Ultimate Gala: An unforgettable evening with Yvon

Just days away from celebrating his 88th birthday, Yvonne Deschamps could have taken it easy. But the legendary comedian decided to take the stage instead for the last classic in Just for Laughs history. In this unforgettable evening, which was attended by nearly 30 comedians from different generations, Yvonne Deschamps showed that he lost none of his comedic timing.

• Also read: Yvonne Deschamps returns to the stage at the age of 87

organizers Ultimate Gala He didn’t leave the 3,000 or so spectators waiting for very long. During the second issue of the evening, Yvonne Deschamps appeared on the board of Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.

Deschamps was given a standing ovation, as it should be, making the audience laugh from the start. “You seem glad you haven’t seen me for 20 years! He fired.

In fact, Deschamps’ last official Just for Laughs numbers occurred in 2007, when he had performed in 11 concerts of this edition. In 2010, Deschamps also participated in a tribute to Claude Meunier.

Deschamps is in good shape

Deschamps, who appeared in fine form Thursday night, told the audience that he made his career from stand-up comedy, which is a different style from stand-up comedy.

Then he delivered part of his monologue with aplomb ethnic groups from his program How is that, 2000?. The audience sometimes laughed yellow when they heard his racist character’s rudeness without really knowing it.

The 58-year-old “good guy” wants to celebrate Saint Jean with the people of his neighborhood, but realizes that his neighbor has sold to an African and another to an Arab. “The Arabs don’t interest me. Some of them don’t even show up.”

By playing an ordinary racist guy, Yvonne Deschamps showed us the intolerance of society. His text is more than 20 years old and still very relevant.

With a flawless delivery, the comedian put the Place des Arts audience in his little back pocket, as if he’d never stopped. At the end of his monologue, he got another well-deserved feeling.

Saturday laughs nostalgia

At the end of the first part, Deschamps returns to the stage, this time to participate in a group number with Gang. Saturday laughs. A purely nostalgic number, it allowed us to see the old characters that made the show popular in the ’80s.

Accompanied by Michel Deslauriers, Pauline Martin, in the guise of Rose Aimé Dupuy, receives Ti-Blanc Lebrun (Deschamps) and Ben Béland (Normand Chouinard) on her talk show. Then came Norman Brathwaite, as a Gaspé hunter, to make his famous “I tell you, I don’t make you.”

Even if the number lacked a bit of a beat at times, it was so nice to see this cult band once again bringing rain and good weather to life on the small screen.

All three stars

At the ceremony’s opening, a voice-over announced “Here’s Quebec’s best comedian.” While we were expecting Yvonne Deschamps to appear, it was Martin Matt and Patrick Howard who arrived…then Luis José Hood a few minutes later. The all-star trio delivered a delicious number that sounded like it was doing well.

“I played in it Good cop, bad cop, among others. I played in nitroHoward told Matt. You’re kind of a presidential choice version. »

“Martin, you’ll be on your late-night talk show, like the greatest: David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Eric Salville…,” Luis Jose confirmed.

Uncle George and Rosalie

Back from the break, we were treated to a classic number just for the laughs that was brought back into the sauce of the day. At the time, Uncle George had mesmerized audiences by bringing up a little girl on stage, played by Dominique Michel. This time, Rosalie Vaillancourt replaced Dodo.

Her easy little daisy stood up to the sarcastic clown in this hilarious number that was a delicious nod to the past.

Fundraising

To conclude the ceremony, we presented the fourth group number: the one with Laurent Paquin and the open line what’s the problem? Cathy Gautier, Mona de Grenoble, Stéphane Vallaud, Pierre-Yves-Roy Desmarais, Melanie Couture, Sylvie Turenne, Louis Tee, François Levier and … Yvonne Deschamps followed each other on the phone!

The latter released “The Party’s Over!” And that was it. Ultimate Gala Than just for laughs. After nearly three hours, including intermission, it was announced that the event had raised $500,000 for the Yvon Deschamps Center-Sud Foundation, including an estimated $175,000 contribution from Just for Laughs.

Because it was for a good cause, we can’t help but welcome the initiative to organize this party. But even if it did include its share of memorable, even historic moments, the show also reminded us of the worst days of the Théâtre St-Denis’ festivities, which were uneven and very long.

In this Ultimate GalaWe’d just dropped the numbers of some comedians who came to give us clips from their one-man show that we’d already heard. We greatly favored those who made the effort to write original material for the evening. For this last concert, it was the least it could possibly be.