Among the Five Star Artisans on Netflix’s new reality show, Mocks, one in particular stands out: Canadian Pat. The locker maker is from Quebec, Patrick Laperrier. Here he is participating in his first TV show. “I can’t believe it yet,” he said in an interview. Newspaper About this larger than life experience.
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at MocksHosted by the famous American craftsman Jimmy DiResta, we meet five bearded men who create unusual things based on the original ideas of children.
While DiResta plays the young, disliked beau, Canadian Pat is the clown of the group. Wearing a sleeveless shirt, he does not hesitate to shoot French sentences at times, under the confused gaze of his comrades.
Canadian Pat is Patrick Laperriere, a 42-year-old wardrobe maker from Shawinigan. A few years ago, thanks to the YouTube channel he launched, the woodcutter made contact with other American craftsmen. Among these was Paul Jackman. The latter introduced Laperrière to his artisan friends, including DiResta.
After making a giant Adirondack chair together, a TV producer called Jackman, Dirista, Labrier, and their friends. One thing that led to another was the Making Fun project on Netflix.
in a bubble
For Patrick Laberrier, this is his first experience on television. And not just any! “Aside from Jimmy, it was pretty much our first TV experience,” he says. We didn’t know how to put ourselves out there. There is a difference between making videos in the basement and having ten Netflix cameras in your face! It was awesome. »
Filming took place in the spring of 2021 at the Derista estate in the small village of East Durham in upstate New York. “We shot from April to July,” says Patrick Laperrier. During those three months, COVID is no longer around. We had a huge bubble. We didn’t get out of there. »
Canadian pat
Before filming began, the production team suggested that Patrick Laperrier take on the Canadian Patrick. “At first, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be called that,” he admits. I didn’t feel like I represented all of Canada. But then, I understood that it could contain a file Hook (Hook). »
During filming, when Patrick Laperriere didn’t know how to say a sentence in English, director Mike O’Dair (Ducks breedTell him to say it in French. “A little Canadian pat FunnyI learned to live with him. I didn’t expect the kids to freak out like that for the character! »
first times
In the first season of MocksIn particular, Quebec and his four buddies must build a taco-spitting T-Rex, two rhinoceros bikes, and a guitar boat. Patrick Laperrier says, “We had about twenty hours per episode. It was so short! Besides, it was always the first time we did it. I didn’t, me, floating guitar!” [rires] »
usually the team Mocks You should know by the end of the month if Netflix gives them the green light to shoot a second season. If the show does not return, Patrick Laperrière will continue to create content for his social networks. He would also be happy to find himself in a Quebec TV project. “I would really like that.”
Ten Questions by Patrick Laperriere, aka Patrick the Canadian
What is your background or experience?
“I was born in Shawinigan, Lac-la-Torteaux to be more precise. I grew up there and worked there for much of my teenage years. Until not so long ago, I was still working there making the family cupboards, with my grandparents.”
When my grandfather closed his workshop, I found myself with nothing. I no longer know where to go. I decided to start my baccalaureate in communications. At the same time, I did my DEP exam in Graphic Design in Trois-Rivières. When I got out there, I thought it lacked a little fun there. Since there was not enough student debt, I said to myself: Let’s go to humor school! [rires] »
Did you have a desire to work with a sense of humor at the time?
“At first, yes. But today I am 42 and still wondering what I want to do in life. After humor school, I worked four or five years behind the camera. Then I decided to start my own video project of making cabinets. I did everything myself, video, Graphics, editing. It’s a project that combined almost all the skills I have.”
Thanks to YouTube, have you been able to meet other American artisans?
“Yes, the first was Paul Jackman. At the time, I didn’t speak English! Our first exchanges were on Messenger and I was using Google Translate at the same time! That year I went to see him at his home in Salem. When I got there, he was from The easiest to connect to smoke signals! [rires] The first meeting was strange. But I ended up learning the words, because those were the things that piqued my interest. I was finally able to order something other than bacon at the restaurant [rires]. »
at MocksChildren talk to you through screens. Did this idea occur to you because of the pandemic?
“Actually. We wanted to have kids there. But we filmed in the middle of the pandemic. So it was easier for us to go there through Zoom meetings. Also, we had kids from California. Others from Ohio. It was hard to get them all to come.” And I think they work very well, the screens. There is a kind of distance that arises between the chiefs, who are the children, and between us, in the workshop.”
Is everything written in the presentation?
“No, absolutely nothing is written. Projects are real childhood ideas. We choose who we want to achieve. We choose them first because we are able to do them. We are all kind of cranes of all trades. I am more specialized in woodworking. Grats, knives and metal.” Jimmy and Paul, they are both really creative geniuses.
Where did you shoot the show?
On Jimmy (Derista) property. Everything said in the introduction to the presentation is true. He worked in New York for a long time and at one point got tired of the city. He decided to buy something in upstate New York. This is where the big one was built store. He collected a lot of tools. He also has a lot of land. All cameras were live on his territory. It was perfect. »
Knowing you’re the French-speaking foreigner on the set, did the producers try to do the show without you at first?
“Actually, in the beginning, the main disagreement was that we were told: Oh no, not another show of five white bearded men! But we weren’t ‘chosen’ (chosen) at all. We were friends. Diversity [dans l’équipe]But we are five friends. We wanted to do the show together. […] Justin Silva worked as “Ghost Builder” [travailleur dans l’ombre] On the show in the early episodes. She was doing a great job. At one point, we asked her if she wanted to do an episode with us. [devant la caméra]. We didn’t invite her because we needed a woman. She was there because she was part of the gang. If we do a second season, I hope there will be. »
Have you talked to the other players since the show came out?
“We talk to each other every day. We send some other articles. Last week we all went to East Durham.” [où a été tournée l’émission]. Since it’s Netflix, there was no scheduled premiere. But we decided to organize our own first show. We rented a small cinema there and invited the village. We made a little red carpet. The people there were very happy. We watched four episodes with the community. »
Are you interested in doing a project in Quebec?
Do you know any producers? [rires] Of course I would be interested. I really, really love it. Of course I would like to have something like this [une version québécoise de Making Fun]. »
“What I love about this show is that it’s not a traditional home improvement show. It’s not a competition either. It’s really just artisans working together and having fun. That’s basically how the title came about. Because we were laughing at each other and having fun, the director did: Mocks! Well, that was it. »
On the show, the spitting T-Rex makes tacos and a guitar boat, among other things. What happens to these things after shooting?
“At the moment they are in storage. I was only talking to Paul [Jackman] I told him it would be fun to travel on the water in a guitar boat in Quebec. Just to “happen”. At the moment, it is owned by Netflix. I would find it a shame that things were stored for a year and then thrown in the garbage. I think maybe we could auction it off and donate the proceeds to a children’s charity. »