Debra DiGiovanni

Debra DiGiovanni is a Canadian stand-up comedian of Italian descent originally from Tillsonburg, Ontario.

Her comedy career began with the help of Humber College's inaugural year of their Comedy Writing and Performance course, in 2000 and has since been nominated for the coveted Tim Sims Comedy Encouragement Award in 2002. In the same year she won the Canadian Comedy Award for the Best Stand-up Newcomer in Stand Up. In 2003, NOW magazine named her headline show as the 3rd Best of the Year. She taped her Comedy Now Special for CTV in the summer of 2004 and in 2005 was nominated for Best Female Stand up. 2005 was her first appearance Just For Laughs Festival where she was invited on a cross Canada tour opening for Russell Peters.

Presently, she is a sought after headliner and accomplished voice performer. Debra can also be heard on CBC radio on The Debaters as well as being a favourite judge on the popular MuchMusic show Video on Trial and its spinoff Stars on Trial.

She appeared in the fifth season of Last Comic Standing. By winning an audition in Montreal, she was selected to participate in a semifinal qualifying round in Hollywood, making it to the top 10 finalist. She participated in the show until she was eliminated and placed 8th.

Debra

Debra is a variant spelling of the feminine given name Deborah.

Debra may refer to:

People

Fictional characters

See also

Last Comic Standing

Last Comic Standing is an American reality television talent show on NBC that aired from 2003 to 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program is to select a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls. For the first seven seasons, the winner received a cash prize and a television special; for season 8 in 2014, the winner won a cash prize, a talent deal with NBC, and a half-hour scripted project that will be developed by Universal Television.

In July 2014, NBC renewed Last Comic Standing for a ninth season.

Format

The show has varied its format season by season. For seasons 1–2 and 4–7, NBC talent scouts Ross Mark and Bob Read held open casting calls in various locations around the United States. At each casting call, Mark and Read identified comics to participate in callback auditions in front of live audiences. Mark and Read then selected a predetermined number of comics from each callback, who were invited to participate in a semifinal qualifying round.

Canadian Comedy Awards

The Canadian Comedy Awards are an annual awards ceremony celebrating notable English-speaking Canadians for comedic achievements in Live, Radio, Film, Television and Internet media over the previous year. The awards began in 2000, and were initially produced by Tim Progosh broadcast on The Comedy Network.

The ceremonies were held in Toronto until 2002, and from 2003–2007 they were held in London, Ontario in conjunction with an annual comedy festival (known as Comedy Week while in London). In 2008 they moved to Regina, Saskatchewan, then to Saint John, New Brunswick in 2009. They returned to Toronto from 2010-2012, and moved to Ottawa, Ontario in 2013 and 2014 and back to Toronto for 2015.

Past hosts include the Royal Canadian Air Farce, Scott Thompson (of The Kids in the Hall), Dave Thomas, Brent Butt, David Foley and Bruce Hunter (as Rocko the Dog, the character he played on Puppets Who Kill).

The 2000 and 2001 awards were produced and aired on The Comedy Network by Higher Ground Productions. The 2001 special received a Gemini nomination for writing. Annual CCA variety specials were broadcast on TV from 2007-2010. The Doo Wops received a Gemini nomination for their performance in the 2008 special and the 2009 special co-produced by Higher Ground and Minds Eye was nominated for Best Comedy, Music or Variety Special.

Just for Laughs

Just for Laughs (French: Juste pour rire) is a comedy festival held each July in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1983, it is the largest international comedy festival in the world.

History

Just for Laughs was founded in 1983 by Gilbert Rozon as a two-day French language event. In 1985, Andy Nulman joined the festival's staff and introduced English language events as well; under Nulman's stewardship, the festival increased to a full month, with French-speaking performers during the first half, and English speakers in the second half. International and non-verbal acts (acrobats, pantomimes, etc.) are scattered throughout the program. In 1999, Nulman left the festival's full-time employ; however, he directed its major Gala Shows at the Saint-Denis Theatre every July, and remained on the board of directors of the festival's parent company. After an 11-year absence, Nulman returned to Just for Laughs in July 2010 as president of Festivals and Television.

Each day, performers, "New Vaudevillians" and other acts both vocal and visual perform throughout the city, particularly in the "Latin Quarter"—an area known for its theatres, cafés and boutique shopping. In the evenings, the nightclubs and live venue theatres offer special programs supporting the performers. Although Just for Laughs attracts spectators from around the world, many of those in the audience are talent scouts, booking agents, producers and managers from the entertainment industry. Performing at the festival is one of the biggest opportunities for undiscovered talent to showcase their act in front of industry professionals.