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Every star has his official canon of sanctioned performances by which his talent is judged by the world – but lurking in the archives are those unsung gems whose discovery delights the dedicated fan. Fais-moi un dessin is one of those – literally “Draw Me Something”, but you may recognise the format as the game show “Win, Lose or Draw”.
During one week in March 1991, Quebec TV aired five 20 minute episodes of this show, featuring two teams from the cast of Les Filles de Caleb. The women are Johanne-Marie Tremblay and Isabelle Rosa, Émilie’s mother and sister-in-law respectively. The men are Émilie’s father, Germain Houde, ably supported by his son-in-law Ovila, a.k.a. our Roy.
Each day the teams are supplemented by two members of the public – significantly the female guests share a sofa with Johanne-Marie and Isabelle, which is probably better for their concentration. Here are the rules: one person draws on a flip-chart something that is written on a card, and their own team members have to guess what it is. Then the other team has a go. Points are awarded, and the guests win some prize. That’s it.
Except, of course, that it’s a wonderful opportunity to do some serious Roy-watching. Unscripted, undirected and competitive, this probably shows Roy at his most natural and uninhibited, at least as far as a TV recording ever could. Coming up to his 28th birthday, and looking impossibly youthful and ingenuous, Roy demonstrates all the competitiveness that records indicate has been part of his personality since childhood. The boys ham up the ‘team-building’, flexing their sketching fingers and high-fiving their successes, but in the heat of drawing and guessing against the clock, there’s no time for acting. This is Real Roy, or at least the 1991 edition!
And what do we learn? Apart from the commitment to the competition which we might have expected, we learn that his verbal strengths are good. He excels at guessing what other people’s drawings represent, or suggesting synonyms that get to the right answer. We learn also that his drawing ability is simply dreadful. Under pressure, his attempts at representation are frenzied and frankly confusing. Significantly, he can cope with ‘money’ and ‘beer’, but ‘God’ proves too much of a challenge. It’s probably not a Quebec nationalist’s political statement when he mangles the maple leaf in the middle of the Canadian flag, and let’s hope that his recent lessons in navigation have improved his visualisation of the Mediterranean Sea – otherwise the proposed round-the-world trip might be a bit problematic. To those of us who are only too aware of Roy’s talents, it’s intriguing to have proof of the areas where he is less gifted. And there are unexpected bonuses too. It appears that the guests are permitted to bring their tiny children into the studio. One tot ventures onto the set but is too shy to draw. However, she crosses to the men’s sofa and completely unexpectedly gives Roy a big hug. The radiance of his smile could illuminate the whole of Montreal (day 5 extract).
Day 1 Extract -
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