Here’s the thing. Stand-up comedy is daunting. To get up on stage, in front of a crowd, and leave it all on the floor is an impressive feat — no matter if you bomb or kill it. With amateurs, you never know what quality control is happening, so the sets at Montreal Just For Laughs’ New Faces Showcase at the Dynasty Typewriter were always going to be a bit of a gamble. 

Just For Laughs is a Montreal-based stand-up festival that was previously a mecca for up-and-coming comedians looking to get some time in front of agents, talent scouts and executives. The festival is returning after its 2024 festival was canceled amid the company going bankrupt. Looking to usher in a new era for Just For Laughs, ComediHa! acquired the company in June.

The New Faces Showcase at the Dynasty Typewriter was an audition for nine amateur comedians to showcase their original characters in just over 75 minutes, hoping to secure a spot at Just For Laughs. This format gave each comedian just about nine minutes to do a solo set of as many different characters as they would like to a crowd of around 200. On a Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., one can assume this crowd is mostly family and friends who will cheer comics on, no matter if they are funny or not. 

Saturday’s lineup included Monica Loomba, Jesse Kendall, Austin Williams, Lesley Osuala, Gaby Sandoval, Cam Gavinski, Ava Bunn, Cory Walls and Taylor Owen. 

The afternoon started with Loomba, who was a standard starter. Nothing about her set was over-the-top funny, but she showed some good timing. Additionally, all of her characters were relatively diverse, both in terms of gender — the lights dimmed between each comedian and gave them time to change outfits — and tone. While none of her characters were particularly memorable, her stand-up, as posted on Instagram, seems to be actually quite funny. It will be exciting to see what her stand-up future holds, but her set felt like it was still finding its footing and was unpolished. 

In contrast, Cam Gavinski delivered the standout standup set of the afternoon. One of his characters, a human Roomba, had the audience genuinely laughing out loud throughout the entire performance. His set was a mixture of hilarious dialogue, fleshed-out concepts and a refreshing physicality that made it shine. Gavinski also portrayed a Thai grandmother — presumably his own — who interrupted the performance part way through to sing about whether or not he could be racist against himself. 

Gavinski’s unconventional comedy totally paid off. His characters were not as quick as the other performers, so audience members were able to better see the detail in his work. His slower pace showed that he completely understood how to set a character apart and what makes characters compelling. 

The biggest disappointment was the final act, Taylor Owen, who tried to link all of her characters together into a story about a sleazy casting director and an actor auditioning for him. This idea is not inherently bad, but it is not inherently good either. Owen’s set failed in its overly detailed, complicated storylines. Also, by the time she got to the fourth character, none of the prior had been especially exciting, so the audience appeared to be bored. Given the show’s time constraint, the mass amounts of detail the audience had to follow made the act fall flat and left the audience wanting more — right at the end of the show. 

It was evident throughout the show that comics’ levels of experience and talent varied. Some performers seemed particularly well-versed in performing their characters, while others seemed to be testing new material that was not quite ready. Out of the acts seen, Gavinski was the only one who would likely appear at the mainstage festival. The unevenness of quality is perhaps inevitable in this “new faces” format, but it also made for an audience experience that was all over the place. 

Even though most of the comics still have room to grow, the talent and courage of the performers must be commended. Character comedy is especially difficult given how comics need to completely immerse themselves in their performance while still maintaining an awareness of the audience and effective comedic timing.

 So, is the average stand-up fan going to enjoy the showcase? Probably not. However, the event was an interesting opportunity to see work in development, and for scouts to see emerging talent. There were genuine moments of pure hilarity throughout the afternoon.