Canadian comics will flee to U.S. in wake of Just For Laughs-Sirius XM merger, says comedian

Update: After this story was published, Just For Laughs and SiriusXM Canada announced the Canada Laughs channel will continue to air 100 per cent Canadian content. Read more at CBC News.

The Just For Laughs/Sirius XM merger has the potential to erode a major source of exposure and revenue for Canadian stand-up comics trying to build a career, says Toronto comedian Sandra Battaligni.

Sirius XM Canada and Just For Laughs formally announced a partnership Monday that will see the Canada Laughs channel become Just For Laughs Radio this spring.

Until now, Canada Laughs has exclusively aired Canadian content. But local comedians worry that will no longer be the case now that it has access to JFL's massive catalogue of American and international comedy.

Comedian Howie Mandel, a partner in Just For Laughs, said in a Facebook video that Canadian content will continue to be featured on the station, but did not give specifics. He not respond to As It Happens' request for comment.

Battaligni, founder of the Canadian Association of Stand-up Comedians, spoke to As It Happens host Carol Off about why she fears the merger will send more Canadian entertainers south of the border in search of work.

Here is part of their conversation. 

Why do you think that this takeover of the Canada Laughs radio station is a bad idea?

This is like one of the only places where Canadian comedians had a channel to be broadcast and for audiences to listen to them. I mean, every other week I'd have someone say to me, "Hey I heard you on Canada Laughs."

And now that that's changing ... a lot of people feel really hurt by it financially and, you know, even exposure-wise.

A lot of details have not been formally announced and we're trying to read the tea leaves a bit on this, but as far as you can determine from your own personal work as a comedian, what's at stake for you? How will it affect your ability to make a living as a comedian?

In a shrinking media landscape that is Canada, and with such few opportunities for Canadian comedians to have a place that ... was exclusively ours, to then have it taken over by Just For Laughs who, you know, a lot of the comedians that are on that festival are American.

And it's sort of the same story. It's like we are always prioritizing and giving prominence to American acts and American content.

In Canada it's nearly impossible to be a comedian, and a lot of comedians who live in L.A., who've moved to L.A., you know, it cost them $10-15,000 to do so. They were relying on that money.

I characterize the experience of a stand-up comic in Canada [as] a circle of entrapment, because when you headline a club or do Just for Laughs, you hit the ceiling.

So this is a perennial Canadian culture question. You answered it, in part. But this is what people always ask: Why can't you compete with the Americans? Why can't there be be a level playing field where you are doing your thing ... and be able to make a go, make a living without having something that's dedicated to you?

Because there's no support for us here in this country. There's no art support. There's no infrastructure for us. There's no respect.

I co-founded the Canadian Association of Stand-up Comedians and for the first time ever, there's a unified voice for comedians. No one's ever lobbied for us. So this is actually an amazing moment. I'm ecstatic just to see comedians come together and to finally address these issues that are decades old.

Half of it is on us because we're the best complainers in the world. We get up on stage and, oh yeah, give us a mic we're talking loud. But to be able to call out some of these injustices — people have been afraid of the reprisal of it, and justifiably so.

What do you mean, reprisal?

Maybe not getting booked at Just For Laughs, or not getting, you know, certain opportunities in the industry. That's a classic thing. You don't want to upset the wrong people.

There is this much smaller pie and you're all divvying it up. So to what extent does that mean that some won't get pie or that some might go someplace else like L.A. to get pie?

It's very likely.

Leaving this country seems like the only the only alternative for a lot of people. I mean, I certainly feel like I don't know what else to do here. I really don't.

And so are you considering it? Do you think you have to go to the States in order to make a living?

I have to go down there and be there way more. That's what all this is really pushing to.

Howie Mandel ... says that if this wasn't going to happen, Canada Laughs was going to disappear.

There's no real numbers out yet. We haven't seen what this deal means. If this is great for Canadian comedy, we want to see it.

Written by Sheena Goodyear with files from Canadian Press. Interview produced by Allie Jaynes. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.