Poetry and comedy

Gilles Mathieu’s friend Gaston Miron organized poetry recitals. Gilbert Langevin, Claude Péloquin and Pierre Léger, known as Pierrot le fou, were also invited to perform. There were memorable nights devoted to poetry. In 1965, just before publishing his two first anthologies and forming the band L’Infonie, Raôul Duguay was already proclaiming that “Touttt étô bouttt.”

Les Jérolas

Gilles Mathieu also gave stand-up comedians a chance to perform on stage at the Butte. Les Cyniques, Yvon Deschamps, Clémence Desrochers, les Jérolas, Claire Leroux, Claude Landré, Jean-Guy Moreau and many others cracked up the audience with their sometimes acerbic insights into current events.

Yvon Deschamps, a regular and generous supporter of the Butte à Mathieu commented: “(…) 200-250 people on cushions with candles on the tables, everyone smoking, one door to get out (…) every time I went to the Butte, the first thing I asked myself: how am I going to get out when the fire starts!”

Yvon Deschamps