Unions, what does osa give? “Even Yvon Deschamps is no longer so sure today. The time when French Canadians worked in shops for a pittance is over. In more than 60 years of career, the comedian will have witnessed, sometimes even as an actor, the great upheavals that Quebec has experienced. And, at 87, he continues to be a fine observer of the world around us, daring to express himself without jargon on many thorny subjects. As he has always done so well, in the end.
Frail, with an emaciated face, the one who is nicknamed the “father of Quebec humour” certainly bears the weight of the years. But make no mistake: the spirit is still there, and so is the sense of humor. “At my age, we are not doing very well. We are happy to be fine. It’s not easy, getting old. But, at the same time, the alternative to old age is so unpleasant,” underlines Yvon Deschamps from the outset, giggling.
The octogenarian nevertheless found the strength to get back on stage as part of Just for Laughs. This 41e edition will be the last where galas will be presented, the interest in which has faded in recent years. To turn the page on this formula that has made the festival famous, the organizers naturally thought of Yvon Deschamps. For the last gala, next Thursday at Place des Arts, he has agreed to deliver a number of laughing saturday with his accomplices from the cult 1980s show: Normand Chouinard, Pauline Martin, Michèle Deslauriers and Normand Brathwaite. All profits will be donated to his foundation, which helps young people in the Centre-Sud district.
Yvon Deschamps said yes without hesitation to Just for Laughs. Officially retired, he nevertheless follows with interest the evolution of the young generation of comedians, even if he admits to being sometimes irritated by the facility and the vulgarity. “I love André Sauvé, whom I helped a lot 15 years ago. Today, he works less, he enjoys life, and it’s perfect like that. Among the youngest, I know them less. I see their numbers, but less their shows. On the other hand, what I do know is that all the Simons make me laugh. Simon Gouache, Simon Leblanc…” he recalls when asked who he sees as his heirs. A huge honor for these few names to be dubbed by such a legend, when practically all comedians in Quebec claim the great Deschamps.
Socialist in spirit, pocket capitalist
The world of humor has given a lot to Yvon Deschamps. But it is first through the door of the theater that he will meet for the first time the show business at the end of the 1950s. A very average actor, by his own admission, he was not predestined for a great career on stage. Restaurant owner Yvon Deschamps was not really comfortable in business either, he who went bankrupt after Expo 67, when the number of customers plummeted with the drop in foreign tourists.
L’Osstidcho, in 1968, will change his life completely. From then on, he would embark on a prolific career as a monologist. Fame and money will come with this career. A problem, initially, for a man on the left. “Life would have been easier if I had gone right. Money has always been a problem in society. For most people, it’s because they don’t have enough. Me, it was because I had too much. I earned more than I needed. But hey, over time, you get used to it, ”he says, amused, with his legendary irony.
Yvon Deschamps never imagined raising his family in Westmount. An unattainable luxury for anyone who grew up just down the coast, in Saint-Henri, a neighborhood that had nothing to do with the trendy place it has become today, with its renowned restaurants and sumptuous condos on the edge of the canal. Yvon Deschamps knew the Saint-Henri of the 1940s and 1950s. The one where thousands of working-class families crowded into small, unsanitary dwellings. That of the Dubois brothers, these gangsters with brutal methods who reigned as kings and masters over the sector. At the beginning of adulthood, Yvon Deschamps also spawned with petty crime. “When you came from Saint-Henri, it was inevitable,” he confesses with hindsight.
Unions, what does osa give?
This modest childhood fueled her desire for a fairer, more egalitarian world. He tried to contribute to it to the best of his abilities with his foundation and with his monologues, such as the emblematic The unions, qu’ossa gave?, in which Deschamps slips into the skin of a stooge who excuses his bosses for his poor working conditions. A number that sounded at the time like an ode to trade unionism.
But, since the end of the 1960s, Quebec has changed a lot, and so have the unions. Ironically, Yvon Deschamps even had trouble with the FTQ, which represented the employees of Manoir Rouville-Campbell, the chic hotel he owned from 1996 to 2006.
“It’s important that the ‘unions’ be strong to represent everyone. There has been so much exploitation! But at some point, enough is enough. In the public service, they are so powerful! […] But hey, what do I know, really? I have nothing against unions. It’s just that I see that they’re a lot stronger than when I wrote that monologue,” drops Yvon Deschamps, who, aware of venturing down a slippery slope, gets away with it as if its usual with a joke.
Love each other
The comedian does not seek controversy, but he does not avoid angry subjects either. Yvon Deschamps does not hide, for example, his disagreement with the Legault government’s law 21, which prohibits teachers and officials in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols.
Let it be understood: Yvon Deschamps is still deeply nationalist, viscerally even sovereignist. He does not forgive René Lévesque for having had Bill 101 passed before triggering the referendum. The question of the language settled, many Quebecers did not feel the urgency to give themselves a country, considers Yvon Deschamps with sadness years later.
As worried about the survival of the Quebec people as he is, the man behind the monologues Ethnic groups And nigger black insists that foreigners should not be perceived as a threat. “I am Anti-Religion, with a capital A and a capital R. I am for secularism. But I also understand that religions are prisons. For people who wear religious signs, it’s hard to get rid of that. A distinction must be made between religion and person. But this law [la loi 21] doesn’t do it, and that’s why it makes me so uncomfortable,” says the man who experienced a childhood in holy water, like most people of his generation.
At 87, after 60 years of career, Yvon Deschamps has the luxury of being able to take positions that will displease part of the public. But let’s bet that his love rating with Quebecers won’t even be affected.