Catch at Just For Laughs: Lucas Brothers and Langston Kerman
Two Acts to Catch at Just For Laughs: The Lucas Brothers and Lagston Kerman
Tommy Tiernan. Just for Laughs 2022. Photo Ashley Gaujean.
Here are two young, fresh acts that are representing the black community in an uplifting and real light.
The Lucas Brothers are identical twins named Kenny and Keith, who spent their upbringing in inner-city Newark AKA Brick City, New Jersey and show that no matter the hardships you may have faced, humour can be used as a very powerful tool towards happiness and success. Aside from having the gift of being funny, The Lucas Brothers have been transparent about the benefits of therapy and medication to get through the hard times when humour alone is not enough. The Lucas Brothers also have become strong advocates for the black community by using their celebrity to speak about how to prevent violence and mental health issues that come from the inner-city experience. They have remained relatable and even have made strong allies such as long-standing senator and attorney Cory Booker. Although the Lucas Brothers did not complete law school, it remains important to them to protect the community, uplift them, and work with policy makers. They are also a great example of your hardships do not have to hold you back. They have successfully found another means to leave a very lasting impression and continue to be benevolent.
The Lucas Brothers have impressive credentials such as being writers for the highly acclaimed 2021 film Judas and the Black Messiah, Being on the cult-hit Arrested Development (Netflix), been on to watch lists from Variety and Rolling Stone and selected by Paste Magazine as one of the top artists based on their previous Just for Laughs performances. They are currently working on their book tentatively named “City of Bricks” which will be covering everything from surviving the hood, comedy and mental health.
There are several opportunities to catch The Lucas Brothers at this year’s Just for Laughs festival: They will be part of one of Russell Peters Gala’s held on July 26th at Places Des Arts-Maisonneuve and doing a string of solo shows from July 20-27 at Théatre Saint Catherine.
The next comedian Langston Kerman, has worked with The Lucas Brothers on his podcast named: “My Momma Told Me”. Just as with The Lucas Brothers, Kerman is not afraid to speak up when it comes to the social construct that comes with being a black American, especially a black man navigating the world. In a current climate that is very PC, Kerman as well as The Lucas Brothers believe that it is very important to stick to their guns as it is all in the spirit of comedy and not coming from a bad place. Notable comedians such as Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce and Dave Chappelle are used as examples as comedic forefathers who never backed down despite social outrage.
Kerman has been a part of a number of great projects such as HBO’s Insecure which scored a Primetime Emmy, a role in Adam Devine’s House Party, a head writer in Pause with Sam Jay which won an WGA award, and even selected by Chris Rock to write for the 2016 Oscars and the 2020 BET awards. Kerman also has his own Comedy Central half hour which has amassed a quarter million views on YouTube.
Kerman will be here in Montreal as part of the Jason Whitehall Gala on July 28th, hosting three New Faces of Comedy shows on July 26th and 27th at Monument-National – Ludger-Duvernay, and his Momma Told Me Podcast will be live the DoubleTree Ovation Room on July 28th.
Just for Laughs is happening from July 14 to 29th, 2023 at various venues at Places-Des-Arts and downtown Montreal. Tickets and details HERE.
