Splitsider

If you think it’s tough going to music festivals and deciding between which bands you want to see, try going to Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival.

What do you do when your plans to see a new comic everyone says is the next big thing are interrupted by a sudden announcement that simultaneously one of your favorite comedians will be performing a surprise set to 40 people at an underground club across town? That pretty much sums up Just For Laughs. It’s maddening.

Being a Just For Laughs newbie, I went where the crowds were. Here’s a recap of some of the final weekend’s events.

If the alternative comedy movement had its own Declaration of Independence, Andy Kindler would be a principle architect and signatory. The LA-based comedian has been performing stand-up for more than 25 years, and has become known for his hostility toward conventional, hacky comedy. His penchant for exposing formulaic comedy led to him helping form the modern alternative comedy movement at places like UnCabaret at Luna Park, the predecessor for places like the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, which has spawned some of comedy’s biggest names today.

Kindler, a recurring correspondent on the Late Show with David Letterman, is also known for his 1991 satirical manifesto “The Hack’s Handbook,” which appeared [...]