2023-04-25 20:00:06
A specialized school, the biggest laughter festival in the world and bars that fill up every week with dozens of stand-up shows… In Quebec, humor is serious business.
If Montreal is considered one of the capitals of laughter and the wave of humor in Quebec is old, recent years have marked a real explosion. “When I left school in 2010, there were a few bars in Montreal that were doing comedy shows, but we couldn’t play as much as we do now. If I decide today to work on a number, I can play 15 times a week,” says comedian Simon Delisle. “Humour, here in Quebec, we take it seriously,” comments the Quebecer, who has lived off his passion for twelve years.
Comedy shows are at the top of the entertainment attracting the most audiences, ahead of the theater, with an average ticket price (30 Canadian dollars, or 20 euros) below the other disciplines, according to data from the Institute. of the 2021 Quebec statistics.
“We are sold out on all the shows”
At the Bordel Comédie Club, one of the fashionable rooms in Montreal, Charles Deschamps, microphone in hand in front of a brick wall, cap screwed on his head, unfolds his jokes in front of a hilarious crowd. Launched in 2015, this French-speaking comedy cabaret offers several performances every evening with tickets starting at 10 dollars (less than 7 euros). “We are full on all the shows”, often several weeks in advance, even before the programming is finalized, welcomes Charles Deschamps, one of the founders. Faced with success, the cabaret opened a second room last year and now attracts artists from elsewhere. And a loyal audience… who loves genre mixes. “There are different styles and then it’s a way to relax,” smiles Manuel St-Aubin, 27, a regular at the place.
At the Brothel, “the laughter is strong, it applauds a lot, there is less of this habit in Paris”, observes Certe Mathurin. The Parisian comedian wanted to start the tour of his fourth show in Quebec, which he considers “the Mecca of humor”. “It’s a pilgrimage for comedians: whether you’re French, Swiss, Belgian… you have to go to Quebec because they were at the forefront of French-speaking humor,” continues the artist from 37. years. The Just for Laughs festival, a benchmark for French-speaking humor, was established there in 1983.
It’s a pilgrimage for comedians (…) you have to go to Quebec because they were at the forefront of French humor
Before performing on stage, many people decide to train at the emblematic National School of Humor (ENH). Founded 35 years ago, this selective institution trains around thirty students, comedians and authors each year, and has delivered stars, such as Roman Frayssinet. A journey that makes some people dream, like Félix Wagner, a Frenchman who came to Quebec especially to join the school.
The young man “really has the feeling of having passed a milestone” and of having gained “legitimacy” in particular thanks to a course which allowed him to “dissect the construction of a joke”. Inside a room with drawn curtains, one of his comrades repeats his number under the gaze of his teacher: “Work on the text so that it is linked more!” Stéphan Allard tells him.
Explore different registers
Courses in creativity, improvisation, career management, presentation of a new number every week… with this training (at 16,500 dollars for two years for comedians and 11,000 dollars a year for authors), the students come “explore” to discover “the register in which they are the funniest on stage”, explains Stéphan Allard. They also come to seek “a structure in the writing”, even a “signature”, to distinguish themselves among the growing offer of comedians, underlines the teacher.
“Going to school allowed me to play in comedy clubs in Paris, in places where it’s normally difficult to play” like Paname or Kev Adams’ Fridge Comedy Club, “when they didn’t know me “says Beurguy, alias Virginie Courtiol, future graduate. On stage, this 34-year-old Frenchwoman dares to joke about unusual subjects such as her abortion or menstruation. A feminist humor that is in line with incisive shows created in recent years, such as the “Womansplaining Show” aimed at “destroying the patriarchy, one joke at a time”.
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