Irony is a humorous device. What is ironic is a comedian taking another comedian’s joke badly. A joke about him, about his peers, about his generation.
Posted at 7:00 p.m
The irony is Guy Nantel slamming Katherine Levac for not being funny enough for making fun of him at the Les Olivier gala. While the host’s humor was widely praised and the ceremony’s soaring ratings bear witness to this. It’s the irony of the bad loser. Guy Nantel knows all about it.
In her opening monologue, Kat Levac joked about Nantel, whom she called “not the most inclusive person in the world.” “Everyone has their own pace! ‘ she added, pretending to defend the former candidate for leadership of the Parti Québécois. I laughed as much as Erich Preach did from his seat in the Pierre Mercure room.
“Some would win [à] be a little less inclusive and a little more fun,” Guy Nantel immediately replied on Twitter, again provoking general hilarity among millennials. It is true that Kat Levac has little merit. In defending Nantel, it was too easy. Jokes about him write themselves.
PHOTO ALEXIS AUBIN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Guy Nantel at the premiere of his show, if I understand you correctly, you say… at the Maisonneuve Theater on Montreal’s Place des Art last October
The 50-year-old white man – that’s how Kat Levac introduced Guy Jodoin – took it for his cold on Sunday. Maude Landry mentioned the “grain” of Gaspé glasses (to paraphrase Kevin Parent). Math Duff spoke about the dentures of Râteau, the character of Jean-Michel Anctil. And Carole (Silvi Tourigny) imitated André-Philippe Gagnon’s famous saxophone number, thereby qualifying the duo Dominic and Martin: “These are 30 years of innovation, outdoing, creation…”
Kat Levac regretted that her friend, filmmaker Chloé Robichaud, was forced to submit many grant applications and rewrites of her scripts for years “to say: Sorry! We prefer to fund Camping Sauvage 2”. It’s funny because, as the cliche goes, it’s (almost) true.
The 24th Les Olivier Gala, as noted by my colleagues Hugo Dumas and Dominic Tardif, ushered in a new generation of comedians. A “new wave”, as described by the king of the evening, Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais, who happily replaced the old one’s head. It’s fair game. Young people have always laughed at old people, and not always with apologies. You’re going to tell my teenagers about it.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Pierre Yves Roy Desmarais
I belong to the RBO generation, a group that is disrespectful to older artists and ended up composing a song to ask forgiveness from some of their Turkish heads (Belgazou, Roger Michael, Michel Louvain, Guy Boucher). Guy A. Lepage’s gang also apologized to Mitsou. “Sorry, sorry Mitsou / for dragging yourself through the mud / for having your brain cells / concentrated under your shirt. »
It is this type of humorous text, common in the 1990s, that the duo’s indescribable number “Pat pis Mat” (Virginie Fortin and Arnaud Soly) dealt with on Sunday. With their leather pants and longueuil haircut, they laughed at Mononcle’s jokes about hot peppers and testosterone.
“In our day, little redheads didn’t do galas, but they waited for us in the dressing room afterwards! ‘ said Pat (Virginie Fortin) before singing humor, it used to be better. “How funny we can be is really clear / I used to joke about my mother-in-law two hours ago,” Mat sang. “But all the good gags get censored,” added Pat. “We didn’t apologize for our wandering hands,” Mat recalled. There were no casualties, just lucky ones. »
A children’s choir dressed as 1980s and 1990s comedian characters (Uncle Georges, Ti-Mé, Hi! Ha! Tremblay etc.) sang “Thank you la gosse de Maxim Martin” before the duo enthusiastically resumed the chorus : “Humor used to be better / When we were only eight white people … and Marie-Lise Pilote. »
Dany Turcotte, a former member of Blood Group with Marie-Lise Pilote – and a 50-year-old white man – was enough to write on Twitter that “the new generation of comedians’ disdain for the old seems to be pretty common! »
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, PRESS ARCHIVE
Dany Turcotte
Contempt. Not less. Making fun of the machismo of the boys’ club of humor finally opening up to diversity – ladies welcome! – would be contemptible? When the comedians themselves have come to confuse humor and contempt, one wonders about their own intentions.
The irony is Dany Turcotte, who criticizes other comedians for being scornful when he’s spent more than 15 years proliferating uncomfortable and inappropriate jokes in his role as a jester. Everyone talks about it. .
No, the humor wasn’t any better before. It wasn’t even in the days of Yvon Deschamps, idealized by the boomers. Humor has evolved over time, as has society. “Drop toe mononcle! is not just the advertising slogan of a car brand from the 1990s, but fortunately or unfortunately an imperative that still has its full meaning today.