Michel Choquette (born March 14, 1938) is a Canadian

humorist A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business e ...

who has written for print, for television and for film, and a comedian who has performed for television.

Life and career

Choquette was born March 14, 1938, in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

to a

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

family. He attended

Selwyn House School Selwyn House School (SHS) is an English-language independent K-11 boys' school located in Westmount, Quebec. The school was founded in 1908 by Englishman Captain Algernon Lucas and was named in honour of Selwyn College at the University of Cam ...

and did his undergraduate studies at

Sir George Williams University Sir George Williams University was a university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It merged with Loyola College to create Concordia University on August 24, 1974. History In 1851, the first YMCA in North America was established on Sainte-Hélène S ...

. Afterwards, he studied for a master's degree in archaeology at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, but did not graduate. In 1959 he created a record called "Songs of Murray Bay", which made fun of a summer resort town on the St. Lawrence which was widely popular locally. Because of this song, Choquette, at age 22, caught the interest of Cambridge-based musical satirist

Tom Lehrer Thomas Andrew Lehrer (; born April 9, 1928) is an American former musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician, having lectured on mathematics and musical theater. He is best known for the pithy and humorous songs that he recorded in ...

. Along with

Peter Elbling The Times Square Two was a two man act of music, comedy, acting and juggling. Their performance of "I've Got a Funny Feeling for Ophelia" on the summer TV series ''Dean Martin Presents'', starring The Golddiggers, Joey Heatherton, and Frank Sina ...

, Choquette was half of the comedy duo " The Times Square Two" from 1964 to 1970. Choquette wrote for the

Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...

, and for

National Lampoon magazine ''National Lampoon'' was an American humor magazine that ran from 1970 to 1998. The magazine started out as a spinoff from the ''Harvard Lampoon''. ''National Lampoon'' magazine reached its height of popularity and critical acclaim during th ...

, where he was a Contributing Editor from 1970 to 1971, an Associate Editor during 1972, and a Contributing Editor from 1973 to 1974. During the 1970s, Choquette put together '' The Someday Funnies'', a large collection of original comics about the 1960s that were created especially for the book by 169 writers and artists. The book was released by

Abrams Abrams may refer to: * Abrams (surname), a list of notable people with the surname * '' Abrams v. United States'', 250 U.S. 616 (1919), U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding free speech during times of war * M1 Abrams, main battle tank * Abrams, W ...

on November 1, 2011. Choquette presently teaches screenwriting, comedy writing and creative writing at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

and

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

in Montreal.

References

External links

* http://www.fedge.net/sharyflenniken/biography.html

Shary Flenniken Shary Flenniken (born 1950) is an American editor-writer-illustrator and underground cartoonist. After joining the burgeoning underground comics movement in the early 1970s, she became a prominent contributor to '' National Lampoon'' and was one ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choquette, Michel 1938 births Canadian humorists Canadian male screenwriters Academic staff of Concordia University The Harvard Lampoon alumni Living people Academic staff of McGill University Comedians from Montreal Writers from Montreal Sir George Williams University alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni

Life and career

Further reading

Journals

Books

References

External links