When I was bikecamping down the coast of Vietnam from Hanoi to Ho Chi Min in 2007, I loved to spend long lunches out of the sun in restaurants. I enjoyed a meal and then wrote my adventures in my journal. One day, there was a tv in the restaurant playing a familiar TV show. Called Just for Laughs: Gags; it is one of the most globally successful prank shows ever produced having been distributed to over 150 countries. This comedy show made in Québec has achieved international fame due to its universal, non-verbal humor, which transcends language and culture.
The scenes can be quite elaborate with extras and props. On this particular occasion the prank went as such. A mother asks a random person to keep an eye on her 8 year old boy as she goes to the bathroom. The boy talks about his rainboots, puts them on and then begins to jump in small puddles. Already the passerby is uncomfortable because the child is going to get dirty. At about the 5th puddle the boy lines up a patch of wet grass. He jumps and… falls straight through. His entire body goes into the puddle. The boy has disappeared! The passerby rushes to his aid but has yet to understand. A moment later, the boy emerges from the puddle smiling and happy. The emotions quickly change from surprise to fear to relief. The mother returns and acts dumbfounded upon the good samaritan. Until the boy and mother point to the candid camera. I tell this story because I recognized the park near my home where that prank was filmed while half-way around the world. So a good laugh is yet again another example of Quebec’s joie de vivre culture exported around the world.
In 2025, the professional hockey goaltender Marc-André Fleury will be retiring after a successful 20 year long career. His teammate Nick Bonino described The Flower as having “an infectious personality. He is always in a good mood and is always positive. I truly can’t think of a time when I saw him grumpy, on or off the ice.” Beyond his prowess on the ice, “The Flower” is known as a legendary prankster across the league. He taped all of a teammate’s gear together, he took all of the hotel furniture out into the hallway, he hid dress shoes and offered hairy white boots in exchange. But the most memorable prank was to steal a former teammate’s car tires, add a few flowers and add a for sale sign. If there were to be an athlete to represent Quebec’s joie de vivre, it would be Marc-André Fleury.