Gina Yashere Gets Brit(ish)

Gina Yashere. Just for Laughs. Photo Rachel LEvine Gina Yashere. Just for Laughs. Photo Rachel Levine

Brit(ish) is a comedy show from a British perspective. It features UK comedians Aisling Bea, Joe Lycett, Nathan Caton, Seann Walsh and special guest Sarah Millican. Gina Yashere will host the show.

Gina, born and raised in London from Nigerian parents, is a festival favourite and loves coming to Montreal. She finds the Just for Laughs audience fun and gets to hangout with comedians. “It feels more like a paid vacation than work,” she says.

Gina has been a stand-up and TV star for 20 years now. She discovered she wanted to be a comedian in her early 20s. She tried it one night and it went well. She has been living in the United States for a decade now. She is the British correspondent for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Working as the correspondent is something new since it’s political humour. “I turn up, do my job and go home,” she says about the process for the scripts of The Daily Show.

For Gina hosting Brit(ish) is like hosting any other fun show. She hasn’t worked with the comedians since she’s been out of the UK.

Is British humour different to North American humour? According to Gina, there is no difference since it’s all comedy. “I’m the same person wherever I travel in the world,” she explains. However, she does find Canadian audiences more well-read than American ones.

When asked what people can expect from Brit(ish), Gina answers, “Just British comics being funny.”

Gina will also be participating in three other shows during the festival: The Howie Mandel All-Star Comedy Gala, Hold on with Eugene Mirman and Friends Like Us. Brit(ish) is at L’Astral (305 Ste-Catherine West) on July 26 and 28 at 7:00 p.m. and July 27 at 9:30 p.m. Prices (taxes & fees excluded) $37.77. TIckets HERE.