The National School of Humor unveils Monday a series of capsules and podcasts with famous comic scriptwriters, such as Patrick Huard, Ricardo Trogi or Louis Morissette. The opportunity for them to pour out their creative process and tell the genesis of their flagship projects, all in the avowed hope of making others want to take over.
In Quebec, the work of screenwriters is very different from that which is done south of the border, where hordes of authors converge in offices in Los Angeles to discuss the smallest comma of a text of sitcom. Here, writing a comedy for television or the cinema remains a largely solitary exercise, even if the trend is more and more towards co-scriptwriting.
And the working methods vary enormously from one screenwriter to another. Nothing can oppose, for example, a Kim Lizotte more than an Émile Gaudreault. The first found inspiration for The Simones at the last minute, giving birth to his ideas in the middle of the night, without ever asking the opinion of those close to him; the second, he works in a much more routine way, and he was nourished by the comments of his entourage when he imagined the successful films From father to cop and Liar.
“There is no good recipe for writing. What we wanted to do with this series is to show different ways of creating in order to inspire others. There was a big gap to fill in Quebec. The profession of screenwriter is not always recognized at its fair value here. Until now, young comedians had to listen to masterclasses by American comedians to learn more about this profession,” notes Louise Richer, director of the National School of Humor.
The institution was able to give life to this project, entitled Ec (laughs), thanks to the budget released by Netflix to support local projects. The series of capsules, shot in 2020 and 2021, is however available not on the American platform, but on the website of La Fabrique culturelle de Télé-Québec and on that of Noovo. The 18 half-hour videos are also available in extended versions on the iHeartRadio app as podcasts. Several big names in the industry have agreed to participate in this project, starting with Claude Meunier, Guy A. Lepage, Martin Matte, but also Florence Longpré and Marc Brunet, the man behind Marc Labreche.
Behind the scenes
The National School of Humor is convinced that this series of interviews will be of interest to both people in the community and the general public. Especially since with the ton of podcasts and documentary series that deal with behind-the-scenes comedy, such as under listening by Mike Ward or how to be funny by Julien Corriveau, people are more and more eager to learn more about the behind the scenes of this once opaque world.
“It’s been a big change in the world of humor in recent years. I remember the days of RBO, where there were talk shows where you wondered if the jokes were going too far. The guys refused to explain their artistic approach in the name of their artistic freedom. Today it is the opposite. Everyone talks about her creative process,” says Louise Richer.
It is still too early to say if Éc(laughs) will be entitled to a second season. The director of the National School of Humor recognizes that this time she would like to put two comedians at the same table so that they can discuss their different approaches to their profession.
Éc(rire) video clips are available on the La Fabrique culturelle and Noovo websites. Long-form interviews are hosted as podcasts on the iHeartRadio app.