by Mike McPhaden

Believe it or not, the Just Comedy conference has been more than just seminars on multiplatforming your mobisodic laughter assets, or brandifying your demographic improv monetizers. No, there’s been plenty of good old-fashioned entertainment, too:

Writer/comedian Andy Kindler gave a “State of the Industry” rant that had the room laughing and squirming all at once. Soon after, Judd Apatow was presented with the Comedy Person of the Year Award. Apatow was introduced by Seth Rogan, who looked out at the sea of rumpled shirts and walking shorts and said “The way you’re all dressed, this looks more like the rehearsal for an award ceremony.”

In Conversation: Reitman on Reitman saw Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman interviewing each other about how they got started as directors, and what the job means to them. The next day, Jason interviewed Shaun of the Dead and Spaced’s Edgar Wright about his journey as a comedy director. When things got unintentionally sappy, Wright got up and tried to lead the audience in an affirmational chant. “This side say ”˜Follow you heart,’ that side say ”˜Never give up!’”

Once the day’s seminars were done, I spent my nights checking out what the Just For Laughs fest had to offer:

South Park Live featured Trey Parker on piano and Matt Stone on drums playing songs from South Park and Team America. Between tunes, they showed clips from the series and shared behind-the-scenes stories. Nearly a full hour into the show, a couple sitting nearby walked out in disgust. I guess they were okay with Uncle F**ker and Kyle’s Mom is a Bitch, but the Montage Song just went too far.

The Sketch Show hosted by Mr. Show’s Bob Odenkirk and SNL’s Bill Hader featured a number of top-notch sketch comedy troupes, including The Apple Sisters, a 1940’s all-girl song and dance trio from NYC. Gee, they were a swell bunch of gals. Somebody give ”˜em a TV show, whydontcha?

Craig Ferguson (The Late, Late Show, The Drew Carey Show) clearly had fun hosting a Just For Laughs Gala. Stand out stand ups included Bruce Bruce and The Office’s Craig Robinson And tonight, I’ll be checking out the premiere of a movie I think will be the perfect end to a great week:

I’d like to send a huge thanks to the Canadian Film Centre for their continued help and support, and to Jill Golick for giving me the keys to her blog for the week. It’s been quite a ride.