There is (finally) a change of guard in the universe of the gag, and the Gala Les Oliviers on Sunday evening crowned several stars of this new wave of modern and enlightened comedians, who perform as much on the stage, at on TV, on the web, on the radio and in podcasts.
The brilliant Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais, champion in all categories, the funny Rosalie Vaillancourt of delicious comedy Completely high schoolthe multi-talented Arnaud Soly from Club Soly or the efficient Matthieu Pepper ofBetween two sheetsthese young people are changing the face of Quebec humor with their creativity, their offbeat ideas and their unbridled talent.
We felt, during this 24e Olivier’s Day, that the transition from the old guard to the newer had been completed. Moreover, the very successful number of Pat et Mat, two comedians of the 1990s played by Virginie Fortin and Arnaud Soly, perfectly illustrated the long road traveled since the fashion for leather pants and Tim Hortons-type microphones in the shows of Just for Laughs.
At the helm of this always complicated and often missed gala, Katherine Levac, 33, gets a big golden star in her notebook.
Well written and delivered with aplomb, its opening number was funny, feminist and incisive, without sinking into gratuitous wickedness or primitive wokism, well done. The mistress of ceremonies stung her environment, sometimes toxic, which has long shunned women.
She also talked about her pregnancy, her drooping postpartum breasts (two beautiful little well-emptied tea bags), her twins and her blonde filmmaker Chloé Robichaud, quite naturally, as one of her male colleagues would have done. .
Her joke about the many diversity boxes she ticks off was tasty. Radio-Canada loves me, she began. “I am a woman, from the Canadian Francophonie, LGBTQ+ community. Can you imagine if I was still fat, they would fall apart, ”said Katherine Levac in front of an enthusiastic and reactive Pierre-Mercure room. What changed ceremonies before, filled with burial faces.
Really, this gala lasting 2 h 10 min supplanted that of 2022, which was of an unnamed platitude. Another highlight was when Sam Breton and Katherine Levac presented the discovery of the year with the families of the finalists in what was shaping up to be a marshmallow segment. The tone went from honey to venom and it was just nasty and gritty enough.
Also liked Marie-Lyne Joncas and Maude Landry who were picking each other up about the return of the Grandes Crues. And for once, the presence of the two ministers (Pablo Rodriguez and Mathieu Lacombe) was added to the gala in a funny and skilful way.
In the softer moments, there was the rough exchange between Kim Thúy and Guillaume Pineault, as well as the sequence of the babysitters of Katherine Levac, which was repetitive and less punchy than expected.
Also, the tribute to Jean Lapointe looked garrulous and the boosted energy of Mathieu Dufour bumped far too much into the legendary phlegm of Carole (Silvi Tourigny).
One thing is certain, if ever the Gala Les Olivier leaves to join that of the cinema in the catacombs of Radio-Canada, it will not be the fault of Katherine Levac.
Pangea explodes!
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. This encapsulates the bumpy but impressive journey from Korine Côté to Big Brother Celebrities.
The 42-year-old comedian was excluded from the After-Party (she goes to bed early!), was betrayed by the Equeuteuses then was sacrificed on Sunday on the popokatci altar in the last episode of Noovo’s reality show.
Despite the surf at -30 degrees, the nights screaming near the toilets and the low blows of her allies, Korine Côté never gave up and, above all, she won crucial challenges. His rise was meteoric.
The hyper-strategic Coco Belliveau felt that the jury would have praised Korine Côté’s tenacity, transparency and clean playing. Coco therefore orchestrated the departure of her main rival with the complicity of Mona de Grenoble and Liliane Blanco-Binette, who follow her like little lap dogs. It’s starting to get awkward for Mona and Liliane, seriously.
Have they hung their dignity in a cupboard, to which they have misplaced the key? Have they put their autonomy in a drawer, with lots of things to forget?
Once again, Coco Belliveau, who pulls all the strings, got what she wanted, which demonstrates her immense powers of persuasion in the house. And fortunately Coco protects Jemmy Échaquan-Dubé, because the latter, who did not even campaign to save herself from elimination (she was shopping for linen!), Would have been ousted several weeks ago.
This latest episode of Big Brother Celebrities, the least throbbing of winter, gave off a strong filling scent. When the crunchiest moment of the evening is negotiating hourglass time to watch a family video, it’s a sign that storylines fly no higher than Mona’s balloon in last week’s ordeal.
Even worse, the production postponed until Monday the unveiling of the winner of the most important challenge of this edition. I felt exactly like Mona and Coco when Jemmy sang and chattered in the dark: angry and very annoyed.