[VIDÉOS] Sucre Salé: Michel Barrett slept at the station when he arrived in Montreal in the 1980s

Without a mirror to remind him of his 67 years, Michael Barrett almost every day felt like a 17-year-old, the same age as his son Jonathan!

This is what the artist with a 41-year career said to Melanie Maynard during her visit to Paris Salty sweetTuesday, where he revealed he was homeless for four weeks when he arrived in Montreal in the mid-1980s.

Photo courtesy of TVA

“I'm burning!” Whispered the original Bluett, who deeply loves what he does.

“My father said to me one day: 'Michel, I've been back at the plant for 35 years – a hydroelectric plant in Alma – and I've hated every day I've been back there.' For 40 years, I've been running around making funny faces because I love it. I will never get tired of it. My neighbor is disgusted, he can no longer bear my stories. Sometimes he comes out of the house, looks at me and says: “I don't have time!” He jumps into his tank and leaves. “Stop people at the mall,” he said with his usual cheerfulness.

Melanie Maynard suggested to him that he was “tired” of being so emotional, to which he agreed, laughing.

Photo courtesy of TVA

“You'll get caught sometime!” The host added that he feeds off the same energy, and the comedian responded by asserting that inmates would have a hard time with his intensity. He believes that even a retirement home would not want him.

Homeless upon arrival in Montreal

He even said that he started his career in the teen program Brain teaserIn the mid-1980s, he slept on a bench at a Montreal bus station for a month.

“I got there and did so well that the director said, ‘Hey, we want you, and we'll keep you.’ But I didn't have a way to walk between Chicoutimi and Montreal, and I didn't want to lose my chance at the same time, so I said, ‘Okay, no problem. “I'll be here tomorrow.” Except I didn't have a penny. I lived at the bus station. […] I told them, “I don't want to be on the street. If you don't mind, I'll sleep on a bench. That's because I work in television, and I don't get paid. Watch the show, you'll see I'm here, but at least watch me tonight and I'll help you.” I would sweep the floor with them, sweep it, and empty the trash. And the next day they said, “Hey, you're really on TV!”

He then lived alternately with Serge Chablot and Jacques Grisi, among others, until he was able to buy a room.

The one who received lukewarm praise (for his liking) at the recent Les Olivier Gala has had a lot of success over the past four decades. Long gone are the days of sleeping on a bench at the station, and today he owns a collection of 22 cars!

In love for 22 years with his partner Maude, who arranged for him to slow down a bit and for the couple to travel more, Michel Barrett still has two shows on the road, Humor in my life And One word, one story. More information is available On-line.