Samuel Larochelle has energy to spare. His activities are so numerous and varied that one wonders where he finds the time to sleep. The author and journalist publishes two or three books a year, signs reports as a freelancer in several media, including The Pressand carries the Accents Queers evenings, the Cabaret des mots in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, his native region, as well as the erotic literary cabarets Sexxxu.
Ah yes, I forgot, he is developing a TV project with a broadcaster. This guy makes me dizzy. “Yes, it’s true, I have the reputation of being a dynamo. But as all these projects thrill me, it’s going well. No one believes me, but I’ve slowed down a bit over the past few months. »
Created in the spring of 2021, the Accents Queers cabaret formula is having its fifth Montreal edition this Friday evening. “All of this was born out of an egocentric impulse,” explains Samuel Larochelle. After living for a few years the experience of open mic, it has become a real drug. I wanted to relive that as often as possible. »
The Accents Queers cabaret is not a literary evening, but a space where certain personalities have the right to speak. All genres are allowed: slam, book excerpt, intimate chronicle, monologue, etc. We don’t draw from other people’s texts, we arrive with our own material. The formula is reminiscent of that of the Combat contre la langue de bois… but in an LGBTQ+ version.
People who go on stage do so to say things, to shake up mentalities, to talk about themselves or the reality of their community. And they do it with humor, poetry, emotion and a lot of guts.
It’s very accessible. We go into the funny, the touching, the rant and the kick in the ass too.
Samuel Larochelle
This Friday evening, the public will be able to hear Éric Chacour, Justine Philie, Steve Bastien, Chris Bergeron, Sarah Laurendeau and Samuel Larochelle. He will also provide entertainment.
Very quickly, this formula became very popular. It is now exported everywhere. Special editions were held in Sherbrooke, on March 30, as part of Arc-en-ciel week, and in Quebec City, in October, during the Festival Quebec in Letters. An edition is in preparation for Caraquet, on May 17th. “I am in discussion with Gatineau, Rouyn-Noranda, Ottawa, Sudbury and many other cities”, says the one who describes himself as a “cultural entrepreneur”.
Samuel Larochelle tries to get participants representing each of the letters of the acronym (gay, lesbian, trans, queer, non-binary, etc.), but this is not always possible. There is also a concern to have a balance between the generations and a cultural variety.
That said, the organizer has no trouble finding participants. “This is the fifth edition in Montreal and no one has come more than once. It’s very easy to recruit. »
It should not be thought that these evenings only attract spectators from the LGBTQ+ community. “There is a part of the public who is queer and who identifies with the words that are said on stage, but there is another part who is straight or cisgender. »
These are people who have understood that differences are interesting and that queer stories are not just for queer people.
Samuel Larochelle
It was a great opportunity to talk about themes that remain sensitive to the general public. Every time I talk about trans people or drag queens, I feel that these subjects go less well. The launching of a petition by Éric Duhaime, leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, for the government to stop funding activities exposing children to drag queens, testifies to this malaise.
And a great ignorance of this reality. You should have heard Éric Duhaime Wednesday morning at Paul Arcand trying to defend his initiative. It looked like a mouse running through a maze and hitting dead ends in the face of the host’s questions.
Samuel Larochelle asserts that this misunderstanding is not only observable in the general public, but also among gays and lesbians. “A lot of gays or lesbians come to terms with their sexual orientation, but they like to say that they are still ‘a real man or a real woman’. To me, that’s internalized homophobia. »
Performances in Montreal by the Accents Queers cabarets always take place at the Maison de la culture Janine-Sutto. Tickets, offered for a pittance ($2), normally sell out within days. If you can’t get your hands on tickets, know that the next edition will take place next November.
And if ever Éric Duhaime wants to come and speak on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, I’m sure Samuel Larochelle will reserve a special place for him.
Accents Queers, April 14, 7:30 p.m., Maison de la culture Janine-Sutto