Francophones from elsewhere in the country who feel “excluded” from Bye annual Quebecois have their own party to finally be represented on screen during this end-of-year tradition.
“Since we were little, we have listened to Bye And Infoman. We are always disappointed not to see ourselves on screen. So, it’s a bit of a rebellion. We’re going to do our own shows, first,” says Vincent Poirier, member of the Improtein group, also made up of Nadia Campbell, Stéphane Guertin, Martin Laporte and Olivier Nadon. The five improvisers, designers, screenwriters and actors will unveil on December 31 the second edition of their Franco-Ontarian end-of-year review. Improtein exhibits 2023 will be broadcast on ICI Télé in Ontario and Ottawa-Gatineau.
For his part, Holiday cleaning, the fourth edition of which was broadcast on Unis TV on December 15, aims to make the entire French-speaking community in the country laugh. The Newbies trio (Luc LeBlanc, André Roy and Christian Essiambre) was at the helm of the show for a fourth year in a row. In order to bring people together from “coast to coast”, he addressed current pan-Canadian themes, such as the housing crisis and the labor shortage, underlines Mr. Essiambre in an interview with Duty.
“It’s not that we didn’t like the Bye Quebecois. It’s super good, it’s a religion and we listen to it every year,” he continues. But, says L’Acadien du Nouveau-Brunswick, certain jokes in this show are made more to reach “the large majority of Quebecers.” “Often, we felt a little excluded,” he relates.
Holiday cleaning therefore addresses what has been difficult for all French-speakers in Canada over the last twelve months, in order to better get rid of it for the arrival of 2024. “Yes, it’s a little grating, but never as much as what we see in the Bye Quebecois. » This year, the sketches featured a range of comedians, including Acadians Tanya Brideau and Sandra Le Couteur as well as Quebecers Didier Lucien and Catherine Proulx-Lemay.
Franco-Ontarian mockumentary
In the form of a 30-minute Franco-Ontarian “mockumentary”, the retrospective of the year Improtein exhibits 2023 plays in a completely different register than that of Holiday cleaning. “It is not to be confused with Improtein is exposed, because that would be something else, jokes Vincent Poirier. The concept of our magazine is that we think we are journalists and that we go out and expose the false reasons behind the real news. »
Several French-speaking actors from this province will be there, but also people who play themselves, like Mona Fortier, Liberal member of the Canadian Parliament. “I think that’s part of the fun all along to say, ‘OK, that’s a real politician, but is this press secretary a real one?’ » says Mr. Poirier.
The latter explains that the members of the Improtein group are limited to the Franco-Ontarian scene for their review of the year, because the federal one is already covered by other broadcasts. “At the start of 2023, we were a little worried. We said to ourselves that the news was a little more beige than in 2022. But fortunately, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, being who he is, he gave us a lot of juice. And also the mayor of Toronto, John Tory, who was unfaithful and resigned. »
The five members of Improtein, who all studied together at the University of Ottawa, manage to tackle heavier subjects in their show. As an example, they discuss the show’s revelations Investigation about the Church which until recently protected alleged sexual abusers in northern Ontario. “We managed to talk about it quickly, but through another event. So, the idea is never to laugh at this drama. »
New traditions
Improtein exhibits 2023 is still in its early stages with this second edition, recalls Vincent Poirier. “But the responses were really favorable last year. People were so proud to see themselves on screen on the evening of the 31st. It’s as if we could finally be part of this great tradition of retrospectives of the year. »
Without providing figures, Mr. Poirier indicates that, according to the production company Moi & Dave, it “has never put so much money into a half-hour of fiction” before. “And we were lucky, all the same, to have eight or nine days of filming,” he says.
For his part, Christian Essiambre specifies that by now having more means to achieve Holiday cleaning, creators can further develop the sketches. “We can really afford to go to specific places. But there is still the animation and music side which makes it much more festive than if we just did sketches,” he maintains.