“When I’m one of the first women to do something, I especially find it really weird,” says Katherine Levac, who will become only the third lady on Sunday to host the Les Olivier Gala.
The gala that Katherine Levac really wanted to host? “I confess that I am sad that I did not host Karv, the anti.gala”, she replies, recalling the gently subversive ceremony of VRAK which, from 2004 to 2014, awarded prizes in categories like ” You piss in your panties when you see it” or “The song you always play on your MP3 player”.
But for the time being, the 33-year-old comedian is preparing to hold the helm of the big funny party which, according to her, has as its main mission to shine its light on creators to discover.
While the ecosystem of award ceremonies seems threatened with extinction – the Artis gala and the Québec Cinema gala have fallen by the wayside over the past year – Katherine Levac refuses to worry too much, despite a schedule strong.
“I realize that it’s a tricky mandate for a comedian who is used to having a lot of control,” she says of the influence of Radio-Canada and the Association of Professionals of the humor industry (APIH) on the course of the Sunday evening.
“But as we speak, I’m very relaxed,” she says. It’s not that I don’t care, on the contrary. My letting go doesn’t make me any less of a perfectionist, I’m just less panicky. The future of the gala industry in Quebec cannot rest on a seven-minute opening number. […] We have talked a lot about what is going wrong, in humor, over the past few years, and I don’t want to bury anything, but I would also like to celebrate what is going well, the fact that there is a lot of people in our rooms. »
In 2015, Katherine Levac became the first woman in the history of the awards in form of Monsieur Guimond to go home with the Discovery of the Year trophy. She will join the sadly select club of those who led these festivities on Sunday: Lise Dion was the first host in 1999 and 2000, and Claudine Mercier, the co-host (with Mario Jean), in 2001. Then, for 20 years, than gentlemen.
The comedian confirms that his monologue will contain “a few jokes” about this nonsense, which does not make her laugh too much. “Every year, we say that there really aren’t enough women at the Oliviers and I think that’s just a reflection of what’s going on in our environment,” says the one who explains that she has also done everything to that as many women as possible find themselves on screen.
“And the reason there haven’t been women in animation for 20 years,” she continues, “is because it wasn’t deemed weird.” It’s been what, two years, we find this strange? It’s a bit hypocritical to say that it doesn’t make sense, when it should have bothered us a long time ago. »
What kind of host will she be? Not the ones who hide their enthusiasm when their favorites win. And if she prefers not to say who she would like to see crowned, Katherine Levac agrees that the absence of Quebecers Tabarnak, Adib Alkhalidey, in the category of Comedy Show of the Year, is difficult to defend. “I would give all the prizes to Adib!” The price of the Radio Capsule, I would give it to Adib, even if he does not do radio. »
This omission, “it’s a real bastard, and it’s sure that it’s difficult afterwards to tell yourself that the galas are trustable, but it’s at times like these that you have to remember what it is, this case: it’s clubs that register their artists, it’s the industry that votes, “she observes about the limits of this kind of exercise. She is also surprised that a comedian who moves crowds like P-A Méthot is not the owner of any Olivier.
His main wish? May artists of all profiles have a happy hand. And that the lesser-known faces she has invited know how to make the most of their presence on the plate. Because when the curtain falls, she recalls, we often remember more of an extraordinary presentation than the winners.
Your journalist wishes to see Jerr Allain, a regular in the Unscripted Comedy Podcast of the Year category, take the stage. “This is the first interview in which I’ve been told about Jerr Allain,” exclaims Katherine Levac with a laugh, before returning to the place she wants to offer comedians on the fringes on Sunday, whether they leave winning or not. .
“I understand it’s TV and the broadcasters are freaking out over the ratings, but there’s a lot of emphasis on putting people they already know on screen,” she said. For them, a Jerr Allain doesn’t have the potential to be a highlight. But I think the Jerr Allains of this world should be trusted. The lesser known person who is not often invited on TV, it is sure that she will have the knife between her teeth. It’s sure going to be funny. »
