Daniel Lemire has followed his various characters since the beginning of his career. Even in his early years, the comedian never stepped onto the stage quite “himself”, preferring to camp behind his costumes and wigs. “I liked it because I was walking down the street and nobody recognized me,” he said. THE stand up Not many people did that back then. »
Le Journal asked Lemire to tell the story behind his characters, choosing a significant figure to associate with each: Yvon Travaillé, Alain Bélisle (Béscile), Edmond Ratté, Gripette Tremblay, Uncle Georges, Ronnie Dubé and Maurice.
• Also read: The time for honors has come for Daniel Lemire: “It passed so quickly,” says the 67-year-old comedian
YVON HAS WORKED
Origin: This is the very first character Daniel Lemire has played on stage. “He was the character who made me famous at the time of the Lundis des Ha! Ha! said Lemire. […] When I was 17 or 18, I was unemployed for a while. I had an appointment with [bureau de] Unemployment and the gentleman I met was Yvon Travaillé.
The legendary Yvon Travaillé
Tag number: The issue on unemployment, the first issue Lemire co-wrote with Yvon Travaillé in the early 1980s. This man introduces a new program for the unemployed. “Surely there are unemployed young people here tonight? Or at least those studying to become one.
“It had struck,” Lemire recalls. The HA! Ha! had eventually arrived on television. We had 1.4 million reviews. I had continued the show number. But sometimes the people in front of me would hit the room! That’s when I realized I had to move on to another call.
ALAIN BELISLE (BESCILE)
Origin: Also born at the time of Ha! Ha!, this pathetic crooner allowed the comedian to bring a musical side to his show. “There was always a mocking side to that kind of cheap singer in the middle back then,” says Lemire. I was wearing a large purple one-piece suit. He looked like a bastard! It was scary.”
A great classic: Bésicle accompanied by Jean Lapointe on the piano. photo archive
Tag number: The duo with Jean Lapointe on Just for Laughs in the 1990s. Arriving alone on stage, Alain Bélisle announced to the public that afternoon that his pianist had fallen ill. Lapointe, with his already familiar drunken pianist character, had then arrived and announced that he would be replacing him.
This number is one of the most famous in Just for Laughs history. When Jean Lapointe died in November 2022, images of the Lemire-Lapointe duo were circulating widely. “Jean Lapointe was a real artist,” says Daniel. He was also a very good pianist. He was the one who actually played the piano during the number.
EDMOND RATTE
Origin: Perhaps the closest character to Daniel Lemire himself. “There’s a lot of me in it,” he said. I’m generally quite a reserved person. At the beginning of his career, the comedian had decided to create this very shy man.
Daniel Lemire as his character Edmond Ratté. Archive photo
Tag number: In 1995, just before the referendum, Daniel Lemire had done an act in which we saw Edmond Ratté going to the polling booth to vote, hesitating between yes and no. “If we break up, the rest of Canada will certainly not want to have anything to do with us. You won’t even talk to us anymore. Yes, it’s very tempting…” Edmond said.
“I was very happy with this number because it wasn’t easy to write,” Lemire recalls. There was the pro-yes, the pro-no. But it had gone well.”
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GRIPETTE TREMBLAY
Origin: Also born in the early 1980s, this character acted as a sort of master of ceremonies on Daniel Lemire’s shows. “It was he who introduced the numbers. I can’t remember how I created it. […] I haven’t done it in a long time. I found it less interesting to do it over time.”
Daniel Lemire aka Gripette Tremblay. Archive photo
Tag number: In 1989, Gripette Tremblay was involved in the recording of an advertisement for Cherry Coke on her show Lemire fait l’humour. He posed as a construction worker and had to tell people that after a day’s work, nothing beats this booze. The problem? It was undrinkable! “Cola with cherries, that makes you sober!”
“I’ve heard so much about this number,” Lemire said. It was a criticism of Coca-Cola and we had a hard time with it because they don’t take jokes that well! It had passed on to Radio-Canada and Coca-Cola threatened to withdraw its advertisement. They had great power. I don’t know how it got resolved. I wasn’t at the discussions!”
UNCLE GEORGES
Origin: Around 1985, Daniel Lemire founded what would later become the famous Uncle Georges. But then his character was an ordinary man, not a clown. “He made a recipe,” the comedian recalls. His name was George Smith and he spoke the same [comme Oncle Georges]he had the wig.”
Becoming a father around the same time, Daniel Lemire quickly realized that children’s programs got on his nerves. “That’s when I got the idea to make a clown who doesn’t like children. I seemed to agree a little. The cynics did that. It’s an old pattern. But it had an effect that I didn’t expect at all.
The inimitable Uncle Georges photo archive
Tag number: Daniel Lemire targets two memorable numbers for Uncle Georges here: the one with Dominique Michel on Just for Laughs in 1988 and the one with Yves Jacques and Patrice L’Écuyer on Bye Bye in 1991.
“I was extremely nervous during the number with Dodo. There was no teleprompter and I was quite busy! Dominique looked at me laughing because she didn’t have much text to deliver. It was a great moment. Doing a number with Dodo isn’t nothing.
“The bye bye number, we never expected it to work like that. It had been a total surprise. At the time, the bye bye, almost everyone heard that.
RONNIE DUBE
Origin: As for Alain Bélisle, Daniel Lemire created this character to add a comic musical number to his show. “A lot of musicians were around me. We made music for fun. I found being a rocker interesting because I wasn’t rock ‘n’ roll anymore.
Ronnie Dubé, one of Daniel Lemire’s classics. Archive photo
Tag number: Lemire shared the stage with Michel Courtemanche on Just for Laughs in 1991. We saw Ronnie and Mike (Daniel Thibault) welcoming the winner of a competition to join them on stage. This young guitarist, Jean-Philippe Germain-Tessier, was played by a Michel Courtemanche with a larger than life smile.
“We laughed so much during that number,” Lemire said. We giggled on stage for 30 seconds. Michel is also a very good guitarist.”
MAURITIUS
Origin: While working with director Denis Bouchard on his show Lemire fait l’humour, Daniel Lemire had the idea of making a misanthropic character as stupid as his feet. “But the rehearsals with the two actors who accompanied me didn’t work out. He was just stupid. Denis then came up with the idea that the character had just quit smoking. Everything had made sense and the number was really placed. A chance, otherwise we would have planted ourselves!”
Daniel Lemire and his character Maurice, a man who’s a little nervous about quitting smoking.
Tag number: The first issue of Maurice, who goes to a restaurant with a woman and keeps saying that he just quit smoking. Constantly nervous, the ex-smoker got angry at the waiter and yelled at an accordion player.
“There was a bit of autobiography in there because I quit smoking myself. Maurice, it’s a bit like being multiplied by 10! The number was very energetic, a rolling fire. It was a bit absurd. It brought another color to the show and was very profitable at this level.