Jerry Tremblay climbs from clown school to national TV stardom

Jerry Tremblay — the character who went viral last fall on Quel talent! — was born 16 years ago in a Montreal circus school classroom, but he found his soul in the dimly lit cabarets of Germany.

Maxime Poulin created Jerry while studying at the École nationale de cirque de Montréal, specializing in acrobatic cycling. From the start, he wanted to blend "stand-up and cirque" to reach audiences who wouldn't normally buy tickets to either alone. Jerry became a caricature of the perpetually maladroit — those funny-despite-themselves types whose small exploits and mishaps provoke equal parts laughter and discomfort.

After graduating, Poulin took Jerry to Germany, where cabarets of medium-sized cities maintain permanent varieté programs. "Each city of grosseness moyenne has a stable cabaret. You present the same spectacle for several months," Poulin explained. For five years, he performed up to eight shows a week, testing and refining the character. "Europe was my second school in humour. It helped me understand comedy and what I was doing. It allowed me to gain stage experience," he said.

In Germany, Jerry was mute — though Poulin had mastered German. When he returned to Quebec, the character found a voice.

Then, last autumn, everything changed. Poulin's first appearance on Quel talent! reached 400 million views. Suddenly, strangers recognized him on the street, though Jerry's appearance differs markedly from Poulin's own. "My artistic line is very clear, but it can be less clear for people who don't know it," he acknowledged.

The sudden fame added pressure: he must now push Jerry further. But Poulin is confident in the show he's crafted for Montréal Complètement Cirque. "I'm really proud of this spectacle. It is well constructed. There is beautiful dramaturgy and it takes us into several zones."

Seeing the character move beyond what audiences glimpsed on Quel talent! matters to him — a fuller picture of who Jerry is.