Here’s To The Ladies Who Laugh - Ladyfest 2023
On September 4th, 2015, three intrepid women in Montreal’s comedy scene launched the first edition of Ladyfest. Organized by Erin Hall, Katie Leggitt, and Lar Vi, the comedy festival ran for three days at Theatre Sainte-Catherine. With the near-mythical narwhal as mascot (and festival host, played by Lise Vigneault), Ladyfest aimed to create greater visibility and opportunity for women in Montreal’s comedy scene. This year marks the seventh edition of Ladyfest, now organized by Sara Meleika, a local stand-up comic and producer. While this is only her second time as the woman in charge, Sara has an extensive history with the festival dating back to (almost) the very beginning.
“I was asked to perform in 2015, however I was away for work. In 2016 I was asked to perform in the Ladyfest edition of the storytelling show Yarn, produced by Britt Dash. In April of 2017, I was producing a BIPOC improv show named Colour Outside the Lines, and Lar Vi asked me if I’d like to produce an edition for Ladyfest, as well as join the organizing team. So 2017 was my first year as a producer with the festival.”
Ladyfest has a history of engagement with Montreal’s comedy scene, and its producers, inviting numerous recurring events to share the stage. This year’s program includes Alo Azimov and DeCarlo Hoyte’s Tales of Gender Affirmation, Raquel Maestre’s A Very Pretentious Comedy Show, They Go Low, We Go Laugh, produced by Sara Meleika herself, and a live recording of the House of Stone podcast hosted by Abby Stonehouse. This year’s festival also features shows like Underthunk, which promises to “bring together comedians, clowns, and burly beasts to one stage”, hosted by Lucy Gervais and Darragh Mondoux. While Ladyfest is primarily a stand-up comedy festival, the organizers and producers have always worked tirelessly to bridge the gaps within the comedy scene.
“The initial Ladyfest organizers were Erin Hall, who was also the Festival Director of Montreal Sketchfest for many years, as well as Katie Leggitt, who was a feature player of Theatre Sainte-Catherine Improv, and Lar Vi, who performed regularly at Montreal Improv and was also very connected with the clown community. So it was always an interdisciplinary meeting of minds. At times, there can be conflict between different comedy scenes, so Ladyfest strove to say, ‘It’s already difficult being women in all our respective scenes. Let’s push back on that and be united together.’
Sara Meleika - Organizer of Ladyfest 2023
“It’s harder to be silenced when you have a community of folks who let you know you’re not alone. To my knowledge there is no other festival that celebrates Montreal’s improv, sketch comedy, AND stand up scenes in Montreal the way Ladyfest does. Particularly in Montreal’s English-speaking community.”
While this will be the seventh edition of Ladyfest, the festival is still very new, and vulnerable. During the pandemic, we lost festivals, events, venues, and audiences. There was no sector of the arts, particularly the performing arts, that was untouched, unaffected. Coming out of the pandemic, Sara found herself the only surviving member of the team she originally joined.
“Ladyfest could very much have died with the pandemic. We saw so many artistic institutions struggle. For example, Montreal Improv declared bankruptcy, and notable Canadian improv theater Bad Dog Theatre in Toronto lost their space. I felt Ladyfest was special and didn’t want its story to end. However, concrete funding has still not been secured. To be honest, we were very reliant on the Diving Bell Social Club collaborating with us for the festival to be financially feasible thus far.”
The Diving Bell Social Club, a venue in the heart of the Plateau, has been a fixture in Montreal’s performing arts scene for the last five years. Recently, Diving Bell announced their imminent closure in December of this year. The venue’s community-centric approach, and the commitment to diversity and inclusion made Diving Bell an ideal location for the 2023 edition of Ladyfest.
“Early on in the Diving Bell’s trajectory I noticed Tranna Wintour producing several shows there, which for me was a green flag that Diving Bell was a safe space. Post-pandemic, that was also where Uma Gahd & Selma Gahd chose to remount Coven, so that was why I first asked to produce Ladyfest there.
“They have also often been willing to waive the rental fee for shows that support marginalized communities. It would’ve been in their right to always charge us, however they’re the antithesis of a space that tries to get every dollar it can out of an artist. They are so artist and community driven. Many of the shows that center around marginalized artists in Montreal wouldn’t have lasted the way they did, without them.”
Ladyfest 2022
Making space for the voices of marginalized artists is the core objective of Ladyfest and its organizers and producers. In a scene dominated by cis men, the festival provides a stage to the 100+ women (cis & trans), trans men, and gender non-conforming folks in comedy in Montreal between the improv, sketch, stand-up scenes.
“Even in Ladyfest’s very first edition there were women of colour and trans women incorporated, so it has always been an intentional part of the festival.”
Discussing her own production history, Sara outlines the work she’s done previously to foster marginalized community members taking up space both as performers and producers.
“I created my first improv show, Colour Outside the Lines because at the time at Montreal Improv, there were a lot of narrative genre shows like improvised Mad Men or improvised Full House which excluded BIPOC people just based on the premise. I was tired of being erased, and for me comedy has always been tied up with activism. So then I created They Go Low, We Go Laugh in 2019 - with the first edition actually being part of Ladyfest - to create a safer space for more women of colour to try comedy.”
The 2023 edition of Ladyfest begins on Sunday, August 27th, with the live recording of Abby Stonehouse’s podcast House of Stone. Closing the festival on September 3rd is Chinatown Comedy Cabaret, hosted by Andrina Learmonth. All events (except Sunday Night Improv on August 27th) will be held at The Diving Bell Social Club on St. Laurent in the Plateau.
For schedule and ticket information, click HERE.
