“It's not true that I'm coming back with a third show where everyone's going to be like, 'It's still just as edgy, it's still just as funny.' I don't want that. I want people to say to themselves, 'We have access to a part of the artist that we haven't seen before.'” For his new show Foie grasMariana Mazza wanted to show herself as she really is, with her vulnerability and emotions.
At 35, after 15 years of a successful career, Mariana Mazza decided she could stop hiding behind a mask. “I used to be very afraid to show my vulnerable side because I didn’t think it was “humorous.”
From her youth, Mariana was convinced by those around her that she was not afraid of anything, that she had her own opinion. “When people tell you they like your honesty… If only they knew how much I hid my true opinions.”
“I cried on stage”
WITH Foie grasMariana wanted to “go somewhere where [elle] never was” because she didn’t want to repeat herself. “Being funny is easy for me. But I no longer have to shout to be heard.”
One of its writers, Simon Delisle, warned her that to make another show she would have to go to some uncomfortable places. “You must be very embarrassed,” he told her.
The exercise was quite painful. “Towards the end of the play there are very long moments of silence,” says Mariana. You hear silence. At first it scared me. I remember the first time I cried on stage.
So she is Mariana Mazza”damn vulnerable”, “very emotional” and “who needs to be loved, comforted and reassured” who will take the stage. “I never showed this in the first two performances. I wasn't ready to do it.”
Same topics, new look
Returning to content Foie grasMariana was surprised to note that some of the themes were reminiscent of her first show, Woman, shut up.
“I'm talking about my family, older people and money. This time I'm not talking about sex, but about my love life.” [elle a fréquenté Alexandre Barrette en cachette durant plusieurs années]. And the only thing new is illness. […] These are the same topics, but ten years later. It's a tender, mature, evolved perspective of when I was 25. That's what makes this the most important show for me. Really.”
In this new show, full of contradictions (“I'm constantly going left and right”), Mariana strives to become clearer and more assertive. “Those who loved me will love me even more. But those who don't like me, I think they can remove the log.”
In the roughly 70 shows she's presented over the past few months, the comedian has received plenty of positive feedback from audiences: “100% of people tell me it's their favorite of the three, 80% tell me they cried and 50% tell me they didn't expect it.”
A tour on a human scale
Having sold 425,000 tickets for her first two tours, Mariana Mazza hopes the public will be there again with Foie gras. “We're always thinking about the number of tickets we're going to sell because it pays for itself, it pays for my house, it pays for my peace of mind, it buys me time.”
But this time, reliving the grueling marathon of 450 performances over four and a half years is out of the question. Woman, shut up. “Financially and for my self-esteem it was great. But never again. My last performances were disastrous. I got burned. I should have stopped sooner.”
Tour of Foie gras should last no more than two and a half years, with a light schedule and regular holidays on weekends.
“More ready than ever”
As the media premiere approaches, Mariana still admits she finds launching a new show “terrifying,” even if she says she's “more ready than ever.”
“The rest, criticism, comparisons […]I need to get away from this right now. I'm the only girl doing a show this fall. There are big names: Pierre-Yves Roy-Demarais, Sam Breton, Francois Bellefeuille.
“There’s always a side of me that hopes I’ll be the best. [spectacle] out of four. But the other side tells me that I am not in control. I'm going to be the best I can be and hope everyone is okay because that's what makes the humor shine.”
Mariana Mazza will present Foie gras October 27-28 and November 21 at the Salle Pierre-Mercury in Montreal and November 14-15 at the Salle Albert-Rousseau in Quebec City. For all dates: marianamazza.com
