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Bruce Hills managed to watch the first half of the Portugal-France World Cup soccer match in a Montreal bar this week, but then forced himself back to work. Too much to do. Chief operating officer of Just for Laughs, Canada's top comedy festival, Hills is just days away from the opening of JFL's 24th-annual month-long yuckfest. The bilingual event -- with some 700 artists performing before more than two million spectators -- transforms Montreal's downtown core into a relentless carnival of good humour.

Hills's specific mandate is the English side of the program, which this year features comic luminaries such as John Cleese, Jason Alexander, Craig Ferguson and Ed Byrne. Over four nights, each will host a gala lineup of stand-up acts at the St. Denis Theatre, taped for rebroadcast on CBC. But there's plenty of equally brilliant comedy to be had nightly in 20-odd clubs and cabarets around town, with the likes of John Pinette, Demetri Martin ( The Daily Show), Jimmy Carr, Tommy Tiernan, Arturo Brachetti and Dom Irrera.

The festival has grown exponentially from the modest four-day event co-founder and JFL president Gilbert Rozon launched in 1984. And while the focus inevitably remains on the annual July extravaganza, Rozon, Hills and company have been working steadily to leverage the non-profit festival's enormous goodwill into a string of new, for-profit ventures.

"Gilbert has been looking to build the business," Hills says, "to find where the brand has the most potential and where it's been weak, to strengthen it."

The latest moves include joint ventures with Los Angeles powerhouse agency Thruline Entertainment and Britain's PBJ Management, which will create an international all-comedy management firm. Hills thinks the merger of Just for Laughs clients with the talent banks managed by Thruline and PBJ will pay huge dividends all around, creating more opportunities for Canadian comics in Britain and the United States. PBJ is a major agency force in the U.K., representing the likes of Barry Humphries (Dame Edna), Eddie Izzard and Rowan Atkinson.

Already, the new British alliance has launched a live touring company that will mount seven shows at this summer's Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.

"Essentially," says Hills, "Gilbert is creating synergy between the three most important territories. There'll be a place in Los Angeles for U.K. clients and opportunities in the U.K. for lots of Canadians and Americans who want to work there."

Won't that business relationship put pressure on Hills to tilt the balance of the annual festival lineup in favour of the joint-venture comics? Hills says he's acutely aware of the potential conflict, but says his job is to produce the best possible festival with the best possible talent, regardless of representation.

Meanwhile, Gags -- JFL's half-hour TV series (à la the old Candid Camera) -- has been going from strength to strength. Now seen in 125 countries and as in-flight entertainment on 100 airlines, the show boasts 1.5 billion viewers worldwide. Produced by Oscar show veteran Troy Miller, it's in its fifth season on BBC and was recently picked as a seven-episode, mid-season replacement by ABC. "We've been working very hard to get our brand back in the U.S. in a substantial way," says Hills, "and Gags has been a huge calling card."

Hard-core JFL fans will soon be able to collect five DVDs, each a best-of collection from past festivals. To complement it, Rozon is trying to negotiate a TV deal in the U.S. similar to the one he now has with CBC, which replays highlights of the current year's festival. Hills says he's confident it will materialize.

Increasingly, Just for Laughs is taking the franchise on the road. From its five-city debut a few years ago, the annual cross-Canada autumn tour has grown to a 25-city schedule that this year is headlined by the mad Irish comic Tommy Tiernan. "We will produce a bigger slate of concerts in Canada," says Hills. "The priority is Just for Laughs branded tours. If we get it right, the financial benefits are greater than having a small piece of a huge star."

Similarly, it will also tour improv stars Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood through three Ontario cities in September, and Hills is hoping to bring John Pinette, one of the festival's most popular performers, to Toronto. "Canada is a very viable market," Hills says, "especially with the dollar rounding out."

Hills, who started out in the organization as a driver for JFL co-founder Andy Nulman 21 years ago, also has high hopes for Evil Dead 1 & 2, The Musical, which is being co-produced off-Broadway this fall with Jeffrey Latimer and William Franzblau.

Other revenue streams will flow from recent deals with Verizon Wireless and XM Satellite radio, where comic Joey Elias hosts a weekly show. "Our archives are perfectly suited for satellite radio," says Hills, "but there's no reason why we couldn't create new shows specially for satellite as well."

The Just for Laughs festival runs at various Montreal venues to July 31, with outdoor events and most English-language shows running from July 13 to 23. Information: 514-790-HAHA or .

Don't miss these

The galas are always the big draws at Just for Laughs, especially with hosts with names like Cleese, Ferguson and Alexander, but some of the best comics in Montreal will also appear elsewhere. If you're planning to go, here are five acts not to be missed:

John Pinette: Making Lite of Myself -- an hour and 10 minutes of the best fat jokes you'll ever hear.

Tim Minchin : Dark Side -- a Perrier nominee in Europe, this young Australian has been wowing sellout audiences in Europe.

Women Fully Clothed -- a reprise of the clever sketch-comedy show by five of Canada's best female talents (Robin Duke, Jayne Eastwood, Kathryn Greenwood, Debra McGrath and Teresa Pavlinek). Runs 12 nights.

Demetri Martin: These Are Jokes -- forget the lame title; the lad is very funny.

Stewart Lee, '90s Comedian -- from the man who helped create Jerry Springer -- The Opera.

-- M.P.

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