In interviews as on stage, Mariana Mazza never hesitates to tell her story with all the authenticity, volubility and verve that we know of her. In Montreal North, the first volume of a trilogy – which could well be a tetralogy, a pentalogy or a decalogy! — she gives herself up as she has never done before. And this, with the same concern for truth.
“There is no exaggeration in Montreal Northassures the comedian of 32 years, met in the offices of the To have to a few hours before the launch of his first book. I don’t want to say falsehoods because I know my mom and my friends are going to read it. One of the reasons I don’t talk about my friends is because we live in a society where you shouldn’t take the risk of talking about others for fear of reprisals. So I focused on the relationship with my mother, my entourage and myself. It took a lot of vulnerability and a lot of honesty with myself. I don’t think I write well, but I write true. It was a great exercise and I forgave many demons inside me. »
Composed of short stories, sometimes moving, sometimes hilarious, where the author recounts her childhood with her mother and brother, Montréal-Nord is light years away from the Morial-Mort described by Victor Lévy-Beaulieu in his novels. The Montreal North depicted by Mariana Mazza is festive, colorful and flavored with the Lebanese and Venezuelan dishes prepared for her by her mother, who was raising two children alone while working four jobs. The people you meet there form an extended family that is supportive, welcoming and resilient.
“Montréal-Nord is anything but drab and brown! Montreal North is big! There are lots of trees, libraries, shops. In the news, what we see are the same three or four streets; it’s 300 meters of dangerous, but the rest is happy people. Our perception of our neighborhood makes our identity. Me, in the morning, I was happy to go to school. The wind was fresh and it comforted me to hear the bus arrive in front of my house. Even though I was in a neighborhood that condemned me to having a shitty childhood, I had an exceptional childhood and I wouldn’t change it for the world: it was perfect! »
My mother, my queen
The look of the versatile artist on Montreal North is tinged with pride, tenderness and admiration. She never lapses into pathos or misery despite the harsh reality that immigrants sometimes have to face.
“This book is a lot of light, happiness and love. With Montreal North, I want to restore the taste for reading and I also want it to trigger interesting conversations about immigration, about work, about poor neighborhoods, about friendship, about love. What they say about immigrants annoys me more than before. Before, it didn’t matter to me because I had privileged status, but today, looking back, I tell myself that I can be part of the landscape and be of great help to people, as there had people who were of great help to my mother. »
This book is a lot of light, happiness and love. With Montréal-Nord, I want to give back a taste for reading and I also want it to trigger interesting conversations on immigration, on work, on poor neighborhoods, on friendship, on love. What they say about immigrants annoys me more than before.
Whether Montreal North is an ode to the neighborhood of his childhood, whose fragmented structure was inspired by Open your heart (Le Quartanier, 2018), by Alexie Morin, and Where I land (Remue-ménage, 2020), by Caroline Dawson, initially it was to be a tribute to her beloved mother. Moreover, not only does Mariana Mazza make him an essential figure, but she gives him the floor during the one-on-one discussions that punctuate the book.
“I would have instrumentalized her if I had only written her story. There, it is she who speaks, I have not changed anything about her. My mother was never defined by what she went through. She was never the victim of anything. I realized that it was interesting to make her talk and that it could bring something different, a little personal touch, a bit of her. My mother was tired and sometimes she could be impatient with me. Today, I see that myself, I was not patient enough with her; I should have been more understanding. By giving her the floor, I find that we understand even more what she has experienced. »
Humor, always humor
Although the painting, its Carte blanche at The Presshis chronicles on South American literature at There will always be culture on ICI Première and writing is taking up more and more space in her life, Mariana Mazza defines herself first and foremost as a comedian.
“The career of comedian fills me enormously in my lack of attention and in my excess of energy. Later, I would like to use the money I made with humor to buy myself time to write more. My passion is talking to people, not making them laugh. My goal is to sell 50,000 copies of Montreal North, which is very pretentious, but in humor, 50,000 is a failure. I’m going to have to lower my expectations. I’m a performance girl, I have a very business. I can’t see myself writing books and selling only 5000 copies. What I like about humor is that with 800 people per evening, I make what I have to say shine, ”reveals the one who is working on a horror film script, her third show and the next volume of his memoirs — wisely following the advice of his publisher, Stéphane Dompierre.
Loving both the durability of the book and the ephemeral nature of the show, preferring to play characters close to her, as in Vanishing lines by Brigitte Chabot and Myriam Bouchard, rather than compositional characters, Mariana Mazza wants to continue to put herself in danger, to “get her ass off”, to learn how to get up and be better.
“I love Boucar Diouf’s career. Whenever he writes something, like The hidden face of the great world of microbes and what life owes death, it’s because it’s something that affects him immediately. I find this man so interesting, because he goes with his emotions. I want to have a career like Boucar Diouf. I always want to have emotions that will take me somewhere. »