François Bellefeuille is firing on all cylinders in his third, new show, Sauvage, and it’s as uproariously funny as in his first two one-man shows—the self-titled outing in 2014 and The Strongest Man in the World, 2018.
The popular comedian kicked off the 2025-2026 comedy season at Montreal’s Olympia Theatre on Tuesday, buoyed by the fact that Sauvage has already sold 50,000 tickets. If the premiere nights of his peers are as successful, Quebec audiences will be laughing heartily in the months to come.
He may be a touch more composed than in the past, note. It’s natural, after all, to shout a little less as you age.
His onstage persona isn’t the quirky hermit of his early days, and he embraces a more grounded presence in everyday life—partnership, children, the family doctor, and… the bidet.
He still sports a tousled mop of hair… though it’s a bit easier to tame than in years past.
A Neighboring Planet
That said, Sauvage is still light-years away from the soft, folksy vibe of Temps de chien, the CBC comedy Bellefeuille wrote. One must admit the artist has progressed and aged with wisdom and balance, even in his absurdity, carefully cultivating his singular voice.
His welcome line? “I almost stayed home!” It seems he’s fed up with being mistaken for Doc Mailloux (who died in 2024, let’s not forget).
Bellefeuille darts from topic to topic as many comics do, but with such a fluid, offbeat thread given the zany tilt of his material that you wonder which neighboring planet he regularly visits, without living there full-time.
“I almost stayed home!”
We jump from his well-known ornithologist neighbor to his infamous bidet, from his “cell” that watches him to nonviolent communication, all with his signature otherworldly twist. An extraterrestrial bent that, one suspects, would always pay its taxes on time.
François Bellefeuille is the guy who asks his partner for cataracts for Christmas. He’s also the guy who, on a Post-it stuck to the fridge, orders her not to touch his cheeses rather than leave sweet notes.
Is he the only man who has attempted to observe his perineum with his phone? Probably not. He’s certainly the only one to have contemplated that body part from a mouse’s-eye view. Don’t ask questions—go see him in person; it’s safer.
Wife and Kids
All told, the former veterinarian revisits nearly every conventional cue of Quebec humor, but in his own distinctly idiosyncratic way. Everyone talks about their significant other, yet Bellefeuille’s slightly off-kilter gaze feels almost fresh.
His take on lovers’ squabbles and on parenting is especially engaging. He nails it.
He and his partner only squabble over “small things.” Think about how often she sneezes or about flossing, for example.
As for the kids, he highlights his son’s soccer talents and, even more pointedly, his daughter’s gymnastics, which he likens to a cat, a comparison Bellefeuille leans into. Wait until you hear the sports personality he imagines as trotting like a horse in that setting.
A two-year-old cocaine addict you owe money to.
Young parents, take note, according to François Bellefeuille: raising a toddler is like raising “a two-year-old cocaine addict you owe money to.” At that age, his daughter went through a serious “possession” phase, insisting that everything in the house belonged to her. “I felt like living with a two-foot-tall man who’s getting a divorce!” The hopeful dad finally declared it enough when the girl stamped her ownership on the car. There are limits, though…
And all that cheerful suburban whimsy peaks with… Xavier Dolan and La nuit où Laurier Gaudreault s’est réveillé.
Sauvage is classic, tempered François Bellefeuille: a touch more mature, a few decibels lower, always just a step or two from the track of normalcy and straight-ahead humor. A more down-to-earth Bellefeuille who feels like he’s slogging through the daily grind, then vents it through his deliriously skewed, cleverly sharp, never mean filter.
Sometimes crude, it doesn’t always soar high. But almost every punchline makes you say, “He had to think of that.” All in all, Bellefeuille puts a lot of arm work into his material, clearly crafted with care.
No frills or screens this time (remember his hilariously sharp childhood-drawing analyses in The Strongest Man in the World); just lived experience reinterpreted. Our host generally stays static in front of his comic-book-bright backdrop, relying mainly on his words to loosen an already-purchased audience.
Granted, at its third run, the element of surprise isn’t as pronounced as in the early years. The challenge for François Bellefeuille was to reinvent himself with Sauvage. And he succeeds, without softening what he has been or veering in the opposite direction.
Keep an Eye on Douaa Kachache
Opening for Sauvage, the likable Douaa Kachache plays with her roots.
Talking about her 30 years in Quebec, 30 years of being single, and her slightly strict upbringing, far from men, under the approving eye of her dad, the former teacher turned comedian showcases with aplomb her gift of gab, intelligence, and natural stand-up knack. It bodes well for what’s next.
The Sauvage tour by François Bellefeuille will travel across Quebec over the coming year. Check his website (francoisbellefeuille.com) for details.
