Hailed as the British Invasion of Comedy, the Britcom show at Just For Laughs features some of the best acts from the U.K. They're anywhere from wickedly dry to unabashedly zany… but always utterly brilliant.

The 2002 festival marked the 20th anniversary of the festival. It was hosted by John Moloney and featured Al Murray, Karl Minns, the Greatest Show on Legs, Jimmy Carr, Omid Djalili and much more. In total it showcased 2,492 artists from around the world and sold 1.7 million tickets for its indoor shows and street performances during the eleven-day festival.

The festival's street theatre programme included a cornucopia of artists from the UK including Creature Features, Dream Engine, Incomposmentis, Light House Theatre, Maynard Flip Flap, Mimbre, Neighbourhood Watch Stilts and Rin Tin Tin.

UK-based Iranian comic Omid Djalili and London-based Jimmy Carr, both in the all-British Britcom shows garnered much attention. The Montreal Gazette gave Djalili its 'best act' nomination, calling him 'hip, smart and very, very funny.'

The 2003 UK line-up featured Sean Meo, Ronnie Golden, Mark Watson, Lee Mack, Jimmy Carr, and Milton Jones . Outrageous British playwright and BBC on-air personality Arthur Smith performed in a separate show called 'Arthur Smith's Londoner's Late Night Tour of Montreal.'

The Montreal comedy festival runs two distinct programmes:  Just for Laughs and Juste pour rire. UK shows have quite a substantial French-speaking audience- 'l'humour britannique' is famous in French Canada - but the British Council also supports a large number of street performers (part of the Juste pour rire programme) as they truly cross the language divide in such a bilingual city.

In addition to the public performances, Just for Laughs organises a series of events for the entertainment industry.  The festival, which is covered by the entertainment industry trade publiucations as well as the mainstream press, draws scouts from all the major US networks. Many comedians have launched their careers in Montreal.