José Gaudet on hosting Le tricheur, writing his first solo show, and life at 55

José Gaudet is in the thick of it. Between taping episodes of "Le tricheur," the game show he's now hosting that returns to TVA on August 31, and touring his solo show "Y'était temps," the 55-year-old comedian is running at full speed. "It's intense, but I love it," he says.

The Grandes Gueules—the radio comedy group Gaudet co-created in 1993 with Mario Jean—produced three decades of relentless material. Looking back, Gaudet estimates nearly 60 percent of those sketches would need reworking for today. "We were very irreverent," he recalls. "People's sensibilities were different. There are characters that simply couldn't exist anymore—like Robert, inspired by my father, who was racist and made jokes we would never make now, even though we were denouncing racism."

The line between what works and what crosses it has moved. Gaudet notes that young comedians today still push boundaries, but they do so in closed venues for audiences expecting irreverence. "At the mainstream level, the line is thin. We have to be careful what we say and how we say it."

Writing his first solo show from scratch was an act of creative assertion. Gaudet penned 75 percent of the material himself—he wrote the entire show, then brought in other writers to refine and add gags. "I wanted it to be 100 percent me," he says. "Maybe I should have involved the writers earlier, but I needed the show to be exactly what I dreamed it would be. It took longer, but it's exactly that."

Thirty years of being a siamese twin with Mario Jean meant constant compromise. "When you're in a duo, you're always making concessions—it's like a couple," Gaudet reflects. The split, which came when their creative ambitions diverged, has been healthy for both. "There's no fight. We see each other regularly. Mario is my invisible brother. We needed to realize our separate dreams."

At 55, Gaudet says he's in a good phase of life—though he hedges against calling it the best, since he doesn't know what comes next. "The good side of getting older is understanding things. Knowing and accepting who you are. Understanding that not everyone can like you." He describes himself as joyful and energetic, someone who brings fun everywhere. "People love me for that. Those who hate me, hate me for those same reasons. I can't change that. I can't make them love me."

Parenting, he adds, is the hardest job he's known. He has two adult children, both thriving. "I hope I was the best father I could be for them. They're beautiful, kind, well-raised. I'm lucky." The pride is genuine and grounded—no performance, just the quiet satisfaction of having gotten something important right.