Over three days, seven New Faces categories will be showcased in Montreal with shows hosted by Langston Kerman, Chris Redd, Mark Forward, Nath Valvo, Darcy Michael and Jeremy Baer.
New Faces is the most highly anticipated industry showcase which serves as a launching pad for the next generation of comedic talent. From their humble beginnings in 1983 at the Saint-Denis Theatre in Montreal to laughing our way to become the largest global player in the humor industry, JFL made funny their business. Each year, the company make millions of people laugh with festivals at home, in Montreal and abroad. JFL is home to some serious talent. They’ve hosted comedy’s greatest and watched up-and-comers skyrocket right before their laugh-so-hard-we’re crying eyes.
JFL has staged their own comedy, musical and touring shows. Often broadcasting digital and television content.
Other New Faces alum to go onto Hollywood fame includes Mike Birbiglia, Ali Wong, Tom Segura, Iliza Shlesinger, W. Kamau Bell, K. Trevor Wilson, Fortune Feimster, Pete Davidson and Ramy Youssef.
During a recent 2023 Just For Laughs appearance, comedian Dakota Ray Hebert questions what do you get when your mom is Indigenous and your dad is a cowboy?
On the small screen, Dakota co-hosts the informative and entertaining APTN series CRAZY LIKE A LYNX, alongside Indigenous comedian Don Kelly. She also stars in the CTV comedy SHELVED (now available on Crave) about a handful of smart and quirky characters who work at and inhabit a small, local library. In addition, you’ll see Dakota on this season’s RUN THE BURBS on CBC.
Dakota is also an accomplished stand-up comedian. She has performed across Canada, the US and in La Penita, Mexico. She has performed at the first Arctic Comedy Festival in Iqaluit and the first Drew McLean Comedy Festival in Kamloops, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, and sold out her headlining run at Just For Laughs Toronto. Dakota can be seen on JFL/CBC’s television show COMEDY NIGHT WITH RICK MERCER. Her first comedy album, “I’ll Give You An Indian Act” is out and available for purchase, and can be streamed on all platforms. She is currently working on a second which she toured west this winter; she’s working on an eastern tour.
Always in demand, Dakota has several television shows in development, writing, co-writing and consulting on. The contracts she can talk about are CTV’s SHELVED and CBC’s ZARQA.
In theatres, Dakota stars in the fantastic feature film, RUN WOMAN RUN, produced by Big Soul Productions, and written and directed by Zoe Hopkins. Her outstanding performance won her the Best Actress Award at the 2021 American Indian Film Festival. It opened wide in theatres March 2022 and is currently streaming on Crave.
