni
Gemini award-winning comedian Debra DiGiovanni has been called the “Best Comedian to see after a Messy Break Up”. Debra’s comedy has a sharp edge while maintaining a playful, happy air. Her humour and charm lie in her unflinching honesty and openness, and rapid-fire delivery.

Debra’s a favourite at the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, and attended in 2017 for the 10th time. She’s done the popular Bridgetown Fest in Portland (2013) the Glasgow Comedy Fest in Scotland (2013) and Debra was thrilled to do the Just For Laughs festival in Sydney Australia (2013). You can often hear Debra on CBC radio’s “The Debaters”. She has become a nationwide favourite on the hugely popular Much Music show Video On Trial, which can now be seen on FUSEtv. She was also a finalist on the 5th season of NBC’s hit show Last Comic Standing, making it to the Top 8 comedians and her first stand up DVD for the Showtime Network Single, Awkward Female is now available on Netflix.

About Ali Hassan
Ali Hassan is a stand-up comic, actor and chef who has performed on stages across Canada, in the U.S. and twice in the Middle East at the Amman Stand-Up Comedy Festival. He has been performed at both the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival and at Just For Laughs’ Toronto festival – JFL42. Ali is also a Canadian Comedy Award nominee who has taken his solo show Muslim, Interrupted to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Ali has graced the big screen in three award-winning films: Breakaway, French Immersionand as the memorable Lebanese “Uncle Stevie” opposite Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel and Eugene Levy in the hockey hit GOON. Ali has also had recurring roles on television in Man Seeking Woman (FXX), Game On (YTV) and Dino Dana (Amazon Studios). Ali joined the cast of CTV’s Cardinal, as a recurring character, starred in ABC’s 2nd season of Designated Survivor and VICE’s FUBAR: Age of Computer. In 2019, you’ll see him in CBS’s Blood & Treasure.

Ali is the host of Laugh Out Loud on CBC Radio & SiriusXM, a show with a base of over a million listeners. He is also the frequent guest host of “q”, the premiere national arts and entertainment show that airs on CBC Radio One, NPR and PRI.

About the Just For Laughs Group
Founded in 1983, the Just For Laughs Group’s growth is concentrated on three major focal points: festivals (in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Sydney, Australia); television production (most notably Gags, seen in 135 countries and on 95 airlines); and live shows (Canadian tour dates for Jerry Seinfeld, Trevor Noah, Kevin Hart, Jim Gaffigan, Bill Burr, Sebastian Maniscalco, John Mulaney, Jimmy Carr, Danny Bhoy, North American dates for John Cleese & Eric Idle). Its inaugural Montreal Festival, which is in its 37th year, is now the world’s largest and most prestigious comedy event welcoming more than 2 million people each summer. www.hahaha.com

Canadian comedy superstar
RICK MERCER
hosts Just For Laughs Comedy Night in Canada
starring Ivan Decker, Debra DiGiovanni and Ali Hassan
 
TICKETS ON SALE Monday, June 3 @ 10:00 AM

For more information, including where to buy tickets, visit: www.hahaha.com

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