“When I’m one of the first women to do something, I especially find it really weird,” says Katherine Levac, who will become only the third lady on Sunday to host the Les Olivier Gala.
The gala that Katherine Levac would have really liked to host? “I confess that I am sad not to have hosted Karv, the anti.gala”, she replies, recalling the gently subversive ceremony of VRAK which, from 2004 to 2014, awarded prizes in categories like ” You piss in your panties when you see it” or “The song you always play on your MP3 player”.
But for the time being, the 33-year-old comedian is preparing to hold the helm of the big funny party which, according to her, has as its main mission to shine its light on creators to discover.
We agree that Martin Matte and Mariana Mazza do not need a showcase to make themselves known, but I realize that there are more and more three worlds: that of TikTok, podcasts and networks social, that of cinemas and that of television. There are a lot of people who make a living with humor that you don’t see on TV and the gala can bridge all these worlds.
Katherine Levac
While the ecosystem of award ceremonies seems threatened with extinction – the Artis gala and the Québec Cinéma gala have fallen by the wayside over the past year – Katherine Levac refuses to worry too much, despite a schedule strong.
“I realize it’s a tricky mandate for a comedian who is used to having a lot of control”, she confides about the influence of Radio-Canada and the Association of Professionals of the Humor Industry (APIH) on the unfolding of Sunday evening.
“But as we speak, I’m very relaxed,” she says. It’s not that I don’t care, on the contrary. My letting go doesn’t make me any less of a perfectionist, I’m just less panicked. The future of the gala industry in Quebec cannot rest on a seven-minute opening act. […] There’s been a lot of talk about what’s going wrong, in terms of humor, over the past few years, and I don’t really want to bury anything, but I would also like to celebrate what’s going well, the fact that there are a lot of people in our rooms. »
The reflection of a medium
In 2015, Katherine Levac became the first woman in the history of the Prix in form of Monsieur Guimond to go home with the Discovery of the Year trophy. She will join the sadly select club of those who led these festivities on Sunday: Lise Dion was the first host in 1999 and 2000, and Claudine Mercier, the co-host (with Mario Jean), in 2001. Then, for 20 years, than gentlemen.
The comedian confirms that his monologue will contain “a few jokes” on this absurdity, which does not make her laugh too much. “Every year, we say that there really aren’t enough women at the Oliviers and I think that’s just a reflection of what’s going on in our environment,” says the one who explains that she has also done everything to that as many women as possible find themselves on screen.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Katherine Levac
But if there aren’t enough women in the nominees, it may be because there aren’t enough women on our stages yet.
Katherine Levac
“And if there were no women in animation for 20 years, it’s because we didn’t consider it weird. It’s been what, two years, that we find that strange? It’s a bit of a hypocrite to say it doesn’t make sense, when it should have bothered us a long time ago. »
“You have to trust the Jerr Allains of this world”
What kind of host will she be? Not the ones who camouflage their enthusiasm when their favorites win out. And if she prefers not to say who she would like to see crowned, Katherine Levac agrees that the absence of Quebecers Tabarnak, by Adib Alkhalidey, in the Comedy Show of the Year category, is struggling to defend itself. “I would give all the prizes to Adib! The price of the radio capsule, I would give it to Adib, even if he does not make radio. »
This omission, “it’s quite a bastard, and it’s sure that it’s difficult afterwards to tell yourself that the galas are trustables, but it’s at times like these that you have to remember what this business is about: it’s clubs that register their artists, it’s the industry that votes, “he observes. her about the limits of this kind of exercise. She is also surprised that a comedian who moves crowds like PA Méthot is not the owner of any Olivier.
His main wish? May artists of all profiles have a happy hand. And that the lesser-known faces she has invited know how to make the most of their presence on the plate. Because when the curtain falls, she recalls, we often remember more of an extraordinary presentation than the winners.
Your journalist wishes to see Jerr Allain, a regular in the Unscripted Comedy Podcast of the Year category, take the stage. “This is the first interview during which I’ve been told about Jerr Allain”, exclaims Katherine Levac laughing, before returning to the place she wants to offer comedians on the fringes on Sunday, whether they leave winning or not. .
“I understand that it’s TV and that the broadcasters are panicked by the ratings, but there is a lot of insistence on putting people already known on the screen, she regrets. For them, a Jerr Allain, it does not have the potential to give a strong moment. But I think you have to trust the Jerr Allains of this world. The lesser known person who is not often invited on TV, it is sure that she will have the knife between her teeth. It is sure to be funny. »
Les Olivier, Sunday, 8 p.m., at ICI Télé