Chinese-Canadian producer Quentin Lee (White Frog, Shopping for Fangs) is set to go into production on a new stand-up series Comedy Invasion, based on a pre-existing format that has previously sold to U.S. streamer Hulu.

Created, directed and produced by Lee through his banner Margin Films, the series will feature eight half-hour sets from Canadian comics who identify as a person with a disability, Black, Indigenous, a person of colour, female and/or LGBTQIA+. Four live shows will be filmed between May 7 to 8 at the Firehall Arts Centre in Vancouver.

Comics in the debut season include Toronto’s Desirée Walsh, who is living with cerebral palsy; North Vancouver-based Keith “Bubbas” Nahanee of the Squamish Nation; Vancouver-based Japanese-Canadian comic Yumi Nagashima; Calgary-based transgender drag queen activist Karla Marx; Vancouver-based Cree Métis comic Savannah Erasmus; Chinese-Vietnamese comic DJ On of Vancouver; Vancouver-based Filipino non-binary comic Tin Lorica; and Vancouver’s Davin Tong, who goes by the alias Peter Chao.

All four shows will be opened by Vancouver comedian and filmmaker Milton Ng.

Cindy AuYeung is a producer and editor, Brian Cheung is the cinematographer, while Joelysa Pankanea will compose original music.

Comedy Invasion is self-financed by Margin Films and does not currently have a broadcaster attached. L.A. distributor Viva Pictures is handling sales.

Lee co-created the original series, styled as Comedy InvAsian, which premiered on Hulu in 2018. The series featured an all-Asian comedian lineup. A second season was filmed in L.A. in August 2021 and is expected to premiere on Peacock and Tubi in May for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, according to Margin Films.

“I’m thrilled to be creating the first TV series of its kind in Canada based on our proprietary format of Comedy InvAsian,” said Lee in a statement. “Comedy Invasion will be a platform of discovery empowering diverse Canadian comedians to shine and own a piece of global media history.”

Pictured (L-R): Desirée Walsh, Keith “Bubbas” Nahanee, Yumi Nagashima, Karla Marx (top), Savannah Erasmus, DJ On, Tin Lorica and Davin Tong (bottom)