Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Deschamps, Yvon
Quebec-based actor/comedian, born in Montreal in 1935.
Yvon Deschamps is best known for his joual monologues in which he paints himself as the little guy who gets stepped on not only be other people but by government, particularly the federal government. A popular figure in the Quebec Nationalist movement, Deschamps' contemplations of life as a Québécois living in Canada were usually gentle but with a caustic humour lying just beneath his character's "stupidity."
He left school to work at Radio-Canada where there was a growing intellectual resentment of federal powers in matters of Quebec culture.
Through private acting lessons with Paul Buissonneau, he became involved with theatre. He acted at several Montreal theatres, notably La Poudrière, L'Égrégore, and the Théâtre du Rideau Vert (Les gueux au Paradis, 1963). He eventually co-founded the Théâtre de Quat'Sous with Buissonneau in 1964.
In 1967, the year the rest of Canada was celebrating the centennial, Deschamps was appearing in the Boîte à Clémence doing his now openly Nationalist monologues. Soon, he was filling halls every night by himself. He made an appearance in theatre, one more time, in 1974 in L'Ouvre-boîte (a Québécois adaptation of Victor Lanoux's Le Tourniquet) at Théâtre du Nouveau Monde opposite Jean-Louis Roux.
He went on to become a popular Quebec figure and occasionally a political figure. His concerts and recordings were smash hits well into the 1980s. He continues to appear in the French edition of the Just For Laughs Festival and on television.
Profile by Gaetan Charlebois.
Last updated 2020-06-15
Since October 2002, Athabasca University has hosted the web site, with an editorial board of theatre scholars from across Canada.
To submit an entry, please consult the guidelines for submissions.
Email your submission to: Anne Nothof, Professor Emerita, Athabasca University.
The Encyclopedia collects and disseminates information on plays, playwrights and theatre practitioners. It does not respond to requests for information, auditions, bookings, or tickets.
The Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia web site was originally conceived and developed in 1996 by Gaetan Charlebois—theatre critic, playwright, and actor.
