In his funny, touching and straightforward autobiography, Dany Turcotte not only looks back on his setbacks with Everyone is talking about it. It also gives us a great life lesson.
A major theme runs through the biography of Dany Turcotte: that of resilience. From a childhood “in the waters of life” in Jonquière, with an alcoholic and bipolar father, to the homophobic and hateful remarks received for more than a decade, on the sidelines of his collaboration at Everyone is talking about it, going through the mourning of loved ones who died too soon, the man has experienced his share of trauma.
However, humor has always been his lifeline, recognizes the former Fool of the King, met last Tuesday in a cafe in Griffintown. Barely 48 hours after his controversial appearance on the show hosted by Guy A. Lepage. “In my opinion, laughter is the only way to survive the absurdity of life. We need to play down the challenges. Otherwise, you collapse. »
PHOTO ROBERT MAILLOUX, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Dany Turcotte and Dominique Lévesque on stage, during the Groupe Sanguin era
Laughter is also a way to bounce back: “I cried so much when my friend Dominique died at 62 [Lévesque]he continues. At one point, I started joking with his relatives. When we received the box of his ashes from Honduras, we weighed it! The first thing Dominique would have wanted to know was how much a human weighs… once burned. » The answer: 5 pounds.
Suffer in silence
At almost 60 years old, Dany Turcotte says he is beginning the third chapter of his professional life with the publication of his first book: D. Turcotte & fils. A book full of tasty anecdotes – just the story of the “extraordinary” filming of an episode of The little seduction with Ginette Reno is worth the price. But the host also makes heartbreaking confessions: his father’s mental health problems; the accident which left his first love, André, a quadriplegic, an exceptional man with whom he lived for 18 years. Before the latter died of a devastating cancer, two days after the disappearance of Dominique Lévesque.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Dany Turcotte, on the edge of the Lachine Canal in Griffintown, the neighborhood where he lives in Montreal
What he says in his biography also made us think of the history of many men in Quebec. These sensitive guys who suffer in silence, unable to show their vulnerability. “There are plenty of men who speak little, who have difficulty expressing their emotions. My father was like that; his father too. »
Men pass on their unhappiness from one generation to the next. Often, it is their wives who shake them out of their apathy, and force them to go to counseling and ask for help. It’s a straitjacket embedded in our brains like fossils.
Dany Turcotte
Writing is a solitary pleasure
Dany Turcotte repeats it to everyone: this book was “extremely therapeutic, liberating”. The trigger came after he read the biography of Stéphane Rousseau. “We are the same age, we do the same job and we have (somewhat) the same background. I like playing with words and I wanted to write about my life myself. Plus, the solitude of writing does me good, after several years in the spotlight. 20 years of touring with Groupe Sanguin, then Lévesque & Turcotte. Then, with The little seductionI was like on the electoral campaign and in a constant crowd for 12 years. »
We approach the chapter of his stormy departure from Everyone is talking about it. A painful milestone in his fifties. Since his appearance on the show last Sunday, some have criticized him, including our columnist Hugo Dumas, for settling scores with his former team, with this “hard core” which looks more like a triumvirate: Guy A. Lepage, André Ducharme and producer Guillaume Lspérance.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
On the set of Everyone is talking about it with Guy A. Lepage, in 2007
Why come back to this, three years after your departure? And why not talk about it then? “Producing a weekly show is like a moving train. It has to work! he illustrates. You are constantly in action. You can’t have an existential crisis. I didn’t dare express what I felt… Even if I addressed my discomfort with the new formula. When the pandemic arrived, I was already weakened by the storms on social networks. I was not equipped to deal with the changes. It’s fine to repeat that I should have spoken to them, but I haven’t often been asked how I was…”
The question that kills…
And why not have they updated before the book came out? “When I went to Guy’s for dinner a few weeks ago, I told him: my book is coming out soon. If you like it, you invite me, if not, you don’t invite me. I also mentioned the passage in question to him, without explaining its content. I was surprised by their surprise, but at the same time, I understand. And in this passage, we also feel all the love that I had (and still have) for this show and its team. »
According to Turcotte, the public reaction this week is excessive.
It makes me realize that I don’t miss that pressure. It’s like I’m falling back into my old trauma. Every minute I receive a new message on my phone. And it goes in all directions.
Dany Turcotte
Is this the end of his friendship with Guy A. Lepage, whose son is his godson? “I don’t think so. Of course I’m going to give him time to digest my book. But I take full responsibility for what I wrote. I felt exactly like that. I feel liberated. »
The author is currently finishing the last pages of a second book, a novel this time, which will be released in 2025. He is not closing the door to television, but he no longer wants to experience the “big pressure” of a project that puts him in a “hot seat”. “I’m going to do things that interest me without the stress of reacting to a million people scrutinizing every word that comes out of your mouth, every expression on your face. »
He says he doesn’t blame anyone. “I don’t hold grudges. It’s completely useless energy, resentment, bile… my mother calls it “burp old cucumber”. » (laughs)
Finally, Dany Turcotte thinks that “the closure demonstrated to the words chosen to express [sa] distress largely explains [sa] afraid to verbalize them when [il était] stationed at TLMEP”.
“And I found my dedication to book fairs: “Hoping you will like it more than Guy A.” » !
Humor, to bounce back better. Again and again.
In bookstore
D. Turcotte & fils
Editions La Presse
340 pages