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Expectations are always set high for Just For Laughs’ infamous The Nasty Show, with audience members wondering how far the comedians will truly go. The 2019 Nasty Show was no different, as a killer lineup took the stage on July 18th at MTELUS hosted by Bobby Lee and featuring Comedian CP, Bonnie McFarlane, Jessimae Peluso, Andrew Schulz and with Big Jay Oakerson closing it out. With headliner after headliner taking the stage, taboo jokes were served on a silver platter and the audience devoured them.

With comedy’s dirtiest minds under one air-conditioned roof at MTELUS, Bobby Lee did not disappoint. His energy got the crowd going from the moment the first Cosby joke landed, the audience gasped and now knew that with a show like this, nothing was off limits. Lee kept the jokes coming before bringing Comedian CP to the stage with a sermon on understanding female anatomy of biblical proportions. Followed by Bonnie McFarlane, things got personal with stories of her special needs sister and her views on veganism and feminism. However this was not without the shocking punchlines that make the Nasty Show what it is, with most lines I would hesitate to repeat.

The next act was Andrew Schulz and he brought the house down. A true star in the making, it was my first time seeing Andrew live and his well crafted jokes hit on every single punchline which left me gasping for air. I’ll proclaim that it was the set of the night and without spoiling anything - it was well worth the price of admission. 

Jessimae Peluso followed and kept the energy high by taking physical comedy to another level. With jokes that left the audience exclaiming loud gasps in unison, her shocking set was one to remember as she interacted with the crowd, swatted away the phallic shaped microphone and most of all, kept the great show going.

After such a dynamic performance, The Nasty Show veteran Big Jay took the stage with some sit down comedy. If anyone was unsure of what to expect, the master of crowd work picked his targets from the audience and was impeccable as ever, finishing off the show with a joke about finishing off, and went into the night with a loud ovation.

The Nasty Show is the perfect opportunity to cut loose, expect the unexpected and of course, an excuse to leave the kids at home, if you have any. There’s a reason why this is the festival’s longest running show with a name that carries weight to it, as Just For Laughs' 2019 The Nasty Show is not something a comedy lover can afford to miss!

This is all part of CJLO 1690AM's coverage of the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival. Founded in 1983, Just For Laughs is the largest international comedy festival in the world: showcasing the funniest comedians of all time! For more information and to buy tickets, check out www.hahaha.com before they're all sold out!

What's Funny is a comedy talk show hosted by Stephen Beker. Tune in every Wednesday from 5PM - 6PM to hear Stephen shine the light on the status of comedy in Montreal, by promoting local talent, local shows and asking listeners to join the comedy revolution

Ahmad Moujtahed

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LOCAL

Montreal police are urging people to equip their mailboxes with locks after three people were arrested for raiding mailboxes to steal peoples' identities in Montreal and Laval. Police say the suspects targeted residences where mailboxes were accessible from outside the building. 

According to CBC News, the suspects would allegedly steal mail and open a bank account with a victim's personal information. They would subsequently go back to the victim's residence, retrieve the card they ordered and deposit fake cheques in the new bank accounts. In some cases, the suspects would redirect the victims’ mail to other addresses. 

For people who cannot afford installing locks or mail slots, police are asking that they retrieve their mail as quickly as possible.

NATIONAL

Quebec Superior Court has allowed a lawsuit against Apple and its Canadian division on the grounds that batteries in the iPhone and other products are not durable for a reasonable length of time.

The law firm leading the suit is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for those affected. A Montreal Gazette report revealed that the lawsuit affects those who have bought any Apple products with a rechargeable battery since December 29th, 2014. It also will affect those who purchased Applecare or AppleCare+ since December 20th, 2015.

The class action was allowed on the basis that Apple has failed to provide products that must be durable for a reasonable length of time. However, it is not clear what is considered a reasonable length of time; since Apple and the Canadian government consider batteries to be consumables and generally not covered under the Consumer Protection Act.

INTERNATIONAL

The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo a "public health emergency of international concern".

Now that the year-old Ebola epidemic has reached Goma, a heavily populated city near the border with Rwanda, the WHO is looking to increase funding to fight the disease spread. 

The viral disease has killed more than 1600 people over the past year. The current outbreak is largely confined to Congo apart from three deaths in Uganda last month. Health officials and responders hope declaring the global health emergency will bring more international attention and aid.

Ahmad Moujtahed

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LOCAL

Serious Play Conference, a conference for both those who create serious games and those who implement game-based learning programs, will take place at UQAM University from July 10th to July 12th. 

Though video games are criticized as being unavailing and addictive, this event highlights video games’ learning potential. Serious gaming is a field that’s growing as sales are forecast to reach $8 billion within 3 years.  The Montreal conference will feature the most experienced developers and designers in the industry.

The event will end with an afternoon of serious games at Agora Hydro-Québec. All practical information is on the UQAM website.

NATIONAL

This was Liberal MP John Mckay, head of the committee responsible for overseeing an emergency meeting expected to be held next week in Ottawa regarding the Desjardins data breach.

Last month, an unprecedented incident at Desjardins saw close to 3 million of its members affected by a data breach that included social insurance numbers, emails, and other personal information. An employee has been blamed for the leak. 

In the wake of the breach, tens of thousands of people have signed a petition asking for new social insurance numbers.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer reached out earlier this week to the chair of the public safety and national security committee John Mckay to arrange an emergency meeting to talk about the Desjardins breach. It is not yet clear what the committee hopes to specifically accomplish with this meeting.

INTERNATIONAL

An 18-month-old girl from South Bend Indiana fell to her death from the 11th-floor deck of a cruise ship around San Juan, Puerto Rico. Initial reports suggested the youngster - named Chloe Wiegand - had slipped from the hands of her grandfather. 

The family’s attorney said the story "is not as it had originally been portrayed in the media". He revealed in a statement that the grandfather didn't drop the child, instead the child fell due to an open glass pane in a play area that should have been closed securely.

Local police have declined to comment on the attorney’s account of events, and said the family will remain in the country until their investigation is complete.

It has been a few months since the CJLO music directors flew down to Austin, Texas for the world renowned South-By-Southwest. As the station’s Electronic Music Director, my goal was to attend a variety of interesting shows related to electronic music; after getting a chance to gather my thoughts around the event as a whole, I've been able to identify three main themes.

1. Brostep 

On our first night at SXSW, I went to the small PLUSH bar expecting to hear some Jersey club tracks from Phoenix the Producer, the only name on the bill I recognized. Phoenix had some big tracks in the 2014 era of Vine remixes, including the still classic “Bish Whet?! Vine remix.” However, that night I learned that there are definitely more than one ‘Phoenix-the-Producers.’ The night was like 90% heavy brostep with tracks that would be well at home on a “MOST BRUTAL DUBSTEP DROPS OF 2010” compilation. It was really fun to be there though, and I could not help think that no, Brostep didn’t “die” like we might say here in the Northeast. Rather, it survives as a more niche thing; there were seemingly diehard Heads for this at every age, relishing every drop. I guess its kind of also that the whole Trap phenomenon, and the sort of Mr. Carmack/west coast bass/hip hop hybrid stuff fits well within a mix of this music too. Not surprising then that we heard old-but-classic Bassnectar’s “Bass Head,” an earlier dubstep/west coasty hybrid innovation 

It’s just so funny to see what we still imagine as music for huge EDM festivals with thousands of people being performed in a small bar, but again it feels like it has always been there for the people who are into it. Whereas someone on a Facebook group for electronic music proclaimed that the BROSTEP REVIVAL was here by linking to a sort of “post” EDM sounding release, it appears that for some the actual genre has stayed a ‘thing’ throughout its apparent decline.

2. Algorithmic composition/Live coding Can Be Lame 

One of the biggest “trends” in electronic music of the last year or so is the method of algorithmic composition for electronic (dance) music, where musicians are actually creating the music that is heard through writing of code.  

In a live setting, this has been called “live coding,” where often the music is projected behind the performer - and there are many interesting examples of this on Youtube. 

Although we arrived at SXSW a day later than Renick Bell’s set (one of the best known/highest regarded employers of this method), I was able to catch a glimpse of one performance. The attendees of a larger event in a large bar were encouraged to walk to a smaller back section of the building, where we were told there was someone doing live-coding, and that they were a physics student, and that it was very impressive what they were doing. The performance was actually difficult to watch because there was little engagement/connection with the audience, and no visual interest (often live-coders will make things interesting by projecting the code behind them). It’s difficult to talk about because, of course, we want to encourage interesting experimental music, but that performance reminded me even this can be done in a less affecting way. Maybe this was the result of a combination of factors that the performer had little control over as just one aspect of  a much larger event in a much much larger festival. Regardless, I do look forward to seeing an interesting live-coding performance in the future.

3. Have DJs at your House in the Suburbs

The best show I went to at SXSW was not an official event, but rather an all-night show at a house at the end of a cul-de-sac in a neighborhood outside of Austin proper, run by two local collectives Black Marble Collective and Wabi Sabi. Billed as an all nighter with 25+ different acts, several of whom were well known artists who had played official events the night before, it was something that had to be experienced. When I arrived, there was almost no one there, and the only people there were there for the fact that it was a house party. When I told them I was a music director who flew down from Montreal and that this was about to be actually a really interesting event with a lot of great DJs, they seemed surprised. This dynamic actually made for a great experience. The sets mostly hung around the 160bpm footwork/jungle range, although someone took it to a 130bpmish grimey set too. It was really great and actually better than anything else I had been to because it involved actual connection and a genuine party atmosphere, rather than the kind of more corporate/promoter organized events. Check these links:

Black Marble Collective label page https://blackmarblerecords.bandcamp.com/ (Check out that new Dev79)

https://www.mixcloud.com/BlackMarbleCollective/stream/

Nikes (!!!!!!) https://nikes89.bandcamp.com/album/never-too-late 

Holden Carroll is the Electronic Music Director at CJLO 1690AM, and the host of Multiple Tabs, which airs on Thursdays at 2:00 PM.