Daniel Grenier repeats it a couple of times on his new show: He’s 50 years old. But it’s hard to understand at times as the comedian has fun on stage like a little kid with his dozens of wacky toys he found at flea markets. His willfully silly fun at the Club Soda premiere yesterday was clearly contagious to the audience, who laughed heartily throughout the evening.
• Also read: Daniel Grenier was living on $250 a month after Chick ‘n Swell ended
Daniel Grenier is a funny bug and that’s what makes him so lovable. In a setting where the comedians who do the classic “one mic, one stool” stand-up style number in the tens, even hundreds, the former Chick’n Swell has its own totally unconventional and original Universe.
His humor is absurd at times, as we’ve seen with his comedy trio for 23 years, but he’s also very approachable. From the beginning, the question that everyone is on the same side, Daniel Grenier wants to explain even more simply: His humor, “that’s nonsense”. He then shows us visually that we need to turn off our brains to fully enjoy the show. Message understood!
At Club Soda on Wednesday night, we were able to see several of the comedian’s close friends coming to give him encouragement. There were his former Chick ‘n Swell companions (Francis Cloutier and Ghyslain Dufresne) and his former roommates from the National School of Humor (Martin Matte and Martin Perizzolo). Other artists have also walked the “yellow carpet” such as Guillaume Pineault, Jonathan Roberge, Simon Delisle, David Beaucage and Coco Belliveau.
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Martin Matte was Daniel Grenier’s roommate at the National School of Humor. He also invited him to open for his latest tour.
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Ghyslain Dufresne came to encourage his former Chick’n Swell collaborator.
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Coco Belliveau.
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Simon Delisle.
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David Beaucage.
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Guillaume Pinault.
The legend Claude Crest
Before Daniel Grenier showed up, it was none other than Claude Crest, the old crooner character of Maxime Gervais (Les Pic-Bois), who was responsible for the first part. “I am 92 years old. I’ve been doing comedy for over 70 years. I know there are comedians in the room tonight. See and learn!” he started.
For about fifteen minutes, Khrest told anecdotes without a tail or a head about the world of show business. A frankly fun first part that set the table perfectly for Daniel Grenier’s arrival.
Without much fanfare, the star comedian of the evening took the stage at Club Soda with his guitar. “Thank you everyone for being here. I’m doing well? I’ll start calmly and eventually the chain will land. That’s not true, she landed a long time ago. Bon Voyage!”
For a little over an hour, Daniel Grenier gave us gags, each more silly than the last, almost always accompanied by objects. So he used dolls, plastic animals, a mini motorbike and so on.
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Nothing for a young audience
However, this should not be confused. Even if his humor is often good-natured, Daniel Grenier accompanies his show with many “trash” gags that are not aimed at a young audience. Parents wishing to bring their children to Jaune must therefore be warned.
During the show, some of Daniel Grenier’s gags didn’t always work, but the comedian’s enthusiasm and good humor were so great that the audience laughed with him anyway.
Since the vast majority of gags are visual, it’s important to sit close to the stage. On the back of the Club Soda floor, we lost a few jokes that used items that were too small.
Daniel Grenier does not hide it. He voluntarily goes “from rooster to donkey” in his show. And that’s probably what makes it so charming. Yes, a director could certainly make the proposal a little better, but we could risk losing the color (yellow) that makes Daniel Grenier a comedian that stands out from his peers.
Daniel Grenier will perform at the Théâtre Petit Champlain in Quebec on May 17th and 18th. For all dates: danielgrenier.ca.