Basically, putting together a good comedy gala can be quite simple: a microphone, comedians with good storytelling talent and good gags. That’s all.
Masterfully led by veteran Laurent Paquin, the second ComediHa! Fest-Québec, Wednesday, at the Grand Théâtre, was an excellent vintage, without the production feeling the need to surprise the entire catalog of the Union des artistes and/or to develop large concept numbers with spectacular staging.
No, we attended a series of good old stand-up shows, a series created by Laurent Paquin, who brilliantly presented the subject of intelligence by demonstrating the limits of our collective evolution versus the evolution of technology. “Your phone has become intelligent. Toé, you’re still touching your panties to see if you can put them back,” he introduced himself.
The presenter also nailed it when discussing his dislike of nostalgia. Ironically, that didn’t stop him from bringing back his duo Les gentils with Anthony Kavanagh, with whom he was trying to convert a show business asshole into kindness… René Simard, and playing his old hit musical Papa bande mou. albeit in a revised and corrected version by the duo Doug and Jeff and France d’Amour.
Photo René Baillargeon/QMI Agency
Children
Guillaume Wagner, the man on the left, admitted that his convenience conflicted with his interest in social progress. Give the media a food donation, ok. Give it to a homeless man washing his car’s windshield, no. “I want to help the poor, but I need a clean-dressed mediator. »
Guillaume Wagner Photo René Baillargeon/QMI Agency
We also talked about parenthood, with success. English-language Ontario comedian-turned-French, Rachelle Élie unabashedly expressed her joy at seeing her grown children finally leave the family nest, while the Katherine Levac/Phil Roy duo shared the hardships of life as new parents.
New on-the-go parents, Katherine Levac and Phil Roy. Photo René Baillargeon/QMI Agency
For her part, Jessica Chartrand didn’t get the biggest laughs at her first career gala, but her monologue about her homosexuality and her visits to her psychiatrist, with whom she was so far apart in age that “her parents had to pay half the fines,” did. “put him in the penal code,” hints at an interesting future.
Feast of ovations
Five comedians, including Laurent Paquin, received an ovation. Admittedly, the audience at the ComediHa! is known for his generosity, but on Wednesday they were all deserved.
It was also nice to see another veteran, Sylvain Larocque, exit the stage to a standing ovation after showing some nice self-deprecation by making fun of his body.
Sylvain Larocque Photo René Baillargeon/QMI Agency
Eddy King, new signing Tommy Néron and Billy Tellier also caused a stir in quick succession in the second half.
The former regretted having to pay a $150 psychologist for his daughter, who was being bullied at school. The man, longing for a more brutal era, sarcastically suggested that that money would have been better spent paying someone to beat up the tyrant.
Following Tuesday’s Sam Vigneault, Tommy Néron became the second up-and-coming comedian to make a name for himself since the festival began by expressing in his own style how much he hates sharing his food. Ask him for a kidney, but not a bite from his burger.
Finally, the invaluable Billy Tellier was the evening’s highlight with his observations on couples fighting during an act, where his gestures worked as well as his hilarious lines.