After a masterfully directed evening by Michel Courtemanche, who returned to the stage, Anthony Kavanagh had a difficult mandate at the helm of the second Gala du ComediHa! Firmly.
• Also read: Gala ComediHa! Firm: as if Michel Courtemanche had never stopped
• Also read: Anne Roumanoff: personable and refreshing
An evening that started slowly and got better and better with the number of acts performed by the various guests.
Kavanagh opened the gala presented at the Capitole de Québec with a number where he promised the best.
“You deserve the best,” he said before Nordiques player Alain Côté arrived with the Stanley Cup, accompanied by mascot Badaboum. A rare time we haven’t referenced his famous goal.
Anne Roumanoff, who had offered a number that hadn’t hit the target the day before, was back with a segment at the culmination of what we’d seen during her show All’s Almost Good.
Photo agency QMI, Marcel Tremblay
Among the guests at the gala was Anne Roumanoff from France.
Her number on women looking for love after divorce at 50 was solid and well put together.
“I am told that I have rejuvenated and become more beautiful. You ask me the secret. That’s because I got divorced,” she said.
She offered a good section on a points system during a first meeting in a bar where the presence of small children takes away points and where a deceased mother-in-law gives a lot.
Back on stage the day after the gala he was hosting, Michel Courtemanche was in his element on a number called “Loss of memory”.
Estimated when he arrived on stage, Courtemanche moved, making noises, noises and onomatopoeia.
DESTABILIZE
Simulating what might appear to be memory loss, the comedian experienced some gaps with some giggles that made it difficult to tell if the thing was planned or not.
A destabilizing moment that made him say maybe people should think he had started using drugs again. Aligned with the Views type or not, the number was just a bit too long.
Photo agency QMI, Marcel Tremblay
Michael Courtemanche
Has Courtemanche thwarted the public? He’s capable of it and it’s entirely possible.
After a rocky start, Mibenson Sylvain, a comedian of Haitian origin from Terrebonne, “scored” when he enjoyed comparing practicing Catholics to atheists.
“If you are an atheist, life’s problems are yours. Atheists have to pay for a psychologist, for me it’s free,” said the man, who made his first appearance at a Gala ComediHa Fest!
He got off to a good start when he shared that for an atheist with a serious illness, the faith lies in Quebec’s health care system.
“He’ll go to God rather than a doctor,” he said, leading to a roar of laughter.
PIERRE BRASSARD BRUNEAU
While the curtain was down and we were getting ready for the next number, Anthony Kavanagh performed a very successful version of Lenny Kravitz’s Are You Gonna Go My Way, even singing into the crowd.
Photo agency QMI, Marcel Tremblay
Anthony Kavanagh
Pierre Brassard brought Pierre Bruneau out of retirement to portray the news anchor in “Severity, Severity, Severity” in an issue in which Sylvie Moreau and Ghyslain Dufresne multiplied the costume changes to tell the story of humor. From prehistory to the Renaissance, the Middle Ages to modern times.
This led to good times with Sylvie Moreau imitating Dominique Michel announcing her final bye-bye and very funny sections inspired by Daniel Lemire, Ding and Dong, La petite vie, Km/h and Les Boys.
We were a little startled when Alain Choquette launched into a series of maps, but viewers were treated to a mysterious moment.
The magician and illusionist asked people to call relatives to ask them to choose between black and white (black), between spades and clubs (clubs) and a number between 1 and 13 (the 6), and then an upside down card pull out a packet and that was the 6 of black crosses.
Then he caused a paper twirl with a fan and a piece of paper because we need magic in our lives.
Well, it’s not humor, but Choquette made people laugh by improvising with the interviewees, and magic, well done, is always a prize.
THE UNIQUE MICHEL BRACKET
Speaking of improvisation, Michel Barrette, guest on a segment highlighting a comedian’s career, brilliantly accepted the challenge of improvising words written on a gambling roulette wheel.
He hit the mark with his storytelling skills and spoke about his allergies to wine, vacuum cleaners, pizza and the time he almost knocked Elton John off the stage in Las Vegas.
A good number.
►The next ComedHa! Fest will be presented at the Capitole de Québec on Tuesday with Marie-Mai at the animation. Guests are Michel Charette, PA Méthot and Christian-Marc Gendron.