Review: SEARCHING FOR LOVE at Studio de l'Espace St-Denis

Jerry Tremblay wants you - and anyone who will listen - to know that he is Searching for Love. Winner of the 2025 edition of Quel Talent!, the recently single Tremblay (portrayed by Maxim Poulin) is desperately trying to find a new partner through dating apps like Tinder but is also not averse to scouting the audience for potential mates. Desperate to please, Tremblay shows off his attributes in an awkward fashion, showcasing his ability to break a gypsum board, treat power tools like hacky sacks. Eventually he hilariously strips down to reveal a tattoo with a self evident message and, in perhaps his most daring feat, successfully plays yo-yo from his unmentionables.

Poulin/Tremblay's humour is self deprecating and tongue in cheek, and his delivery makes the jokes land better than they otherwise might.

Poulin is a National Circus School graduate, and he shows off some of this talent most notably through some impressive bike maneuvers.  Using Tremblay's awkward persona, he makes it feel accidental, rather than calculated and deliberate movements. That's Pulin's entire shtick in a nutshell: create an affable but oddball character, dream up a story to drive a sympathetic narrative and intersperse comedy with circus acts. This formula works surprisingly well. There could have been a few more circus segments, as the sixty-minute set relied a little too heavily on the script and some audience interaction that started to drag on a little too far, but all in all, Searching for Love is a great way to spend an hour laughing at the spectacle of silliness. Searching for Love will be performed on July 8 and 9 at Studio de l'Espace St-Denis. Click the link below for tickets or click here to see what else is on at Complètement Cirque, running through July 12th at various locations in Montreal - another great opportunity for a Montreal day trip from Ottawa this summer. Click here to find out where else Jerry tremblay will be Searching for Love.

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