Why Montréal is among the world’s happiest cities
Montréal is one of the happiest cities in the world (and has indeed been recognized as the happiest in North America in the past!), and we think we know why. Locals will tell you right away that there’s buckets of joie de vivre in this metropolis — but it’s more than just a feeling in the air. Montréal works hard at its fun-loving. We live to laugh, and we’re serious about it! From open-mic nights to comedy clubs to a hot-hot drag scene and of course, world-famous circus, here are a few reasons Montréal is a joy.
Guffaw graduates
Montréal is so serious about laughs you can get a degree in ‘em. Seriously! The École nationale de l’humour (translated as the national comedy school) is a private higher-education institution that was founded over 30 years ago and is recognized by the Ministry of Education. It has harnessed the talents of some of the country’s most famous comedians, including Martin Matte, Claudine Mercier and Louis-José Houde. If you’re fluent in French, try signing up for one of the highly sought 300 places per year.
In fact, Montréal is SO nerdy about comedy that we have a research group dedicated to it: the Observatoire de l’humour, a post-graduate institute that studies laughs. It unites professionals from the comedy scene with brainiacks from disciplines including sociology, history, communications and philosophy.
Laughs live here
One thing that makes Montréal ha-ha-happy is its comedy scene. It’s more than a scene, in fact — it’s a hub.
Much has been written about how Montréal made itself a comedy destination. It all started in the 1980s, when the Just For Laughs festival was founded: the creation of this international festival, following the model of the already-successful Montréal International Jazz Festival, propelled Montréal comedy into the world’s spotlight. Over its 40-plus years it welcomed such world greats as Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Roseanne Barr, Dave Chapelle, Amy Schumer, Rebel Wilson, Kevin Hart, John Candy, Amy Poehler, Jay Leno, Rowan Atkinson… and attracted nearly 2 million visitors each year, thus putting Montréal on the world comedy map.
Festivals of fun
Just For Laughs encouraged the creation of a whole slew of other fun(ny) festivals: the annual St-Ambroise Montréal Fringe Festival, for starters, where comedy and circus mix with music, theatre, improv, dance, performance art and more. Consider it the city’s season block party, featuring over 500 artists performing in 20-plus venues on the Plateau. And don’t miss Fringe Park, at the corner of Saint-Laurent Boulevard and Rachel Street, where patrons and artists gather for free live shows.
Lovers of circus can also get an eyeful and the annual MONTRÉAL COMPLÈTEMENT C!RQUE, a festival every July featuring colourful, high-flying performances from here and around the world. The programing happens both indoors and outdoors — the streets, parks, even sidewalks become a stage. They’ve even been known to perform on ginormous scaffolding giants. (Read on.)
Speaking of circus
Montréal is renowned as the Circus Capital of the World, not least because it’s the founding place of the world’s most famous circus, bar none: Cirque du Soleil.
But it was already a breeding ground for the performance arts: proof is that the National Circus School was founded in 1981, BEFORE Cirque du Soleil, which came in 1984. Cirque du Soleil’s first shows began touring the province of Quebec, and over the decades it grew from one show at a time to 19 shows in over 300 cities on six continents. Today it stands as the largest contemporary circus producer in the world.
Montréal’s circus scene also boasts a crowd-drawing circus summer festival (see above), an incredible specialized circus performance centre, along with some world-renowned circus troupes that entertain all year round. From The 7 Fingers to Cirque Éloize to Machine de Cirque and so many more, independent circus troupes flourish in Montréal and are always working to awe and amaze in new ways.
In the summer, circus lovers have got a larger-than-life experience to take in with installations like GÉANTE! in Downtown Montréal, a ginormous, 52-foot steel structure in the shape of a giant that acted as a living stage for FREE circus performances.
Look over there!
Drag dovetails nicely in this performance haven, with countless drag shows to see any time you visit. And the scene has deeeeep roots: professional drag in Montréal dates back to at least 1928, when renowned drag queen Dick Montgomery performed at famed Montréal Black jazz nightclub Rockhead’s Paradise in Little Burgundy.
Today, Canada’s Drag Race contestant Rita Baga is probably Montréal most famous drag export (check her site for show dates) and Cabaret Mado stands among the most popular hot spots for drag in the city, with nightly performances. Named after its founder, local drag icon Mado Lamotte, it’s one of the busiest nightclubs in the Village. Madame Simone, renowned for her outrageous headgear, often works as the club’s “door bitch” in summertime.
Other drag venues are Bar Le Cocktail, Sky and the famous Café Cléopâtre. For burlesque, check out The Wiggle Room: the club hosts live comedy, music, improv and hugely popular drag king nights.
Stand-up city
The last piece of what makes Montréal such a gosh-darned jovial city has got to be the stand-up scene.
On any given week you could have 30 comedy shows, open-mic nights or improv show going on in Montréal’s underground comedy clubs, where you can go to and discover unknown artists. Don’t be surprised if famous comedians pop in too, to test their new shows in these smaller clubs. Some local comedians to look out for are Sugar Sammy, Tranna Wintour, Les Pic-Bois, Ben Cardilli and Mike Ward.
Among the English venues to explore, start with Comedy Nest, the Montréal Comedy Club, the Artloft, Montréal Improv, Grumpy’s and Théâtre Sainte-Catherine. For mostly-French shows, check out Le Bordel, Le Jockey, Abreuvoir and Le Terminal. And get ready to rire aux larmes!
Isa Tousignant
Isa Tousignant is an editor and storyteller with a curiosity that runs deeper than most. She has chatted life philosophies with celebrity chefs, gemologists, arena rockers and furries. (All were transformative.) Her favourite things include discovering new flavours and celebrating the creativity that defines her hometown, Montréal.