Outside the major venues or cities, he came last summer to La Colle-sur-Loup, a small village above Cagnes-sur-Mer, to a festival called “Rencontres autour des notes et des mots” which was somewhat snubbed by the media.
The audience, however, did not hide their pleasure to see up close and at a very affordable price, in the communal garden, an artist of the caliber and fame of Anthony Kavanagh. I had the privilege of meeting him, after the show, in his dressing room with his surprising accomplice, his dog Kenzo. A way to shed light on this extraordinary artist, before his upcoming performance in Monaco next month.
Nice-Premium: After two years not performing on stage and five years without a “one-man show,” what have you been doing during this time?
Anthony Kavanagh: (Joking) Millions of things. “Chicago,” a musical in Canada, a lot of TV, another show “Les démons de L’Arkange,” shot a film (Agathe Cléry with Valérie Lemercier).
N.P: You are a true “one-man band” but you’re not singing in this show, is that a deliberate choice?
A.K: It’s a deliberate choice in this show only to chat, just to talk. I imposed this exercise on myself, which I had never done before in my life. It always involved imitations with sound effects, singing, dancing.
Here it’s one man, one stage, a glass of water, an audience and that’s it. What’s great is that I intended not to worry about my voice for once.
N.P: What do you mean?
A.K: All my life, for the 19 years on July 12th that I’ve been in this profession, I always had to be careful about my voice. During the day we don’t talk, at night you mustn’t go to a smokey place after the show, be careful not to talk too much, need sleep, can’t go out…
This time I don’t care about my voice, I’m having fun. Of course, I was also having fun before. I can stay out late, go have a drink, it’s a nice exercise.
N.P: Is this just for this show or is it a new philosophy?
A.K: No, it’s just for this show. For the next one, I’ll see what I do; I feel like doing different things. This movie role, I’ve been waiting for it for 20 years. 2007 was a great year with that movie “Agathe Cléry,” the trial run of this new show during filming which required 6 months of preparation where I took flamenco lessons and lost 22 pounds in 4 months, I had the physique of an American football player.
A return to Canada where it had been 7 years since I had done a “one-man show.” It was a big comeback in May, just before “Just for Laughs” in Montreal where I performed to 3000 people twice. A lot of love from Quebecers, a beautiful homecoming, the return of the native son.
N.P: Will we see Anthony Kavanagh as a TV host again?
A.K: It’s possible; everything is possible. But for now, I’m doing two things at once: cinema and tour. It had been 5 years since I had toured and I needed it. I really like meeting people, the wine, the food in Europe. I love it and I make the most of it. Beautiful places. Testing myself in Paris, it wears me out.
N.P: And we find you in this village of La Colle-sur-Loup?
A.K: It’s the producer who takes care of that. Okay, we go and we came.
N.P: Moving from an audience of 3000 people to just a few hundred.
A.K: Give me 2m2 of stage, I’ll take it; give me 25 meters, I’ll take 25 meters. I like it just as much, each venue has its charm. The very large halls (Wow!) because it’s as impressive as in Montreal with Wilfrid Pelletier Hall, it’s sublime. Here I feel like I’m playing in the big garden of a friend with lots of buddies around.
The important thing is that the audience is connected to the artist, that they are enthusiastic, that they follow me in my madness no matter the number, and I was lucky that in both extreme cases they reacted well. When the room is small, it’s more stressful because you see the faces, the one who isn’t laughing. You think to yourself, ‘I’m going to make that one laugh before the end of the night’ and that’s not good.
N.P: Does that bother you?
A.K: I’ve managed to get over it, but it’s only been a few years. We know that the show was created in such a way that there’s something for everyone. If you don’t like this sketch, it’s okay, another one is coming and you’ll like that one. My goal is no downtime.
N.P: Your show is somewhat physical?
A.K: Yes, it doesn’t stop. It’s 1 hour 45 minutes, you have to go, the audience must not cool down, they must stay in the frenzy. We talk about one thing, quickly another comes. No time to start analyzing because analysis paralyzes.
N.P: You do it well.
A.K: Yes. In Montreal, I started at 23 as the youngest host. It’s incredible to see that the years have passed so quickly. I’m already an “old” man with experience. I’ve spent half my life here in France and the other half in Canada. The two wagons of my life have connected for this 20th year with a tour in both countries, or two continents if you count the Francophone countries.
