“I saw myself at 25 going through what I'm going through now. But a lot has happened in my life.” Because it's never too late to succeed, comedian Mike Beaudoin is finally reaping the rewards of his hard work over the past 20 years.
At age 18, Mike Beaudoin was kicked out of his mother's house by his then-boyfriend. “I started my adult life because I had no choice,” he says.
In the years that followed, the young comedian that he was stubbornly wanted to break through. Then at 24 he became a father. “It disrupted the business. I wanted to succeed, but I had other responsibilities.”
Having given up humor twice and tried jobs from a delivery man and a traveling salesman, he returned to his first love. Social media gave him an unexpected boost when he began posting impromptu interactions with the public (commonly known as crowdwork). His audience grew and demand prompted him to launch his first self-produced show in 2023: true.
“I was afraid that the world would forget me”
As soon as that first tour wrapped with 23,000 people in the summer of 2024, Mike Beaudoin had only one thing on his mind: write another show quickly. “I was afraid that the world would forget me!” starts one that can also be heard in the show Promotion!on energy.
In two weeks, he wrote the first version of a new one-man show, which he began working on at comedy evenings. A few months later, he approached Yannick De Martino to edit the script and signed a contract with Encore Spectacle.
Can we say that he is finally realizing the dream he has been dreaming of for 20 years? “It's safe. I've been waiting for this for a long time.” “This is not the trip I thought it would be,” says the comedian, who has a daughter who is almost 16 and a boy who is 5.
Authenticity protection
He decided to call his show Ruthlessafter all, this word applies to all areas of his life, he mentions. For example, with his teenage daughter, he worked hard to have a better relationship than the one he had with her father. “When she was in primary school, I only had her once every two weeks, and I wanted to be there and be attentive. I didn't want her to be embarrassed to admit it. But now it puts us in a position where she tells me too many things that I shouldn't know! [rires]»
Mike Beaudoin, having spent about seven years as a host at the Bordel Comedy Club in Montreal, wants to create a show that is natural, imperfect, and not memorized to the point of comma. “I want the audience to leave feeling like they had a great evening with a friend who told a long story. I have language tics and I don't care. I'm all about authenticity.”
Mike Beaudoin Show, Ruthlesswill be presented on November 4 (Halle Albert-Rousseau, Quebec) and November 25 (Olympia, Montreal). For all dates: mikebeaudoin.ca.
