Hidden chuckles: The story of Just for Laughs

"Victor", the official mascot 

Imagine that you're in a sticky, and rather bizarre situation, and you don't know that you were being videotaped for the whole world to see. Then you probably know it would be very embarrassing that not only your friends can see it, but the whole world as well! These are the things that other people from around the world are experiencing when they get punked by the actors and creators of Just for Laughs.

Started in 1983 as a two-day Francophone (French language) comedy festival in Montreal (which is the cultural capital of Canada) that showcases nothing but pure stand-up comedy, over-the-top sideshows and high-voltage pranks. It included Anglophone (English language) events two years later due to its surmounting popularity in all of Canada that enabled the festival to become the largest in all Canada. It became so popular that comedians and stunt people from around the world gather round every July for 5 days of nothing but extreme acts and out-of-this-world comedy numbers that are to die for (talk about "died" laughing...). As its popularity rises that it became displayed in the TV screens with Just for Laughs Gags.

Just for Laughs displays a very wide array of hi-quality comedy pranks, ranging from scare pranks to highly-destructive prop comedy. Whatever the concept of the prank, the impact is oh so priceless.

But there are also some pranks that I somewhat find it lame. I was watching a prank on Just for Laughs Asia on Disney Channel. The prank is about a man who works in an information booth in Singapore, and he is on his tea break. The prank: Just sitting there and drink tea in front of the tourists. I ask myself: "What kind of a nit-witted prank is that???!!". I mean seriously, I already got bored with this prank during the first 20 seconds. Man, this is like dying in Snoresville over here. A relation to DevCom, ALWAYS never forget who's laughing with it.

But when there's a lame prank, there's also a great prank, and a highly-destructive one too! There's this one prank on the same show, where an actor asks a certain sucker, I mean, victim, I mean, sap, I mean, person, yeah that's right, person to watch her car for her, when suddenly a giant bulldozer came out of nowhere and crashed the car into half-pieces, and the construction worker guiding it got away (FYI: The one driving the bulldozer and the one guiding it are also actors. The video also became "People's Choice".). And when the owner got back, she was very shocked of what happened, also left the victim shocked. And they found that they were being filmed. I laughed so hard that I thought my lungs would bust!

These examples show how popular the show became to all people around the world. Its intricate mastery of the situations sometimes make the viewers very baffled on the context of the prank. That shows how cool the show is. And now time to end it with a line:

"Mommy! It's over!!!!!"