Cornwall Comedy Festival Presents Masters of Montreal Gala

Media Release | Photo by Jason Setnyk

Cornwall, Ontario – The Cornwall Comedy Festival returns with their “Masters of Montreal” Gala on Saturday, October 14th at 8 PM at Aultsville Theatre.

The Gala welcomes host, the JUNO Awards nominated, Derek Seguin (SiriusXM Top Comic) and comedians Carly Baker (Just For Laughs), the Gemini nominated, David Acer (Comedy Nest), Canadian Comedy Award winner, Heidi Foss (This Hour Has 22 Minutes), David Pryde (CBC’s The Debaters) and our headliner, Joey Elias (Just for Laughs, Winnipeg Comedy Festival).

Our local not-for-profit partners are, Beyond 21, PawPortunity Rescue and Help Addiction & Mental Health Recovery Services Cornwall. They received $20 for every ticket they sold during our not-for-profit pre-sale. We thank Rozon Insurance Brokers, Cardinal & Son Wholesale Meats, The Happy Popcorn Co., Boom 101.9, 1045 Fresh Radio and Cornwall Seaway News for their generous contribution towards helping bring great Canadian, professional, stand up comedy to our home.
Please find full bios of and pictures of our featured comedians attached.

Derek Seguin is one of the most sought after stand up comedians on the international circuit. He has performed at the prestigious invitation-only Just For Laughs festival an impressive 11 times as well as appearing numerous times at every other major festival in the country, making several television appearances along the way.At a past Just for Laughs festival, GQ Magazine’s Comedy Editor reported about JFL that: “Montreal-comic Derek Seguin stole one of the most star- studded gala shows last year from host Whitney Cummings. This year, he appeared in The Nasty Show and proceeded to steal that too. A true star and Montreal’s pride and joy.”The Montreal Gazette enthused that: “Derek Seguin earned a standing ovation for his set during the ninth Just for Laughs gala … had me gasping for air, I was laughing so hard at the detailing of his second date with his Newfoundland girlfriend. … What made it great, however, was not the boldness of his material but that he described it all in such childlike wonder. Brilliant.”He has also appeared on CBC Radio’s, “The Debaters” more than forty times and is one of the show’s fan favourites.Undeniably one of Canada’s hottest comedians, he fittingly walked away with the top prize of Sirius XM’s Canada’s Top Comic competition a few years ago; a contest that spanned the entire country with finalists from every major city. In March 2021, it was announced that Derek’s latest Album, PanDerek – 1st Wave had been nominated for a Juno award.

Joey Elias, has made a name for himself on the Canadian and Worldwide comedy scene. From his first Just For Laughs in 1996 on the “Montreal Show” to his 17th appearance in 2021 as the host of the resurrected “Montreal Show”, Joey has become a mainstay at Just For Laughs. 17 appearances, 5 televised Gala performances and 2 cross Canada JFL Tour. On top of that Joey has also been part of the “Winnipeg Comedy Fest”, he “Hubcap Comedy Festival” in Moncton NB and the “Halifax Comedy Festival” to name a few. In 1995, Joey, travelled overseas to Rwanda to entertain the members of the Canadian Forces serving there. In 1996, he followed that up with another military show your to Haiti. Then in 2004 and again in 2008, Joey went to Afghanistan again for the troops serving. Joey’s work for the Military hasn’t stopped as he continuously does fundraising shows to help “Royal Canadian Legions” in need – to date he has helped save four, and counting. Joey has also dabbled in acting having appeared such films as “The Wool Cap” starring William H. Macy as well as the blockbuster Hollywood hit “The Day After Tomorrow”. As if performing comedy across the Globe, to acting, to fundraising you would think that would be enough to keep Joey busy. He still found the time from 2006-2018 to host a five night a week radio show aptly called “The Comedy Show with Joey Elias” and now can still be seen every Sunday evening and Monday Mornings on Global Montreal as “Everyday Joe”.

David Pryde’s clever comedy has been described as everything from “cerebral” to “subversive” to “caused a minor scuffle on an escalator outside the venue”. He has performed at the Halifax Comedy Festival, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, and has been in more Just for Laughs galas than he can count (but for those who can count, it’s five). He is a regular on CBC Radio’s “The Debaters”, and has written for “This Hour has 22 Minutes”, “The Onion” and (his personal favourite) Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at the Just for Laughs XXX Nasty Show Gala on HBO Canada. David has been nominated for numerous Canadian Comedy Awards including Best Male Stand-up, Best Newcomer (not in that order), and Best Televised Performance for his set at the Just for Laughs “Montreal: An Intervention” gala celebrating the city’s 375th anniversary. His four comedy albums can be found for streaming or download on Amazon, Apple Music, and any other sites where David Pryde albums are sold. David lives with his family (one wife, two kids, and two cats) which provides a precious source of love, happiness and the occasional joke.

Heidi Foss is a four-time Canadian Comedy Award nominee for Best Female Stand-up Comic in Canada, Heidi’s been in the ‘Just For Laughs’ Festival, the ‘Halifax Comedy Festival’, ‘Winnipeg Comedy Festival’, CTV’s ‘Comedy Now’, and CBS’s ‘Comic’s Unleashed with Byron Allen’. Heidi also has a recurring role on the hit CBS series ‘Ghosts’. In addition to performing, Heidi is an acclaimed screenwriter and won a Canadian Comedy Award for her writing on ‘This Hour Has Twenty- Two Minutes’. Heidi’s animated feature film ‘Butterfly Tale’ won the 2021 ‘Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film’ Screenplay Award – and is scheduled for release in the fall of 2023. Heidi is currently developing a television series based on the feature film.

David Acer is an award-winning author, television writer, comedian, inventor of magic tricks, comedy club co-owner and Creative Director of a Canadian entertainment brand called the SuperDogsTM, David Acer likes keeping busy to avoid doing the dishes. He’s had his own special on CTV Comedy Channel, appeared on CBC’s The Debaters, was nominated for
two Gemini Awards for television writing, won a Hackmatack Children’s Choice Award for his Canadian best-seller Gotcha!, contributed comedic pieces to Reader’s Digest Canada, performed his original magic and stand-up on A&E, ABC, YTV, Discovery, SKY TV, NHK Japan, live at The Magic Castle in Hollywood and 13 times at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal.

Carly Baker has been writing and performing comedy for over 19 years. Her self deprivational style is both sweet and raw, always striving to balance honesty with entertainment. Comedy is her passion and it translates on stage and in her love of the craft. Lucky enough to start her career in 2005 at the legendary Houston Laff Stop, she then relocated to Edinburgh, Scotland to become a regular at the famous Stand Comedy Clubs. She has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as well as festivals around the globe. After that she lived in both Germany and Amsterdam, producing and performing all over Europe. She has called Montreal home since 2021 where you can find her as a regular MC and performer at The Comedy Nest and Yuk Yuk’s Ottawa as well as preforming for the prestigious Just For Laughs Festival Montreal 2022, 2023 and recording for the JFL Originals comedy album: Heavy Petting Zoo (available for on Sirius XM).

Visit www.CornwallComedyFestival.ca or the Cornwall Civic Complex Box Office (613-938- 9400) for tickets.