No, Christian Bégin has not said his last word. He even announces first at Press the creation of a new one man show humor, titled The 8 deadly sins, in which the artist, curious and versatile, will have fun revisiting our fundamental vices. With a point of view on society which, he hopes, will interest the public of all generations and all regions of Quebec.
For this show, Bégin collaborates with two old truck drivers from the middle: René Brisebois (The Boys) co-writing and Chantal Lamarre (Infoman) to the staging. KOScène (a subsidiary of KOTV, Louis Morissette’s production house) will take care of the production of the show and its tour in the fall of 2022. “For my two previous solos, in 1990 and 2001, I was performing. -same. It’s probably the biggest (and the ultimate) show I’m going to do, ”he confides in an interview.
In another life, the host, actor and author broke into the wonderful world of humor. He performed his first solo at the Just for Laughs Studio. He taught for seven years at the National School of Humor. He was even recruited by the Rozon Group to tour with young comedians. He also signed the staging of Martin Matte’s first show, among others.
So why a comeback in humor, 20 years later?
“Because I like to embark on all kinds of different projects, to diversify myself”, answers the actor. “There are a lot of things that I have done in my career that I had not seen coming, such as hosting a talk show, a cooking show … or becoming a grocer” (he has just opened a grocery store in Kamouraska , where he has a house).
When I tell my son that I want to slow down, every time he laughs! He replies, “Daddy, you’re going to slow down when you’re going to die.”
Christian Begin
Christian Bégin also wanted to go back on stage to talk about today’s world and think about our social mores. “I’m going to be 59 years old. I watch the world change very, very quickly. However, I want to remain in echo with the current world and its changes. ”
The popular host still wondered about the “funny timing” of launching a one man show in 2021.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Christian Begin
“I’m a white, cisgender, straight male in my 50s. I am the embodiment of all privilege! Should I be silent? Take my hole? No, on the contrary, my voice is part of the plurality of current voices. It is not because I live in a privileged context that I am not able to have a critical AND self-critical look at myself. While questioning the world we are creating for tomorrow. Even though it’s probably better than the one my generation built. Because my generation, and the previous ones, we made a lot of mistakes, and wrong, to the planet first. ”
Enter conversation
Before being an actor (his first profession), Bégin sees himself above all as a communicator. An artist in conversation with the world. “We hear that word, ‘conversation’, a lot these days. However, basically, we avoid any form of conversation. We talk to each other. We have talks with our tribes, with people who have our values. For me, art is also a way of entering into conversation with others. And one one man show, this is the most direct way to do it. ”
In his future show, the actor will express his relationship to the world through the seven deadly sins (anger, laziness, envy…) and their multiple variations. “As for the eighth sin, I can’t talk about it, because it’s a surprise,” he said. I can only say that it represents a very current vice which, through the band, reconnects us to our mourning for God. Not in the religious sense, rather the mourning of the transcendence of our human condition. We are very much in the “I, me, me”… ”
Beyond good and evil
Christian Bégin will also address the omnipresence of social networks, a subject that has challenged him for several years. “Social networks are not a true reflection of the world. It is a distortion of reality to make us believe that we live in a hateful, violent world. Now, in general, there is more benevolence than evil in the world. If you have a flat tire on the road, people are more likely to come and help you than stab you in the back. ”
According to him, evil needs to scream and howl its rage, “to create the illusion that it is he who is driving.” While good does not need to speak loudly.
Good is discreet, anonymous, it changes the world behind the scenes. This impression left by social media is pernicious. Because it gives power to ideologies, to the movements of a small minority of people.
Christian Begin
While the conversation with Bégin is often deep and serious, his show will be entertaining and fun, he says. “What saved me since I started doing this job is self-mockery. It is necessary to take a step back, to criticize yourself in life. Self-mockery is a very effective tool in humor. From Yvon Deschamps to Louis-José Houde, several Quebec humorists skilfully handle self-mockery. ”
And it is not a sin.
The 8 deadly sins according to Christian Bégin. In Montreal and Quebec City in the fall of 2022. Tickets for the Outremont Theater and the Albert-Rousseau Hall are on sale today.
Visit Christian Bégin’s website