As “Waiting for the Village Party” progresses, Matthieu Pepper reveals the extent of his comic range. His first appearance has the same effect as a generous hug.
Published at 12:27 p.m.
Matthew Pepper’s late father was the guy who exclaimed with joy at the sight of a lilac in bloom. And his son is of the same kind: although he uses irony abundantly, the reactions that all more or less serious forms of human stupidity provoke in him are less irritating than puzzling.
Matthieu Pepper cannot believe that we are so stupid, so proud and so incapable of telling ourselves the proverbial true things. Matthieu Pepper can’t believe that humanity thought it made sense to invent so many types of bread. Matthieu Pepper gets a lot of laughs by exaggerating the confusion caused by the absurdities presented to him by the doctor, the lady at the supermarket or his mother.
But Matthieu Pepper, worthy heir to his father, decides to have fun with it. Between the premise and the punch of his jokes, it’s not uncommon for laughter to overcome him.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Childhood, adolescence, early adult life: these are all the imposed characters of a first comic work that Matthieu Pepper plays with a solidity based on his extensive experience on the stage.
En attendant la fête au village, his first show, presented on Tuesday at the Olympia, progresses like a crescendo. The evening begins with a few numbers in which the comedian practices his scales like a pianist, just to show what he’s capable of.
Childhood, adolescence, early adult life: these are all imposed characters of a first comic work, which Pepper imbues with a solidity based on his extensive experience on stage – in addition to the moderation in the brothel, which he has been providing opening act for since 2017 several friends. Whether he’s talking about his kindergarten or the long years in which he wet the bed, the 33-year-old shines, but so far without surprises.
En attendant la fête au village goes beyond the boundaries of a first comedy show as its creator examines the topic of sexuality from a perspective that contrasts with the more frontal perspective of many of his colleagues. By urging the public to pay attention to the grammar and spelling of the lewd messages they send, Matthieu Pepper is portraying himself as the Ayatollah of sexting language, not to mention Guy Bertrand’s self-evidentness.
The jubilant moment when he wonders whether he should add an “S” to a rather facetious word encapsulates many things about our host beyond his profound humor. Although he claims to be “used to disappointing the world,” his smile always seems to hide a fear of not being up to the task, a palpable sensitivity that gives his jokes, even the lightest ones, a kind of extra soul .
The light in death
Although the toxicity of a certain masculinity has been discussed many times in the media and on stage in recent years, Matthieu Pepper has still managed to draw many original observations from it – even we didn’t know that there are more masculine chips than others. The crescendo on which his show is built begins to rise in the middle as he awakens the long-held desire to have a father other than his own.
This is because Papa Pepper, described as a pink man, liked to inquire about his son’s feelings and take care of household chores, an attitude that was at odds with that of the uncouth and slightly homophobic fathers the boy grew up with met his friends. .
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Although the toxicity of a certain masculinity has been widely discussed in the media and on stage in recent years, Matthieu Pepper still manages to draw many original observations from it.
One day, when he was a teenager, Matthieu Pepper asked his father to accompany him to a monster truck event at the Olympic Stadium, even though he knew all too well that neither his father nor himself would take part. would like. Pepper’s father and son ended their trip at the Botanical Gardens, a place they both liked much better.
Waiting for the village festival has a similar effect to that of the botanical garden on its creator and could therefore be described as a comforting spectacle, in the same way we speak of a feel-good film. Matthieu Pepper is the archetype of a good mainstream comedian who respects the intelligence of his audience enough not to reinforce their prejudices, but without ever shocking.
The end of the show, in which he opens up about his obsession with death before opening up about his father’s, could have given him enough material for an entire hour, as he manages to shed light on the subject. , while avoid truisms.
Despite a long passage in which he imagines Champlain and Cartier experiencing homage after death in the afterlife, these twenty minutes alone hold the promise of a rich career.
“Hold me in your arms longer,” Matthieu’s father asked his son, who was helping him move, in his room in a palliative care center. You will find the generous hug you could need in this show.
Waiting for the village festival
On tour through Quebec