Variety Kicks Off Annual 10 Comics to Watch Panel at 40th Edition of Just For Laughs Fest

variety.com:

Malina Saval Associate Editor, FeaturesWhen a global pandemic strikes and you’re a stand-up comic whose livelihood and art form depends upon performing in-person in front of audiences, you look to other creative outlets, and short-term professional endeavors, to survive – to even just get through the day.For comedian Matteo Lane, that diversion was in the form of the ubiquitous video game Fortnite.“My friends and I just decided, we’re gonna get Fortnite and it genuinely saved my life,” said Lane with a throaty laugh. “I never laughed that hard because there’s a bunch of gays playing Fornite.

You watch straight guys play Fortnite and they’re all like, ‘Go to the left,’ and we’re like, ‘Oh, my God look at this.’ My friend Nick came in and we’re like, ‘Hey, Nick, do you think we should go get guns?’ and he was like, ‘What do you think you should do: go get guns or sit around and jerk each other off?’” Lane, currently developing an animated half-hour series with Bob the Drag Queen inspired by their comic series “Kickass Drag Queen,” is one of Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch who participated in the Friday afternoon panel discussion held during the 40th edition of the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal.Nine of the 10 comics selected for the coveted list were present at the event, sponsored by Cohen Gardner law firm and moderated by Variety’s feature editor Malina Saval.

The panel has helped launch the careers of comedians such as Zach Galifianakis, Tiffany Haddish and Amy Schumer.Also present: Rosebud Baker, a writer on “Saturday Night Live”; J.R.