Mike Ward had told him protocollast March that he was hoping to have the great French comedy star Blanche Gardin for the very first passage of under listening in Paris. He reached his goal. In addition to the French comedian, Martin Matte, Maxim Martin and Stéphane Fallu have also taken part in the European tour of the popular podcast in recent days.
“Blanche Gardin doesn’t do anything anymore. It’s sick to have had it. We’re in another dimension,” opens Mike Ward’s manager, Michel Grenier, live from Brussels.
The 46-year-old French comedian and actress is something of an untouchable in France. She is very rarely in the stands and generally declines interview requests. But the Under Listening team still tried to invite him to take part in this short European tour, which took them to Paris (June 22nd), Lausanne (June 24th), Brussels (June 26th) and Cannes (June 28th).
“We had his email address and wrote to him,” says Michel Grenier. I didn’t know she took a break and didn’t do anything anymore! […] It’s like calling Lise Dion 10 times, because Europe is 10 times bigger than Quebec, and they’re like, “Would you come and do my podcast in front of 80 people?” I’ll give you 100 euros.” That’s more or less it. “
In the Paris episode, Blanche Gardin was paired with Quebec’s Maxim Martin. According to Michel Grenier, she jokingly said at the beginning of the recording that she accepted the invitation “because Mike is pathetic”!
“We talked for two hours and it went in all directions,” said Maxim Martin, caught at Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris. Among other things, we talked about Blanche refusing to pay 200,000 euros to take part in LOL, which is produced by Amazon.
Matte in Lausanne
In the Paris audience was Martin Matte, the surprise guest from Quebec at the Sous écoute show in Lausanne. “I never thought I’d be sitting on a patio in Paris after a podcast with Mike Ward and Martin Matte,” says Maxim Martin. It was super magical.”
Facebook courtesy of Matte
Stéphane Fallu was a Quebec guest from Brussels on Monday evening. While Matte was paired with Switzerland’s Thibaud Agoston in Lausanne, Fallu was on his side with Belgium’s PE Jennar. The two guests for Cannes are being kept secret.
Since the Lausanne show was on June 24 and the room was full of Quebecers, the atmosphere was heated, according to Michel Grenier. “We had fun with Martin. He’s always good. Mike and I have known him since School of Humor. Martin had been in the room with my brother. We went out together in Lausanne. We were like children. We were just joking the whole time.”
Martin Matte and Thibaud Agoston took part in the recording of Under Listening in Lausanne. Courtesy of Michel Grenier
Martin Matte and Mike Ward celebrated Saint-Jean in the streets of Lausanne after recording “Under Listening”. FB courtesy of Martin Matte
After this little trip abroad, Underwire travels to Toronto on July 8th. The podcast will be coming to the Videotron Center in Quebec on July 22nd. The first part is made up of Les Denis Drolet with their podcast Rince-Crème.
The tour through under listening will continue in Sherbrooke (25 August), Val-d’Or (22 September), Baie-Comeau (29 September), Saguenay (21 October) and Gatineau (27 October). For all information: mikeward.ca.