Coming from the middle of the theater, Fabien Cloutier made a remarkable entry into humor in 2016 with a first comic show, Assume. After hosting four ComediHa! galas, and writing five seasons of the series Leo, here he comes back with a new humorous proposal. In Delicatethe comedian, humorist and author particularly wants to “confront our comfort” with his character of “Colourful Fabien” to be taken literally.
“It’s really a matter of finding your comedian. It happens over time. I don’t know if I’m better than before. But I have more business. »
In the theatre, Fabien Cloutier presented several acclaimed creations, including scotstown (2008), Cranbourne (2011) and To succeed a chicken (2014). When he made the leap into comedy, the comedian and playwright knew he had to deliver the goods.
His first comic one-man show, Assume, was very well received. Cloutier then presented a rather angry character, who blamed the public for all the ills of society. For his return to the stage this winter, he has this time decided to embark the spectators in his madness.
“I reserved my moments of anger for mundane things,” he says. It’s one of the keys for people to say to themselves that it shouldn’t really upset me, this case. Before, the character on stage was more in a position of “I’m right, you have to change”. Now I put them more complicit with me. »
Create pictures
Written with Luc Boucher and Julien Corriveau, Delicate shows us a Fabien Cloutier who confronts our comfort. “We are told about global warming, things like that. There, suddenly, it is 4 degrees in February. We know it’s not that, usually. But at the same time, you tell yourself that 4 is more comfortable than minus 20. I like to play this person who sees global warming coming by making a “good deal”. »
Because the theater man is never far away, Fabien Cloutier likes to create images when he writes.
“I like that, to tell, and that people see things. I like that they are staging in their head. I like to tell a story of the guy with the goat and them seeing the goat. »
When he thought of a title for his show, Fabien Cloutier was looking for something that people wouldn’t associate him with at first sight. The title Delicate also gave him “all permissions”. “After that, are people going to say it’s second degree? »
More comfortable
While around 50,000 tickets had been sold for the full 130-date tour ofAssumeFabien Cloutier has already sold 50,000 tickets even before the premiere of Delicate. “There is quite a difference,” he remarks.
The experience of the last few years in humor has made him feel more quickly at ease when he gets back on the boards for the break-in of Delicat. “I found my pleasure faster,” he says.
The gap of more than six years between his two one-man shows can be explained by one word: Leo (see other text below). The series monopolized the author for five good years. And because he is the father of two teenagers, he does not want to spread himself too thin in different simultaneous projects.
“I don’t want to run. It’s one of the choices. There, I’m touring, I’m not going to do two series at the same time. My quiet days are often Mondays and Tuesdays. I try not to add stuff to myself at these times. My life is also the gang with whom I decide to spend it. »
► The show Delicate, by Fabien Cloutier, will be presented March 21-22 at Club Soda in Montreal. It will also pass through the Salle Albert-Rousseau in Québec, on April 17-18. fabiencloutier.com.
The touching end from the Serie Leo after five seasons
Last November, Fabien Cloutier bade farewell to the team of the series Leo. The fifth and final season, which will be released in the winter of 2024 on Club illico, will end on a positive note that should please viewers, according to the author.
“The circle, we have closed it. I think the fifth season, the world will like it. We take a small step back. We’re going to see the characters we’ve seen in the previous four seasons. I think it’s going to be a very nice candy, a very nice dessert. Yes, there are going to be emotions, but I wanted to leave it positively. »
Did he find it difficult to leave his colleagues with whom he had just worked for five years?
“It was several small bereavements,” he replies. During filming, we began to see actors who were coming for the last time. The more it progressed, the more there were. We felt the final coming. It was a very, very nice gang. It’s a big piece to leave behind, a very nice project. I haven’t often given something five years. »
New celebrity
The success of Leo, at Club illico and on TVA, has also ensured that Fabien Cloutier has become a personality known to the general public. Even if he had been part of the adventure of Beautiful discomfortsit really is Leo which changed his fame.
Photo Jocelyn Michel, byconsulate.com
“Of course there is a difference. There is still someone, once in a while, who says to me “Martin Matte’s brother!”. But I’m almost told “Leo” every day. I know there are people who have really embraced it. There are people who would like to have him as a friend. »
“Fiction can really be extraordinary. During the first season, I had people who wrote to me that the character of Leo was them, that I had made them want to wake up, to kick themselves in the behind. Some even told me that Leo had saved their lives. […] People recognized themselves in the series. They felt respected in their faults, in their contradictions and in their hopes. »
Liking hunting and fishing more than red carpets, Fabien Cloutier says he has no problem with his recent celebrity.
“I am happy to have experienced it at my age [il a 47 ans]. […] I worked in the shadows for quite a long time. I was not unhappy. I’m happy to do the cover [du cahier week-end du Journal], but that was not my purpose in life. My goal was to do my job, to write, to play all that. I am always creating. If the recognition of the public and the environment gives me the means to create, that’s what makes me happy. »
► Leo’s fourth season is nominated for The Olivier Galapresented Sunday evening, in the category Comedy fiction series of the year.
A happy family life with his lover and his two teenagers
Fabien Cloutier has been happily in love for nearly 20 years with songwriter Maude Audet. Since their respective jobs include touring many shows, how do they manage to combine family life with their 14 and 16 year old children?
“We have a well-managed schedule, replies Fabien with a smile. Our young people are capable of being independent. It’s easier than before. It makes a lunch, it takes the bus. »
Fabien adds that since he leaves home sometimes for three consecutive days, he makes sure to be fully present, in body and mind, when he returns to his family.
“There are people who do 8 to 5, but they don’t spend the evening with their children. They each have supper on their own. They are in the same house, but they are not together. When I’m at home, I discuss, we question each other. I have a relationship in the open. »
Even if their two professions are unstable, Fabien Cloutier indicates that he has never experienced any questioning. “We have always been creative. We always said we were going to do what we loved. We made children [en n’étant] not rich. We have always managed”.
Quebec-Montreal
Their family life changed dramatically the day they decided to leave Quebec City to settle in Montreal eight years ago. “I was starting to work more and more in Montreal and was wasting so much time on the road,” says Fabien. When you do the 20 two to three times a week, those hours are wasted. »
Do their children have the same artistic flair as their parents?
“Maybe, but I’m not forcing it,” replies Fabien. Myself, it took me a while to think that maybe I could do this [dans la vie]. It is sure that they have a base, that they see things. But if they decide to do that, they will start by being “the child of”, which Maude and I didn’t have. It has to be done very quietly. They will do whatever they want! »