Comedy--The once-enthusiastic market for comedy clubs across North America has long since cooled, but Montréal still has a couple of laugh spots, mostly because it's the home to the highly-regarded Juste pour Rire/Just for Laughs Festival held every summer (for information, call tel. 514/845-2322). Those who have so far eluded the comedy-club experience should know that profanity, bathroom humor, and assorted ethnic slurs are common fodder for performers. If patrons wish to avoid becoming objects of the comedians' barbs, it's wise to sit well back from the stage. Performances are in French or English (about 50/50, it seems) or both.

Folk, Rock & Pop--Scores of bars, cafes, theaters, clubs, and even churches present live music on at least an occasional basis, even if only at Sunday brunch. The performers, local or touring, traffic in every idiom, from metal to funk to reggae to grunge and unvarnished Vegas. Here are a few places that focus their energies on music.

Jazz & Blues--The respected and heavily attended Festival International de Jazz, held every summer in the city, caters to the public's interest in this original American art form. During the 9 days of the event, more than 2,500 musicians perform on 10 stages for an average total audience of 1.7 million. Scores of events are scheduled, indoors and out, over 350 of them free. "Jazz" is broadly interpreted to include everything from Dixieland to reggae, world beat, and the unclassifiable experimental. In 2003, for example, Elvis Costello and Bobby McFerrin were featured, as was Norah Jones, fresh from her multiple Grammy awards. Performers more closely associated with jazz have included George Benson, Lee Konitz, Pat Metheny, Gil Evans, Dave Brubeck, and B. B. King. Piano legend Oscar Peterson grew up here and has sometimes returned to perform in his hometown. For information on the festival, call tel. 888/515-0515 or 514/871-1881, or visit www.montrealjazzfest.com.

Pick up a copy of Mirror or Hour, distributed free everywhere, or buy the Friday or Saturday editions of the Gazette for the entertainment section. These publications have full listings of the bands and stars appearing during the week.

Unhappily, L'Air du Temps, a Montréal tradition since 1976, has closed. An ardent jazz emporium of the old school, seedy and without gimmicks, it will be missed. It is now a coffeehouse.

Dance Clubs--As elsewhere, Montréal's dance clubs change in popularity in mere eye blinks, and new ones sprout like toadstools after a heavy rain; they also wither as quickly. For the latest feverish spots, quiz concierges, guides, waiters -- all those who look as if they might follow the scene. Here are a few that appear more likely to survive the whims of night owls and landlords. At some, you'll encounter steroid abusers with funny haircuts guarding the doors. Usually they'll let you inside; the admittance game is rarely as strict or as arbitrary as the "hipper than thou" criteria encountered at some New York and Los Angeles clubs.