Yvon Deschamps still holds a special place in the hearts of Quebecers. This fall, the 89-year-old, who has served and continues to serve as an inspiration to many comedians, sees his legacy celebrated in various ways: a book bringing together all of his monologues and songs, Really all of Deschamps… in fulla podcast produced by André Martineau and hosted by Philippe-Audrey Larrue St-Jacques, The words of Yvon Deschampsand finally a musical-humorous tale staged by Jean-François Blais, Yvon Deschamps tells the shop.
A television variety show director and director of large-scale musical shows, Jean-François Blais is a busy man. He takes the time to talk with us between Starmania. 45 years under the starsthe concert he has just conceived for the SuperFrancoFête in Quebec City, and an imminent departure for France, where he will continue filming a documentary dedicated to Roch Voisine. “On the eve of my fifties,” explains the man who is now 53, “I asked myself if I still loved my job. I felt a call to something else. That’s what prompted me to become a producer on The voice and vice president at Sismyk, the music division of ComediHa! Despite this, I was unable to avoid burnout. I had to accept the fact that my job was no longer making me happy.
At that time, to recharge his batteries, Blais borrowed a house from a certain Fred Pellerin in Saint-Élie-de-Caxton. “I went there mainly to sleep,” he explains. “But the land of tales grabbed me! One Sunday afternoon, I fell asleep in an armchair. Two hours later, I woke up and wrote the show I had dreamed of. Almost everything was there: the story, the decor, the songs, the Chaplinesque dimension…” After a few meetings, Deschamps, forced to recognize that Blais had an elaborate vision, gave the green light. “He told me I was ready, not a little bit,” recalls the designer. Then, he wanted to know what his involvement would be. That’s when I spoke to him about his role as narrator in voice and images. As the title of the show indicates, it’s really Yvon who tells what happens in this factory.” His function is similar to that of Fanfreluche. It’s Fanfreluche Deschamps!
Jean-François Blais may have fallen under the spell of Yvon Deschamps at the age of 8 while listening to vinyl Money… or happiness in the basement of his house in Louiseville, his mission here remains clear: to tell a story. “Deschamps’ texts, as much as music, song, circus and dance, are a palette,” he explains, “they are the means at my disposal to tell a story. To nourish my four characters, to construct a story that is about work and money, but also love and happiness, death and parenthood, I allowed myself to draw freely from the monologues. I cut and fragmented, I even dared to make a few additions.”
Human and machine
On the eve of being replaced by machines, workers will have no choice but to stand firm. Surrounded by dancers and acrobats, supported by three musicians, David Savard plays Le frondeur, Elizabeth Duperré, La rêveuse, Sylvain Marcel, Le syndicaliste, and Stéphane Archambault, Le mouton. To play Le contremaître, a mute character who makes sure the work is done properly, David-Alexandre Després was called upon. Between the dialogue scenes, several local songs are sung, titles taken from the repertoire of Robert Charlebois, Clémence DesRochers, Claude Dubois, Richard Séguin, Vincent Vallières, Michel Pagliaro and, of course, Yvon Deschamps.
Taking place between 1942 and 2042, the show speaks of the past as well as the present and the future. We don’t know exactly in which city the factory is located, nor the nature of what is produced there, but automation is feared as much as artificial intelligence. For the director, it’s about embracing the timeless nature of the monologues, without stripping them of anything that might be out of place in 2024. “Yvon Deschamps is Yvon Deschamps,” says Blais. “He’s perhaps the only one who can still compare women to cats. In the context of the monologue in question, it makes sense, it’s defensible. I’m not trying to provoke, but it was out of the question for me to modify Deschamps’ texts to make them correspond to our times.”
While savoring the present moment, Jean-François Blais admits that he and Isabelle Viviers, his partner and accomplice, have ideas in their heads. “All I can say is that we are working on several projects similar to the one we are currently working on, shows that tell stories based on the repertoire of a singer, a writer and a comedian. We also want to diversify the ages of the artists whose work serves as inspiration, in order to reach several generations.”