Marc Labrèche has the feeling of being on his X with his new talk show I am coming to you, which will be airing next week at Noovo. A concept that mixes everything he was looking for: interviews, a house band, crazy collaborators, sketches where he can give free rein to his madness. After 40 years of career, the actor and animator considers himself privileged to still have as much pleasure in exercising his profession, especially in an industry which is not particularly renowned for its risk-taking.
At 62, Marc Labrèche knows very well that the chances would have been slim that a generalist channel would have offered him to host a prime time show if he were a woman. “It would be fantastic if we could give a show to a woman my age. We will probably get there, because the public is aging. It’s complete nonsense that a drag queen hosted a talk show 25 years ago in England [Lily Savage]whereas in Quebec, we still hesitate today to give a show“A show a little whimsical”, to a 62-year-old woman”, he regrets.
For his new show, Marc Labrèche led by example by surrounding himself with a team of collaborators of all ages, all origins and all walks of life. An eclectic group that brings together longtime friends of Marc Labrèche, such as Guylaine Tremblay and Élise Guilbault, as well as up-and-coming comedians, such as Erich Preach, Matthieu Pepper and Jo Cormier. Added to this band of jolly fellows are some unexpected personalities, namely Ricardo Larrivee and Régis Labeaume.
“We wanted a large table that mixed people of different sensitivities,” explains Marc Labrèche. We want everyone to be able to get together, to be as unifying as possible. Of course it could be even more broken up, but to think that Mayor Labeaume could find himself facing someone like Preach is already huge. This is not a talk show. It’s still variety. But we do not refrain from slipping towards more specific subjects. »
Not crushed by the weight of wigs
Each evening, the host will be surrounded by three of his regular collaborators, to which will be added a guest. For the premiere, which will air Tuesday at 8 p.m., Marc Labrèche will receive Katherine Levac. Christine Morency will visit the set of I am coming to you the day after.
Four nights a week is huge, to have done it before. It has its thrill, but you don’t have time to do anything else. To shoot parodies, for example. You are always in a hurry to go on the air. Two days is an interesting formula.
Until June, the new talk show will air two nights a week, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. A format which is therefore neither daily nor weekly, which is rather rare in television. And even if the show was renewed for the fall season, Marc Labrèche does not want to occupy the time slot left vacant by the Week of the 4 JuliesMonday to Thursday, late evening.
“Four nights a week is huge, to have done it already. It has its thrill, but you don’t have time to do anything else. To shoot parodies, for example. You are always in a hurry to go on the air. Two days is an interesting formula, ”explains the one who has just ended the cultural magazine This yearwhich he hosted for five seasons on Télé-Québec.
When This year went on the air, Marc Labrèche was not to reconnect with parody. He reconsidered his decision in the second year. same for me info, sex and lieswhich aired from 2016 to 2018 at ICI Artv, and was originally intended to be a mock newscast with a more serious tone.
This time, Marc Labrèche preferred not to lie to himself anymore, and he says it right away: yes, there will be imitations in I am coming to you. From 3600 seconds of ecstasythe general public expects him to personify such and such a personality.
His delirious imitations of Céline Dion, Nathalie Petrowski or even Christian Bégin are a hit on social networks. But Marc Labrèche ensures that he does not feel any pressure to continue. “I do it because I really like doing it. If I didn’t have fun, I would stop, ”he clearly lets know.
Bold, please.
At his age, anyway, Marc Labrèche has given himself the mantra of doing things only if he wants to. If he said yes to Claude Meunier to participate in the six new episodes of The little life, is that the project turned him on sincerely. He was rumored to be rather skeptical when approached to reprise his role as Rénald Paré, which he strongly denies.
Admittedly, he is aware that many fear the return of The little life. But Marc Labrèche remains convinced that the sitcom cult of the 1990s can adapt to the reality of 2023. “Obviously there are things in the first episodes of The little life who have aged badly. But everything ages badly on TV anyway. Me, I think that the language that Claude [Meunier] managed to create with The little life still speaks to a lot of people. It’s a unique language that only he managed to transpose to the screen. With characters who would be able to finish the sentences of others, but who are unable to understand each other. »
Without falling into excess of nostalgia, Marc Labrèche complains that new comedians do not experience the same freedom on TV that he enjoyed in the days of The little life and of The end of the world is at 7 a.m. “Broadcasters are much more cautious than at that time, and often with good reason. But it would still be fun that there is more audacity on television, especially on public television. Now, anything more left field is happening on social media, on YouTube. Television is trying to catch up, but it’s impossible,” he laments.
I am coming to you will it be the show that will reconcile television and audacity?