From avarice to pride to envy, to gluttony and laziness, Christian Bégin, who has not offered a comedy show for the past 25 years, presented his brand new solo project “Les 8 deadly sins”, Wednesday evening at the Outremont Theater, during its return to Montreal.
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“Incarnation of everything that should be silent” because he is a white, heterosexual, cisgender and privileged fifty-year-old Christian Bégin, who refuses nothing, admitted to being in a “weird timing to make a” comeback “ “.
Seeming at times overwhelmed by the social advances of the last quarter century – such as consent and the concept of micro-aggression – the 59-year-old artist has nevertheless managed to demonstrate the relevance of his word in the Quebec humorous landscape, having fun to deconstruct this generalized image of the white, heterosexual, cisgender and privileged fifty-something.
Ticking “all the boxes of happiness” by his position as a privileged white man – stature to which he refers on many occasions –, but also for his IGA avatar in his effigy, happiness does not however rain so often in his court, he argues. His “shitty transit” which will one day get the better of his voice “so much he belches battery acid” and the hairs that grow and regrow in abundance in unexpected places with age are nothing enviable to eyes of others, he argued.
It is in these more intimate windows where the host and actor opened up about his life and his daily life, and in these moments of self-mockery that he was most effective. A few simple and predictable gags, “dad jokes”, certain lengths and inequalities in tone however overshadowed the show, directed by Chantal Lamarre.
The public for its part warmly encouraged the comedian in this third solo show which allowed him to revisit the seven deadly sins, which he says embodied with his show poster, in addition to establishing an eighth which he has kept secret until the very end of his presentation.
Christian Bégin will present his “8 deadly sins” Thursday and Friday in Montreal at the Outremont Theater as well as at the Salle Albert-Rousseau in Quebec City next Tuesday.