Montreal, Wednesday, September 28, 2005 - Image Entertainment and the comedy experts at Just For Laughs are set to release the first two comedy DVD's from Just For Laughs - The Montreal International Comedy Festival. Best of the Uptown Comics and Just For Laughs: Gags hit stores November 1st, 2005.
Best of the Uptown Comics will feature hysterical performances from Festival alumni such as: Dave Chappelle, Steve Harvey, Sinbad, George Wallace, Alonzo Bodden, Bruce Bruce, John Henton and Wanda Sykes to name a few. This must-have DVD gives comedy lovers a taste of today's top comics before they were household names:
Dave Chappelle - DVD viewers will get the chance to witness the making of a star with Dave Chappelle's breakthrough performance at the 1992 Festival as well as his return to the Festival in 2000. Montreal was just the beginning. Chappelle went on to star in his own sketch comedy show, Chappelle's Show, on Comedy Central. His show's first DVD release sold over 3 million copies followed by his Season 2 Uncensored DVD which broke both first-day (500,000 units sold) and seven-day (over 1.2 million units sold) sales records for TV shows on DVD.
Steve Harvey - Steve's 1993 performance, featured on the DVD, had network and studio executives stand up and take notice, priming him for a lead role in the ABC series Me and the Boys. The Steve Harvey Show on the WB soon followed, picking up 13 NAACP Image Awards for the show as well as Steve Harvey, during the series' six-season run. Harvey hosted the BET Comedy Awards in 2004 and emceed the hugely popular Original Kings Of Comedy Tour in 2000.
Wanda Sykes - Ranked among Entertainment Weekly's 25 Funniest People in America, Wanda's 1999 performance at the Festival blew audiences away. She is now an Emmy-award winning entertainer and regular cast member on HBO's hit show Curb Your Enthusiasm. She has scored her own series on Comedy Central and can be seen in such feature films as Monster-in-Law and Nutty Professor 2.
John Henton - John made a triumphant return to the festival in this 1997 performance. Audiences were thrilled to see the star of the new sitcom Living Single, who later went on to star in The Hughleys.
That's not all. Best of The Uptown Comics will also include stand-up by: David Alan Grier, Bruce Bruce, Sinbad, George Wallace, Reggie McFadden, Sheryl Underwood, Alonzo Bodden, Renee Hicks and Patrice Oneal.
Just For Laughs Gags is the original reality TV comedy, based on hidden-camera gags. The series is seen in more than 125 countries and on 70 airlines, cutting across cultural boundaries and has universal appeal, entertaining audiences of all ages and demographics. Mixing clever practical jokes, hidden cameras and a few unsuspecting victims, Just For Laughs: Gags delivers the perfect recipe for laughter.
Both DVD's will be available in stores on November 1st and priced at $14.99.
About Just For Laughs:
Though this release marks Just For Laughs' first U.S. product launch, the company is active in many areas of entertainment production including Television, Touring and its annual Festival, which is considered the world's largest and most prestigious comedy event welcoming over 2 million people each summer. During its 23 years, the Festival has featured some of the top comics in the world, including Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, Jon Stewart, Chris Rock, Ray Romano and Tim Allen. Each year, over 1,000 industry executives are drawn to what is considered the hottest breeding ground for new comedy talent. The company successfully tours across the globe bringing some of the Festival's best talent to Canada, the U.S. and Asia and has personal management offices in Los Angeles, Paris and Montreal. Also, Just For Laughs television shows are seen in over 100 countries and on over 70 airlines around the world, and in the past have been seen on MTV, Showtime, HBO, BBC America and Fox in the US.
About Image Entertainment:
Image Entertainment, Inc. is a leading independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming in North America, with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and 175 exclusive CD titles in domestic release and approximately 300 programs internationally via sublicense agreements. For many of its titles, the Company has exclusive audio and broadcast rights and, through its subsidiary Egami Media, Inc., exclusive video on demand, streaming video and download rights. The Company is headquartered in Chatsworth, California, and has a domestic distribution facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information about Image Entertainment, Inc., please go to www.image-entertainment.com.