Emmanuel Bilodeau presents his second comedy show, In trouble, a wink in the first degree to his almost obsessive passion for making homemade bread, but also a plea against the “pitch” in which the planet finds itself. Added to eco-anxiety is the weight of age, which is increasingly felt for the 58-year-old actor, father of four, whose youngest is not even old enough to go to school yet. school.
“Four children is way too many,” jokes this shameless, uninhibited father with whom some will identify. Also describing himself as the “oldest beginner comedian”, Emmanuel Bilodeau prefers to make fun of “his mess”, often with a touch of self-mockery, sometimes with more political comments here and there, without forcing the note.
His second one man show is intended above all to be entertainment, but so much the better if it also makes you think. And for good reason, the question of the future of the world, of the planet, remains implicit in this new show. Recognized for being highly politicized and a little loudmouthed, the trained actor is comfortable with the label of “committed artist”, even if he does not claim it.
” The first show, that was really my goal. I had the savior complex. I wanted to change the world, change Quebec. But eventually I realized that it was not necessary. […] It’s not that I’m more cynical, it’s that I’m less idealistic. My goal today is really to introduce myself, to talk about my life while making people laugh. If there are people who can find it inspiring, so much the better,” continues Emmanuel Bilodeau, who presented his first solo show, the One Manu Showin 2014.
At the time, it had benefited from the Productions J promotion machine. But this time, Emmanuel Bilodeau wanted a more minimalist show, with a stripped-down staging, without artifice. “Last time there was a sign of me on the edge of the bridge, and I felt like an impostor. It’s a game that I no longer want to play at my age. I have nothing more to prove. I like to make smaller rooms. At the end of the week, I was in Laval in front of 200 people, and it was just perfect, I don’t need more”, sums up Emmanuel Bilodeau, in line with the desire for voluntary simplicity and a return to the earth. who has been driving it for several years.
More ecological than sovereignist
During the pandemic, he and his partner, Edith Cochrane, tried to become self-sufficient, an approach they documented in the series It’s more than a garden, broadcast last year on Unis TV. Since then, they have sold their chalet in the Laurentians to buy a small plot of land in the Eastern Townships, always in the spirit of minimizing their ecological footprint.
Known for having interpreted René Lévesque on the small screen, Emmanuel Bilodeau considers today to be “more environmentalist than sovereignist”, even if he still cherishes the dream of seeing Quebec gain independence. Although he assumes his convictions in his show, the comedian and actor does not want to play the artist giving lessons on stage.
“I devalue myself all the time. Because of the show we did, people think we’re self-sufficient. But anyway! We try, but we’re stuck. I don’t even know how to plant a carrot like people”, he confesses, laughing on the other end of the line, while he is just baking his bread.
Not a plan B
Emmanuel Bilodeau has become an ace of homemade bread. In recent years, and even more during the pandemic, he had the luxury of time to perfect his technique for kneading dough. By his own admission, offers on TV and in the cinema have become rarer, “the phone rings less”.
“At the same time, in the last five years, it was good with the birth of the little one. But there, I would be ready to work more. I would dream of it, even. It’s not good to say that, because it seems loserand people don’t want to hire losers. They want Claude Legault and Paul Doucet. […] But hey, I won’t make a Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge of me, and I won’t go on stage to say that we always see the same ones, ”he slips with disconcerting honesty.
Emmanuel Bilodeau resigns himself to no longer being the darling of directors and distribution directors. He knows too well that this is part of the vagaries of the acting profession. His place at the moment may be on stage, alone, as a comedian. Either way, please. More and more, even. The famous “feeling of impostor”, which inhabited him during his first one man show, don’t eat it anymore. He finally has the impression of having arrived at a finished show, in his image.
“Comedy was never a plan B. Even when I was at the National Theater School, I wanted to do the stage. People told me I was funny, that I would be good. But I didn’t even dare to dream of it, ”insists the comedian, who is not in trouble, professionally at least.