Last night at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto the CFC hosted “An Evening with Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann” as part of their Telefilm Canada Feature Comedy Exchange. Long titles and company names aside, what that meant is that everyone’s favourite mega-producer/director/writer Judd Apatow and his wife, the incredibly funny Leslie Mann, took part in a panel discussion about life, their careers, working together, and making movie magic.

With a full theatre packed with fans, Canadian film and television icon Eugene Levy came out on stage to introduce Apatow and Mann, heap praise on both of them, and talk about how he can’t wait for the free dinner that he was promised. Hosted by Richard Crouse, the event had Apatow and Mann take the stage for a casual discussion about comedy. Revelations included Mann’s “research” for her role of a drunk woman in The 40 Year Old Virgin (videotaping herself while drunk), and Apatow’s desire to be an actor (strong… but probably not happening).

Apatow discussed his new film This Is 40 and what it was like to work (repeatedly) with his wife and two daughters on set. Apatow and Mann shared stories about their collaboration process on the film and how a lot of the actual arguments and scenes in the movie are (not so thinly) veiled allusions to themselves and their real life marriage. Pausing only briefly to answer a call from his daughter on stage for the entire audience to hear, Apatow was as quick and funny as one would expect and it’s clear why he is the leading talent in the comedy industry today. Together with Mann, who made it clear why she’s one of the funniest working actresses out there, the couple provided an enjoyable evening to reminisce about their previous films and look forward to their next one.

This Is 40 comes out December 21^st and based on what was shown last night, it looks like it’s going to be as good if not better than any Apatow movie that has come before it.