The Halifax Comedy Festival (often spelled in promotional materials as ''Ha!ifax Comedy Festival'') is an annual comedy festival held in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The festival is sponsored by the CBC which tapes and broadcasts the comedians' sets as a series of television specials, and is usually about one week long. Shows frequently take place at the Halifax Casino in ''The Schooner Showroom'' among other venues. Live tapings of

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

's hit show

The Debaters ''The Debaters'' is a Canadian radio comedy show hosted by Steve Patterson. It airs on CBC Radio One, Saturdays at 1:30PM and Wednesdays at 11:30AM, Eastern Time. During each episode, two debates take place between two sets of two contestants. ...

have become a part of the annual festival, frequently using comedians who are performing in the festival as the 'debaters'.

Past performers include

* Irwin Barker * Ryan Belleville *

Mark Critch Mark Critch (born May 14, 1974) is a Canadian comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his work on the comedy series ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'', initially as a writer and then as a regular cast member beginning in 2003. Career Crit ...

(frequently hosts) *

Debra DiGiovanni Debra DiGiovanni (born March 21, 1972) is a Canadian stand-up comedian originally from Tillsonburg, Ontario. She is a frequent guest on the CBC Radio program ''The Debaters'', for which she earned a Canadian Comedy Award nomination for writing. ...

* Cynthia Dunsford *

Derek Edwards Derek Edwards (born 1958) is a Canadian stand-up comedian and actor from Timmins, Ontario. He went to Timmins High and Vocational School. In 1995, he was the winner of the Vail National Comedy Invitational in Vail, Colorado. He is the only Can ...

*Glen Foster * Kevin Foxx * Stewart Francis * Doug Funk *

Cathy Jones Catherine Frederica "Cathy" Jones (born April 6, 1955) is a Canadian actress, comedian and writer. She is known for her work for 28 years on the Canadian television series '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes''. Jones left the show in 2021. CODCO Jones ...

* Barry Julien * Paul Myrehaug *

Gilson Lubin Gilson Lubin is a stand-up comedian originally from Saint Lucia, West Indies. Living in Canada the comedian spent the past couple of years on the CTV programme MTV Live as a hosts/. Lubin's career has led to performances at Montreal's prestigio ...

* Mike MacDonald * Darcy Michael * Tim Nutt * Steve Patterson *

Kevin Pollak Kevin Elliot Pollak (born October 30, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and podcast host. He has appeared in over 80 films; his roles include Sam Weinberg in Rob Reiner's legal film ''A Few Good Men'', Jacob Goldman in '' Grump ...

* Ron Sparks * Winston Spear * Tim Steeves * Pete Zedlacher * MJ Miller

References

Comedy festivals in Canada Festivals in Halifax, Nova Scotia CTV Comedy Channel original programming CBC Television original programming Canadian stand-up comedy television series {{Comedy-stub