After graduating from the National School of Humor in 1993, Dominic Sillon and Martin Cloutier quickly decided to team up on stage, even though the duos were far from popular at the time. Thirty years later we can say that their decision was the right one. The duo is still active and is currently touring the province with their sixth show.
Dominic Sillon and Martin Cloutier entered the National School of Humor alone. But they quickly discovered commonalities on the school desks. After becoming inseparable with their friends José Gaudet and Mario Tessier, who later became Les Grandes Gueules, Dominic and Martin initially attempted to combine their two solo shows to tour the eclectic shows.
“We each had half an hour of material,” says Dominic. It was easier to sell ourselves together to create corpos. But we still wondered who would open the show with their solo number! At some point we said to each other that we would write a stand-up comedy as a couple. That way we both would start together. We quickly realized that it was more fun as a couple than what we did alone. There was an energy that came out of that stand-up. We couldn’t believe it!”
Their duet part, which initially served as the opening of the show, became longer and longer. So much so that at some point the two young comedians simply decided to abandon their solo material and just be a duo.
“It was something that wasn’t done often [à l’époque], Martin remembers. There were ding and dong. Real [Béland] formed a duo with Stéphane [Lefèvre, pour le duo C’ Réal]. The Big Mouths didn't really make a scene. It's a genre we haven't seen anymore. But the “oldies” like Gilles Latulippe and Claude Blanchard saw us and freaked out! They gave us a little guidance at the beginning.
THE Heterosexual man
Martin Cloutier says everything changed when Gilles Latulippe told him not to hit on stage. “He told me that it would increase Dominic's comic effect if he never punched. The first step was receiving that and learning that I would no longer be the comedian I hoped to be at the time. But at some point we realized that we were doing the gag together. It wasn't Dominic who did the gags and it wasn't me who did the flat lines. My sentence is the beginning of what will happen to Dominic. I was also proud of doing it well and being the straight man.”
While their friends from the Grandes Gueules eventually felt the need to part ways, Dominic and Martin never had the desire for solo adventures. “Every time we release a new show, there’s something new we want to tackle,” says Dominic. We also have the advantage in other areas of being able to do things on our own. It strengthens the duo that we are on stage.”
“I think at some point we gave ourselves permission [de faire d’autres projets en dehors du duo]said Martin. 11 years ago I became a radio presenter. Dominic knew that I had dreamed of this for a long time and gave me permission to go. If he hadn't opened the door for me, I might have felt bullied and oppressed in what I wanted to do for a living.
Looking at the same horizon
When we ask her about her greatest pride in these 30 years of her career, Martin replies that it is the bond he has built with Dominic and the fact that they still have the same horizons. “I haven't been with my girlfriend in 30 years. Dominic is my most lasting relationship in my life, whether professional or romantic. We don't feel like it's been 30 years. We always have a horizon in front of us to look at. And we see the same thing. It is unheard of.
With this in mind, the two comedians plan to continue their show Six for several more years. “I would like to shoot it between the ages of six and eight,” Martin said seriously. We want to change it over time. And the duo is also working on setting up a TV production company to develop projects. “It's been a long time since we were last on TV, but we want to do it together again,” says Martin.
The show Six, by Dominic and Martin, will be presented as an extra at the Montreal Casino on February 3rd. For all dates: dominicetmartin.com.