Simon Boulerice will have his “first big official stage” at the Just for Laughs festival this Friday for the comic book reading of his novel geolocate love.
We’re not into “pure” humor or stand-up here. The situations the prolific writer-actor describes are, in his own words, “yellow laughs” while his alter ego uses dating apps to copulate with men in hopes of eventually finding HIS man.
From one subway station to the next, Simon shares what he experiences…or doesn’t, reminding us how the encounters that come from strumming on Grindr, Tinder and Co. are sometimes very satisfying, sometimes very can be disappointing, with these buffets being largely invented at will by “throw away relationships”.
Published in 2016 by Ta Mère, the autofiction novel Géolocaliser l’amour is about Simon Boulerice’s alter ego, who experiences a rollercoaster of emotions. His encounters are marked by small joys, disappointments, humiliations and he is even a victim of rape. “I assume it could be me,” he said of all the storytelling.
Performed on stage last year before the pandemic and in a very well done web series on ICI Tou.Tv, Geolocate Love returns in a new version in the spotlight of Just for Laughs, this time supporting the artist’s story with the imagination of Richard Vallerand, a comics writer who draws in real time on stage and is inspired by the music of electronic music composer and songwriter Millimetrik.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY RADIO-CANADA
Simon, who has been in a relationship for six years, drew on his own past experiences and the stories of his friends, including Jocelyn Lebeau, who we also see in the web series.
“The nice thing about reading with drawings is that we are completely in the spirit of suggestion. “We have more to fill as viewers, we are like our own director,” he said with the enthusiasm that characterizes him.
A representative from Just for Laughs, who attended a revival of the show Geolocaliser l’amour at L’Assomption last summer, saw the work’s “comic potential” – something Simon Boulerice himself wasn’t convinced of, he admitted. “I wouldn’t have asked Just for Laughs but they saw the chemistry between the three of us and the public who were very complicit in my alter ego’s failings. There is a lot of sadness in this story, but also a lot of humor.
Simon, who writes bonsoir for Sucré Salé and Bonsoir, has “two or three” fiction projects on the drawing board and in September he published his young adult book Mon encyclopetit des arts with Petits Génies Editions. He is also a spokesperson for the Montreal Youth Literature Festival taking place on August 13 in the Lachine neighborhood of Montreal.
The show Géolocaliser l’amour, proposed by the Just for Laughs festival, will be read by Élodie Cuenot and presented on Friday 21 July at 7pm at the Monument-National Hydro-Québec studio. Tickets are available online.