Montreal's Just For Laughs to get first look

The movie about a struggling stand-up based on the real-life exploits of British comic James Mullinger is to get its first preview at Montreal's Just For Laughs festival.

Starring James Buckley from The Inbetweeners, The Comedian's Guide To Survival will be screened at the industry event on July 29.

The £3million film is about an open mic comedian who dies on stage every night, but encounters a plethora of A-list comedians who set him on the path to redemption. Omid Djalili, Jimmy Carr, Gina Yashere, Mike Ward and Gilbert Gottfried are among the comics who play themselves.

It echoes Mullinger's own experiences on the London circuit, when his day job as photo editor of GQ magazine brought him into contact with his comedy heroes.

Much of the film, written and directed by Mark Murphy, was shot at last year's Just For Laughs festival, where Mullinger first performed by writing a feature for GQ.

The British movie – which has not yet got an official release date – is described as  'a unique insight into the comedy scene at the lowest level of motorway service stations and open mic gigs to the highs of Hollywood'.

It also stars Paul Kaye as Mullinger's editor, Neil Stuke, Kevin Eldon and Natalie Stone, with Mullinger himself taking a separate role. It also features stand-ups from the British circuit, including Carly Smallman as a picture editor and Luisa Omielan, Richard Sandling and Maff Brown comedians who travel with James to horrible gigs.

Mullinger has since moved to Canada, where earlier this year he sold  4,871 tickets to an arena gig in his new home town of Saint John, New Brunswick – more than Jerry Seinfeld did in the same venue.

The screening was announced as the Just For Laughs festival announced new additions to it line-up, including Seth Rogen, Aziz Ansari, Nathan Lane and Russell Peters.

Other British acts playing there include Russell Howard, Mark Watson, Alan Carr, Daniels Sloss and Tiff Stevenson.

Here is an album of stills from The Comedian's Guide To Survival:

Published: 13 Jun 2016