It wasn’t the first time an idea from Tailaire Laguerre had gone viral. Still, the young comedian did not expect to one day play the character of Jean-Robert in front of packed houses in Paris, in the West Indies and three evenings this week in Montreal.
Tai has been posting comedic videos on his Instagram since he was 16 – he’s 21 now. propelled him onto a stage at the Just for Laughs festival a few months later. Tickets sold out quickly. It must be said that tens of thousands of people tuned in every Sunday to watch the live flirt show hosted by Tai in the role of a mocking and benevolent Cupid.
A week before his first show, he mentioned to our colleague Léa Carrier: “If I’m able to do a live show with 90,000 people, 250 people aren’t going to confuse me. »
What about 2000 people, four nights, in Paris? A feat that Tai achieved in the spring. “It moved me, for real. When we announced the Casino de Paris, in five minutes, it was sold out. I had a tear, says Tai. Then, while I was doing one of my shows at the Casino de Paris, it was noon in Montreal and I could tell that we were sold out too. It warmed my heart too much. People like me, as I like them. »
Here, 800 spectators will gather in the Ludger-Duvernay room of the Monument-National on July 21, 22 and 23. “For me, it’s the same show at the Casino de Paris and in Montreal. There is no big difference except that it is my community that comes to support me. »
The real difference: This isn’t a bigger roll out version of Occupation Hood, but rather Jean-Robert’s stage baptism, which Tai’s millions of social media followers are already familiar with.
If Jean-Robert isn’t familiar to you, here’s how he was born: “There was a big suit in my dad’s wardrobe that he really didn’t use and was going to throw away. I took the costume and said to the person who films me all the time, “I have an idea for a video. We’re going to do a car sale.” I pushed the video and in six hours I had a million views. I was getting “one million views”, but not as fast. I made a second video, a sale of houses, as a real estate agent. Boom, two million in four hours. Then I continued. »
Beyond the costume, who is Jean-Robert? You could call him a jack of all trades, in the sense that there is nothing to test him. Jean-Robert has been a basketball coach, chef, horse salesman, taxi driver, barber, dog trainer… Results are not guaranteed, however. “Every week I make videos with a new theme. I’m looking for what job we could see him being a little clumsy and angry. He thinks he’s always right and I have a lot of fun doing it. »
“He’s a goofy, comical, a little bitter, but adorable character nonetheless,” Tai continues. “He is inspired by my grandmother, who is a very funny person. There are many of his expressions that I use in my videos. There are also some from my father. »
The character is always filmed – very closely – by a lady, Tai’s “aunt”. She won’t be able to be called “rekilé”, since only her voice is heard during the show.
“On social media, I see people sending emojis, but I don’t know if they’re actually joking. Being on stage is really different. You hear the laughter, you interact with the people. It’s like being with family. I love that ! »
His “extended family” is present as far away as the West Indies. “My first show outside the country was in Guadeloupe. I was told: “We love you very much, everyone knows you”. I said to myself “these are words”, but there were police officers at the airport, mothers, children. The day of my show, people were waiting for me in front of our hotel. It’s like they saw Drake or a star! »
On social networks, Tai’s admirers ask him to come to their graduation or wedding, but also for professional advice. “I try to respond to almost everyone in my DMs,” he says. It is a pleasure to inspire young people, Generation Z, because I am dyslexic dysorthographic and at school, I was often told “you are not going to succeed”. It was hard and it was always engraved in my head, but thanks to social networks, I showed my talent. »
Towards the end of the interview, Tai talks about the experience gained from his first shows at home. “I will give my 200%. The fact that it’s in Montreal is magical. Those who saw me in 2019 or 2020 will really see an improvement, because I practiced myself and it was really not the same person who was on stage. »
And it’s not just because he’ll wear his dad’s oversized suit.
