Dozens of Quebec comedians protested against censorship Sunday night at the Gala des Oliviers.
The annual award show honours the best of Quebec comedic talent, but comedians were not happy with a decision to censor a piece by comedians Mike Ward and Guy Nantel.
Comics arriving at the show walked the red carpet wearing masks emblazoned with a red 'X'.
They later wore those masks when an award was given to Quebec's funniest comedian.
The two comics were supposed to have a skit on Sunday while they presented an award, but the Association of Professionals in the Humour Industry, which hosts the show, refused to let them perform it, because of legal concerns.
Nantel and Ward said they made multiple changes to the skit but it never passed legal muster, and it was never clear exactly what was so objectionable.
Ward decided to boycott the gala, and on Friday he and Nantel performed the skit at a comedy club, then released it online.
Ward ended up winning the 'comedian of the year' award as selected by the public, so when his name was called the mask-wearing comedians went onstage in his place.
Andy Nulman, founder of Montreal's Just For Laughs festival, says censorship has no place in modern comedy.
"The nature of the beast is to provoke, is to open up people's minds, to let them see things they normally wouldn't see," said Nulman.
"So by going ahead and constraining that what you're going to have is 'why did the chicken cross the road' type jokes."
