Jonathan Roberge can finally turn the page on the difficult chapter of Kiss“the damned one-man show which almost never saw the light of day”, with the release of the book containing the texts of the show. His son’s numerous recurrences of cancer and the pandemic got the better of the tour he had dreamed of for ten years.
“The day I held the book in my hands, I was really moved to be able to turn the page on a really disgusting period of my life,” said the comedian at Journal. Even if my son’s fight is not over, and he is still fighting against illness, it was symbolic to release this text. For people, it’s just a book, but for me, it’s four and a half years, almost five, of big on tuesdaybig challenges and resilience.”
On November 22, 2019, while he was in the middle of an interview with The Journal to announce the release of his first one-man showJonathan Roberge had received a text from his boy’s mother telling him to call her back quickly. Her boy Xavier had a brain tumor.
From then on, the tour of Kiss was paused. Months passed and her boy’s health improved. But just when he was thinking of relaunching his tour, the pandemic ruined everything. Five recurrences of cancer for Xavier would definitively sound the death knell for Kiss.
Adib’s idea
While he was sleeping in the hospital, Jonathan Roberge wondered how he could immortalize the adventure that was his first show, since live performances were complicated due to COVID.
It was the comedian Adib Alkhalidey who suggested that he write a book with Kiss. The two comedians had crossed paths at the funeral home of the singer of the Cowboys Fringants, Karl Tremblay, in November 2023. A few weeks earlier, Adib had published the book based on his show Quebecois tabarnak.
Cover page of the book “Bisou”, by Jonathan Roberge.
Courtesy
Only Marie-Annick can understand
To sign the preface of the book, Jonathan Roberge thought of Marie-Annick Lépine, whom he has known for more than 25 years.
“I told her she’s the only person I know who knows what it’s like to go on stage with pain inside. You know that the person you love most in the world is fighting for their life. You want to have fun, but you feel guilty.”
Now 15 years old, Xavier takes tests for his cancer every two months. “Under the circumstances, things are average,” Jonathan said. He had another operation a few months ago. They successfully removed tumors. We are day by day. This is how we move forward in life.”
As long as his son’s health is not stable, Jonathan Roberge will not write a new show. “I realized that to have fun on stage, I must not have stress. […] One day I’m going to return to the stage. I can’t see myself not doing shows again. But the day I go there, I will be all-in.»
The book Kissby Jonathan Roberge, will be released on Wednesday.
