Fred Pellerin has no shortage of projects these days: new book, tour of Quebec, Christmas show with the OSM, script. Phew! The newspaper spoke to the storyteller from Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, who still enjoys these varied adventures.
These days you are releasing the book based on your show The descent into business. Since your stage stories often contain an element of improvisation, how do you put that on paper?
“This is the seventh story I have written as a book. Every time I do the exercise of writing it down to make it easier to read, and also freezing it and leaving a trace. I never write books in advance. I do it after I’ve played the show a hundred times. Because when I sit at home, I’m not particularly creative! Often the written version allows me to bring in more than the narrated version.”
Does this writing exercise sometimes lead you to write a novel that isn’t part of one of your shows?
“I did it once, for a mini-book called Drink Your Strong Tea, You’ll Pee Immediately!” [en 2005]. That’s when I’m already thinking about the next storytelling show I’m going to do. It seems that the wheel is turning in the mill and there is no free space to plant the idea. I might tackle something like a novel one day. But there are a lot of other writing projects on the table right now.”
The cover of the book contains a very beautiful illustration by Félix Girard. How did this collaboration come about?
“I really admire his work. He does amazing drawings. It is so beautiful. I have a painting of him at home. We have already worked together on the cover of a DVD. This time when it came time to design the book cover, we thought of him and invited him to watch the show. Two days later he was already sending me sketches.”
Would it be possible for you to one day create a comic strip together based on one of your stories?
“Sometimes I have ideas for a comic. But it’s a cutting task that I can’t quite grasp yet. However, I am a comic consumer, I read a lot of graphic novels. I don’t rule that out. This is an exercise I would like to do one day. I don’t know if Félix would be willing to accept it, but there could be a wedding there.”
How does the tour work? The descent into business?
“We currently have to reach 125 performances. I am very good. We plan to continue the tour until summer 2025. So it should last about three years. This year we couldn’t go to France because there were too many appointments in Quebec. But we will return in 2024.”
In December you will present a new Christmas story with the OSM and Kent Nagano. What can we expect from the show this year?
“We must first expect the return of Maestro Nagano. He no longer lives in Montreal, but is wreaking havoc elsewhere. We must have invented these Christmas stories almost 15 years ago [le premier spectacle a eu lieu en 2011]. It’s a magical adventure. We did it at the beginning and said to ourselves that it doesn’t make sense because it’s still a challenge to combine these two forms of expression, which are so far apart in the spectrum of possible expressions. This will be our sixth Christmas story. The whole team is back. The bond between Maestro and me is growing. Because he’s open to a lot of nonsense that I bring into the project.”
On the cinema side, how is writing your new script going?
“It’s going well. I have to be on my 47th version! [rires] We continue to make versions there. I think the version I sent a few days ago is the one we will use for funding. We are approaching a final scenario. It is once again Francis Leclerc who will direct. This time it’s about the character of the hairdresser Méo. He was played by Marc Messier in The Time Snatcher. And he is the one who will still play Méo if the film is lucky enough to get made.”
√ Fred Pellerin’s book about The descent into business is available in store. The tour also continues. The Christmas story with the OSM, Polichignon’s secretwill be performed at the Maison symphonique de Montréal from December 14th to 17th. For all information: fredpellerin.com.