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Josee Yvon at Ultimatum Festival 1985-05-04
The following is a transcription of Josee Yvon’s performance at the Ultimatum Festival I, Saturday, May 4th at the Foufounes Electriques. She performs excerpts from her prose-poetry publication Maitresse-Cherokees, originally edited by VLB and published in 1986. A revised edition by editors Les Herbes Rouges was reprinted in 2021. In Alan Lord’s memoir High Friends in Low Places (2022), he describes Josee Yvon and partner Denis Vanier as "the prince and princess of Quebec’s counterculture," and recounts that, in this performance, "Josee came on as a surprisingly lightly stoned poet queen, in a lovely pink strap top and jeans, and read a disjointed text too difficult to translate" (262, 130). Her work is often concerned with society's most marginalized groups, such as drug users, sex workers, and transgender individuals.
Annotations
00:00 - 00:09
Room noise.
Foufounes Electriques
00:09 - 00:13
Oh ben, ca va qu’un extrait, oh ben je [unintelligible].
Josee Yvon
00:13 - 00:16
Room noise [continues].
Foufounes Electriques
00:16 - 00:21
Sounds of paper flipping.
Foufounes Electriques
00:21 - 00:26
Room noise [continues].
Foufounes Electriques
00:26 - 00:33
Ca va etre un extrait de Maitresse-Cherokees qui est mon livre qui sort chez VLB.
Josee Yvon
00:33 - 00:35
Sounds of paper flipping.
Foufounes Electriques
00:35 - 00:39
J’ai melange mes feuilles mais ce n’est pas tellement l’importance.
Josee Yvon
00:39 - 00:43
Room noise.
Foufounes Electriques
00:43 - 00:47
Sounds of paper flipping.
Foufounes Electriques
00:47 - 00:50
Mois j’suis un peu plus grande que Pauline.
Josee Yvon
00:50 - 00:51
Mic stand squeak.
Tech
00:51 - 00:59
Laughter, chatter.
Audience
00:59 - 01:01
Sounds of paper flipping.
Foufounes Electriques
01:01 - 01:04
[inaudible extra poetic speech].
Josee Yvon
01:04 - 01:08
Sounds of paper flipping.
Foufounes Electriques
01:08 - 01:10
Room noise.
Foufounes Electriques
01:10 - 01:12
Aye Marie il n’y a pas des feuilles dans mon [unintelligible]?
Josee Yvon
01:12 - 01:14
[Laughter] non.
Unknown Speaker
01:14 - 01:21
Room noise [rustling].
Foufounes Electriques
01:21 - 01:22
C’est bien gentille [laughter].
Josee Yvon
01:22 - 01:25
Laughs.
Unknown Speaker
01:25 - 01:28
Room noise [rustling].
Foufounes Electriques
01:28 - 01:40
Ben voici ca c’est un texte qui s’appelle Maitresse-Cherokees, VLB editeurs. Pis la ben il faut que j’attaque la. Tu ma mis ca un peu haut peut etre.
Josee Yvon
01:40 - 01:41
[Unintelligible].
Unknown Speaker
01:41 - 01:42
Microphone sound.
Tech
01:42 - 01:47
Room noise [rustling].
Foufounes Electriques
01:47 - 02:02
Reads excerpt from Maitresse-Cherokees [French].
Josee Yvon
02:02 - 02:04
Soft laughter.
Audience
02:04 - 02:06
Microphone sound.
Tech
02:06 - 03:00
Resumes reading.
Josee Yvon
03:00 - 03:04
Sounds of paper flipping.
Foufounes Electriques
03:04 - 06:22
Resumes reading.
Josee Yvon
06:22 - 06:23
Coughing
Audience
06:23 - 06:24
Room noise [sounds of paper flipping].
Foufounes Electriques
06:24 - 06:26
Et c’est la feuille que j’ai perdu la, mais en tout cas.
Josee Yvon
06:26 - 06:27
Laughter.
Audience
06:27 - 06:29
Laughs.
Josee Yvon
06:29 - 06:32
Laughter.
Audience
06:32 - 07:06
Resumes reading.
Josee Yvon
07:06 - 07:09
Wooping, laughter.
Audience
07:09 - 07:11
Laughs.
Josee Yvon
07:11 - 07:14
Laughter continues.
Audience
07:14 - 07:16
Laughs.
Josee Yvon
07:16 - 07:19
Murmuring.
Audience
07:19 - 07:21
Bon ben, [unintelligible].
Josee Yvon
07:21 - 07:24
Murmuring [laughter].
Audience
07:24 - 07:25
Sounds of paper flipping.
Foufounes Electriques
07:25 - 07:27
Ma [unintelligible].
Josee Yvon
07:27 - 07:29
Laughter.
Audience
07:29 - 07:31
Je vais prendre du [unintelligible] ca.
Josee Yvon
07:31 - 07:46
Applause, wooping, shouting [unintelligible].
Audience
07:46 - 08:01
[Giggles] Je vais prendre du [unintelligible] ca. Euh, dans ceux memes [inaudible]. Euh, ca fait deux ans. Mais ma viser par [unintelligible] la.
Josee Yvon
08:01 - 08:09
Chatting [unintelligible].
Audience
08:09 - 08:11
Silence [possible tape change].
Recording
08:11 - 08:33
Reads piece [French].
Josee Yvon
08:33 - 08:35
Oh voyons fait–
Josee Yvon
08:35 - 08:48
Laughter [applause].
Audience
08:48 - 09:30
Resumes piece.
Josee Yvon
09:30 - 09:32
Room noise [sounds of paper flipping].
Foufounes Electriques
09:32 - 09:35
[unintelligible].
Josee Yvon
09:35 - 11:24
Resumes piece.
Josee Yvon
11:24 - 11:26
Room noise [sounds of paper flipping].
Foufounes Electriques
11:26 - 11:28
Ca va etre tout pour le background.
Josee Yvon
11:28 - 11:34
Merci merci!
Audience Member
11:30 - 11:34
Applause [laughter].
Audience
11:34 - 11:36
En fait [unintelligible] vingt minutes, moi la.
Josee Yvon
11:36 - 11:41
Wooping, applause.
Audience
11:41 - 11:44
Bravo, bravo.
Audience Member
11:44 - 11:54
Raucous applause.
Audience
11:54 - 11:55
Silence.
Recording
11:55 - 12:00
Room noise.
Foufounes Electriques
12:00 - 12:02
Le frigidaire debords des poppers.
Josee Yvon
12:02 - 12:07
Laughter, chatter [unintelligible].
Audience
12:07 - 12:08
Laughs.
Josee Yvon
12:08 - 12:09
Coughing.
Audience
12:09 - 12:34
Reads piece [French].
Josee Yvon
12:34 - 12:46
Laughter, coughing, chatter.
Audience
12:46 - 12:52
Resumes piece.
Josee Yvon
12:52 - 12:55
Laughter.
Audience
12:55 - 12:59
Giggles.
Josee Yvon
12:59 - 13:52
Resumes piece.
Josee Yvon
13:52 - 13:57
Room noise [sounds of paper flipping].
Foufounes Electriques
13:57 - 14:07
Mais [unintelligible] la derniere page, [unintelligible] page quatre, mais la dernier page est pas pire.
Josee Yvon
14:07 - 14:26
Room noise [sounds of paper flipping, distant chatter].
Foufounes Electriques
14:26 - 14:29
Performs piece [French].
Josee Yvon
14:29 - 14:31
Je recommence.
Josee Yvon
14:31 - 14:38
Restarts, performs piece.
Josee Yvon
14:38 - 14:41
Laughter.
Audience
14:41 - 14:49
Continues piece.
Josee Yvon
14:49 - 14:51
Laughter.
Audience
14:51 - 15:39
Continues piece.
Josee Yvon
15:39 - 15:40
Laughter.
Audience
15:40 - 15:44
Continues piece
Josee Yvon
15:44 - 16:04
Laughter, applause, whooping.
Audience
16:04 - 16:06
Silence.
Recording
16:06 - 16:06
[End of recording].
END