Ellen DeGeneres, Russell Peters bring Just For Laughs to Chicago

TV talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, Comedy Central comic David Alan Grier and Canadian comedian Russell Peters will host headline shows at Chicago's Just for Laughs festival.

The Montreal Just for Laughs franchise is exporting its popular comedy festival to the U.S. for the first time, beginning in Chicago June 17-21.

Peters, who just finished a hosting gig for Canada's Juno Awards, is to headline a Friday night All-Star Comedy Show. TheAnglo-Indian comedian is known for his quick comebacks and ethnic comedy routines.

The TBS network plans to broadcast three of the comedy galas, including Ellen's Bigger Longer and Wider Show, featuring DeGeneres as host of a variety show featuring live music, dancers and unique specialty acts, and Grier's evening titled Comedy You Can Believe In.

More than 70 shows are scheduled for the five-day festival.

Gilbert Rozon, president of Just For Laughs, noted Chicago's rich comedy history and said he aims to make Just for Laughs the premier comedy festival in the U.S.

Just For Laughs has joined forces with Chicago comedy ensembles Schadenfreude and Chicagoland and will work out of the iO Theater, the annual mainstay Chicago Sketchfest, the Annoyance Theatre, the Playground Theater and standup venue The Lincoln Lodge.

The Just for Laughs festival began in Montreal and has spread to Toronto and Nantes, France.

Other highlights of the Chicago festival:

• The Nasty Show, a crude show that is a highlight of the Montreal festival, with Louis CK, Nick Di Paolo, Patrice O'Neal and Jim Jefferies.
• Bill Engvall: Aged and Confused, in which the star of The Bill Engvall Show will regale fans with his brand of highly relatable comedy.
• Jimmy Fallon: Live in Concert, an opportunity to check out the standup skills of the new Late Night host.
• George Lopez: Tall, Dark and Chicano, three shows from the popular comedian who will host his own late-night series on TBS this fall.

Comedians Lisa Lampanelli, Jim Jefferies, Bob Odenkirk, Andy Dick and a group of Chicago comedians, including Susan Messing, are also to take to the stage.