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Just for Laughs Gags

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Just for Laughs Gags
File:Just For Laughs Gags Title Card 2012.png
Just for Laughs Gags title card
GenreComedy
Created byPierre Girard and Jacques Chevalier
Country of originCanada
Original languagesSilent, interjection
No. of seasons13
No. of episodes2,500+
Production
ProducerJust for Laughs
Production locationsCanada (Quebec, Montreal and Vancouver) and Mexico
Running time30 minutes (including commercials)
Original release
NetworkABC/Telemundo (U.S.)
TVA/CBC/The Comedy Network /YTV (Canada)
BBC1 (UK)
TF1 (France)
ETB 1 (Basque Country)
Channel One Russia (Russia)
Chongqing Television (China) Hanoi Radio Television (Vietnam, 2011-2012)
Release26 December 2000 –
present
Related
Just for Laughs

Just for Laughs: Gags (in French, Juste pour rire: Gags) is a Canadian silent comedy/hidden camera reality television show that is under the Just for Laughs brand. It is based on the similar American series Candid Camera.[1]

In 26 December 2000, JFL Gags began airing on French Canadian network Canal D. In the following years, the show was picked up by TVA, CBC and The Comedy Network in Canada, BBC1 in the UK, TF1 in France and ABC and Telemundo in the United States.

This series' format is a hidden camera comedy show, playing silly pranks on unsuspecting subjects while hidden cameras capture peoples' responses. The show plays public domain music in the background, but does not contain any sound or dialogue other than brief sound effects and a laugh track. Although some shorts have included brief dialogue. It is mostly filmed in Quebec, Montreal and Vancouver, although some segments have been filmed in Mexico as well. British and Asian versions have been produced in the UK and Singapore respectively. In 2011, the show spawned a spinoff titled Just Kidding, which consists exclusively of kids playing pranks on adults.

With its silent format and no translation required, Just for Laughs Gags has been purchased for use in over 100 countries throughout the world as well as in airports and by airlines. Reactions to the gags range from "inane"[2] to cross-culturally funny.[3] The same distributors also distribute Surprise Sur Prise, a similar show.

A gag on 'Just for Laughs'.

In March 2011, Just for Laughs Gags entered into a partnership with Montreal-based, entertainment site, Videobash.com[4] and now have their own devoted channel there. (No video has been posted as of this writing.)

Cast [5]

this section requires specific casting related to Just for Laughs Gags .

  • Denis Levasseur
  • Marie Pierre Bouchard
  • Dany Many
  • Jean-Pierre Alarie
  • Denise Jacques
  • Marie-Ève Larivière
  • Jacques Drolet
  • Philippe Bond

Pranks

In the opening of each prank, the actors introduce how the prank was done and how it will be shown as well. Here are just a few illustrative examples from the thousands of pranks filmed for the 3,000+ shows include:

  • Alien in the bushes: as people pass by a street, bushes shake uttering a strange language. As they try to check it, an alien pops out and chases them away;
  • Hand out of the coffin: a coffin is abandoned in a park and when people pass by, a hand pops out;
  • Stolen tires: an elderly lady asks bystanders to help her carry two tires to her car. But as they do so, they pass a police vehicle which is missing them. They tell the officer that they were the lady's and they were helping her take it to her car but as they look back, she was nowhere to be found;
  • Dead bird in a race: people passing are asked to fire a starting pistol to help start a race. Once they give a shot in the air, a pigeon falls down;
  • Honking at Hookers: a traffic police officer stops drivers and checks their license. Two hot prostitutes walk by and the officer honks a horn and the women appear to believe the drivers honked at them.

At the end of every prank, the hidden cameras are revealed. During the pranks, actors would also participate as victims for uninvolved bystanders or crowds.

List of Pranks

To see the following list of pranks and its season of Just for Laughs Gags based in Canada, see List of pranks and its seasons on Just for Laughs Gags.

International versions

Country Name Network Aired
 Finland Pilanpäiten MTV3 2001 – present
 United Kingdom Just for Laughs BBC One 31 May 2003 – 21 July 2007
 Croatia Skrivena kamera RTL Television 2010 – present
 India Just for Laughs Gags Zee Cafe, Zee Trendz and Pogo 1 January 2004 – present
 Poland Ale numer! TV Puls 2007 – present
 South Africa Just for Laughs Gags Comedy Central Africa 2012 – present
 United States Just for Laughs ABC and Telemundo 17 July 2007 – 12 July 2009
 Portugal Não há crise! (There's no crisis!) SIC 2008 – present
 Greece Just for Laughs Makedonia TV 2009 – present
 Singapore Just for Laughs Gags Asia MediaCorp Channel 5 12 January 2010 – 13 April 2010
 Japan Just for Laughs Fox 2011 – present
 Philippines Just for Laughs Gags Philippines GMA Network 5 November 2011 – August 2012
 Russia Smeha Radi (in Russian, Смеха Ради) 2x2 2012 – present
 Turkey Komikler (Just for Laughs Gags) Kanal D 2012 – present
 Indonesia Just for Laughs Gags INDOSIAR 2014 – present
 Brazil Só Risos (Only Laughs) Rede Bandeirantes de Televisão (terrestrial TV) 15 July 2013 – present
Pegadinhas (Pranks) Viva (pay TV) 5 January 2013 – present
 Kazakhstan Тек Күлкі Үшін НТК 2012 – present

DVD releases

  • Just for Laughs Gags 1
  • Just for Laughs Gags 2

also at:

References

  1. ^ Just for Laughs: Gags "This crazy Quebec-based troupe uses the city as its stage, and its inhabitants, or victims, as characters! People are caught in a twisted yet funny web of comedic deception. This updated Candid Camera is a tad more risque and a little kookier with its practical jokes. The little snippets last only a few minutes, and some look more painful than others."
  2. ^ Keyan Tomaselli Cultural Tourism and Identity: Rethinking Indigeneity 2012 – Page 29 "The inane Just for Laughs candid camera on the drop-down video screen is interspersed with silent movies on the … Mick Francis … responded to this note: “as a Canadian I must apologize for the Just for Laughs show as it a strange Canadian export filmed in the late 1980s and mysteriously shown around the world” (Francis, personal communication, October 2008).."
  3. ^ Ray Wiss A Line in the Sand: Canadians at War in Kandahar 2010 Page 249 "It was an episode of Gags from the Just for Laughs organization in Montreal. For those who have not seen this, it is reminiscent of Candid Camera: the comedians set up an outlandish situation on a city street or in a mall and capture people's reactions. The Afghans got the jokes and laughed as hard as I did."
  4. ^ "Videobash JFL Channel". Videobash. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  5. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2486436/fullcredits imdb: Just for Laughs Gags
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