WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 736 - Gad Elmaleh

Episode Date: August 25, 2016

Gad Elmaleh is a mega-successful international comedian and actor. Now he's basically starting from scratch to perfect his act in America, not in his native French but in English. Marc and Gad talk ab...out the challenge of doing comedy in another language and the universal truths about standup that cross all language barriers. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Starting point is 00:00:19 Along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing.
Starting point is 00:00:39 With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. What the fuck, buddies? What the fucking ears? What the fucking delics? What's happening? I am Mark Maron.
Starting point is 00:01:45 This is my show. WTF. Thank you for joining. Thank you for being here. Thank you for wherever you may be. I appreciate your patronage and allowing me to be in your head. Right? Just me and you.
Starting point is 00:02:02 Before I do forget to plug myself, you can still get my special more later as a digital download for a special price. It's available exclusively at WTFpod.com for another week, and it's only $7.99 before it goes to iTunes next month. Go to WTFpod.com. There's a link right on the homepage under today's episode, as well as in the merch section. link right on the home page under today's episode as well as in the merch section also get tickets for my carnegie hall dates they're at you can go to ny comedy festival.com that's
Starting point is 00:02:34 the new york comedy festival november 4th i will be performing at carnegie hall i will be at the albuquerque journal theater september 3rd There's not many tickets left for this hometown show, but you can go to WTFpod.com slash tour to check out where to get those tickets. I'll be at the Comedy Club in Rochester, New York, September 9th and September 10th. You can get tickets for that. Again, WTFpod.com slash tour for those Rochester dates.
Starting point is 00:03:03 The Wilbur in Boston, September 24th. The Vic Theater, December 3rd in Chicago. Today on the show, Gad Amala. I hope I'm pronounced Gad Amala. He's a French comic and he's a Moroccan Jew. And he's somebody that a lot of people in this country have not heard of, but he's an international superstar. It's one of those situations where it's like, what? And I was happy to meet him. I never know what to expect. And he has been in the country here in the United States a couple of times in the recent past.
Starting point is 00:03:37 Actually, he's a native French speaker. And he's doing his act in English. And it was very interesting to watch somebody, you know, actually trying to do a completely English act and not being an English speaker. It was impressive because the sort of skills you have to rely on comedically sort of shift from what you're used to. And I had a lot of respect for the guy and had a great time talking to him my first time i ever met and that first time i've had a a french person on the show and the first time i've met a moroccan jew uh so there was a lot of new a lot
Starting point is 00:04:16 of new uh things a lot of firsts yeah so i'd gotten estranged from my buddy Mike. You know, there was, you know, it just, you know, sometimes things get difficult. You know, he needed a couple bucks a while back. I gave him a couple bucks and I didn't hear from him. And then we got weird and then things got weirder. And then you get to the point where you don't know what's really happening. And I didn't know where he was at or where I was at. And then this was the fucking thing, man. I didn't know where he was at or where I was at.
Starting point is 00:04:41 And then I, this was the fucking thing, man. You know, your life should never be at a point if possible, where you see somebody that you were friends with out in the world and you avert your face and hope that you don't see him, that he don't see you. You don't see him or her or whoever that you don't want to you don't want to deal i mean life's too fucking short to have that shit out in the world
Starting point is 00:05:10 when sometimes you know all it takes all it takes is just to you know sit down and face the fire you know what's up what is up where we at how can we make this right so that happened man a couple weeks ago i saw him and i was like oh god and he didn't see me and I was relieved. But right after that, I'm like, this is bullshit. You know, I didn't get sober to have fucking weird bullshit out in the world with people. And as often as I talk to people here, you know, face to face, I don't always know these people. And a lot of times when I work through problems here, they're one-time things that just, you know, kind of stick in my craw or stick in their craw and they become like a dark, dark pearl of resentment. Nothing shiny about the dark pearls of resentment that
Starting point is 00:05:57 kind of stick there under the fine emotional membrane of your heart. And over time, the membrane just keeps rubbing on it, and it just takes on this weird kind of sucking luster, the black pearl of resentment. The problem was that there was unresolved business between me and my buddy, and I said, what the fuck is up? Which is not the best way. That's not a great opening salvo to what should be an apology or a resolution. But I was like, you know, I was defensive. So I was prickly and he was prickly and we went back and forth and it didn't seem like we were going to get closure.
Starting point is 00:06:36 And then it was finally like, fuck it, dude. Let's get in it, man. Let's just fucking have coffee and deal with this shit. It was really simple. It was fucking just misunderstandings, misunderstanding and assumptions. You know, he thought I was mad that he wasn't paying me back a few bucks.
Starting point is 00:06:54 And I thought, you know, he was ignoring me because he didn't want to. And then there was other shit involved. There were just layers of shit. And all that got compounded by the fact that neither one of us were talking to each other over a meaningless sum of money and it just was fucking stupid and then when we got together within minutes it was like oh fuck what a relief and then we kind of went point for point and worked through shit and you know we hugged it out and uh you know we're
Starting point is 00:07:20 back on track we're friends again and it was like my entire life became better. You know, some things they just, you don't realize. They take precedent, you know, over, you know, how you're looking at your world. They buckle and constrict your perception because it's unresolved and it's hurting your fucking heart. Fucking clear that shit up if you can because now we're good and it wasn't that hard because we both thought things
Starting point is 00:07:53 that were untrue. You make these decisions in your mind about people. I do it all the fucking time. 99% of the time when someone comes into this garage just to talk, I have an idea of who they are. And I'm always amazed because it's always never that idea. And it's always much more. And a lot of times when you got to beef with somebody, you've made a decision to sort of just fuel your goddamn contempt or your resentment or your judgment. And the decision is based on nothing other than your own fucking anger.
Starting point is 00:08:27 Got no bearing on reality. There is a reality there. It may be, it may have started with something, but what blossoms from that is just bullshit. It's just malignant imagination, you know, running away with you. And that will ruin your entire fucking day or week or life okay so uh been exercising been doing what i gotta do to try to uh have a good uh last part of my life i don't that sounds dark it's just just funny how we push ourselves and how in our mind,
Starting point is 00:09:07 and I've talked about this on stage before to some degree, just that I don't really sense that I'm getting older. I don't really sense in a real way. I still think that I'm in the best shape I've ever been in, and I might be. But I was in Phoenix a few days ago, as I told you, and me and Ryan hiked up camelback you know it's 100 105 degrees out you can't you got to go up there before like seven in the morning and uh you know i've done it many times before because i've been to phoenix my my first wife was from
Starting point is 00:09:39 there my brother lives there but camelback mountains a nice little hike it's about an hour up about an hour down but it's uh you go up and you get you know and it gets scary because people have been dropping dead up there and they actually closed a mountain because there was three or four cases of extreme heat stroke I had water and we got lucky wasn't that hot out but you know I I'm a 52 year old dude and I'm fucking you know climbing up this mountain i gotta stop because a couple of times because my heart was pounding out of my chest and it was hot and uh the sweat started to come and uh you know we made it you know ryan and i made it up my brother made it up
Starting point is 00:10:16 his stepdaughter uh brooke made it up and uh you know there we were and i'm heading down and you know you start to you start to realize your your age and you start to say like you know i gotta be a little more careful and you know because we're we just think we can do things and there was just this weird beautiful gross buddha moment where you know i saw a dude'm coming down, I saw a dude with some other dudes who look like he was about my age, and he was on his knees, on the ground, puking his guts out. And this was me, I'm not even halfway up the hill. I felt bad for him, I hope he was all right. But the other dudes were like, come on, let's just go back down.
Starting point is 00:10:58 He's like, no, no, no, he gets up, he wipes his mouth, I'm all right, it's just all that fucking fish oil I've been taking in the morning. up he wipes his mouth i'm all right it's just all that fucking fish oil i've been taking in the morning so i don't know why to me that was revelatory but it's just that you know this weird you know desperate place we get at a certain age where you're like man i gotta take these vitamins i gotta get that exercise in i gotta you know you just your whole life is built around maintaining these performance levels or staying healthy. And there he was, couldn't even make a quarter up the hill and he's puking up vitamins. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:11:31 I don't know what that is. I don't know if it means anything, but to me, it stood out as sort of like, hey, hey, man, maybe we should take it easy. Just, you know, let's not go too hard, man. We've made it this far. You know, let's not go too hard, man. We we've made it this far. Let's not hurt ourselves trying to be 25 or trying to think that, you know, we have to do this thing out of pride.
Starting point is 00:12:07 You know, this exercise is pushing ourselves to the limit. in shape the best we can without hurting ourselves and enjoy fucking life and not throw up fish oil vitamins a quarter of the way up a mountain maybe that's it not judging that guy i related to him so uh god of mala all right he's got he's got a bunch of shows here this as i told you before he's a french comic, internationally huge. And I didn't know him until I met him here at Largo. And he charmed me and I liked him. And I was curious about his journey to do an act in English as a French speaker. And I got a lot more. I really had a nice conversation with the guy.
Starting point is 00:12:50 He's got about, he's got like eight big shows here in the U.S. andada starting next week in boston he'll be here in la on september 9th you can go to his website gotamala.com that's g-a-d-e-l-m-a-l-e-h.com for tour dates and tickets and this is me and god uh you know having a good time having a nice nice talk. He's a charming, funny guy. And he's a Moroccan Jew. I never met a Moroccan Jew before. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer.
Starting point is 00:13:34 I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. The bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative.
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Starting point is 00:14:40 Four. four. Gad. Elmaleh. Uh-huh, Elmaleh. E-L-M-A-L-E-H, Elmaleh. Elmaleh. You know, every night the hosts in clubs,
Starting point is 00:14:59 they come in panic. I'm sorry, how do you pronounce it? I don't know. What's your first name? What's your last name? It's a problem, you know, because we're not used to the strange names here yes yeah yeah but when trump is going to be president you're gonna get even less of you yeah no no more more and more oh yeah we have a plan oh you do good but i saw you uh i saw you a while ago you know you you know that you've got friends in the American comedy world, Godfrey, bothering me.
Starting point is 00:15:28 You got to get Gad on. You got to get Gad on. I'm like, I don't know who this guy is. Gadfrey. Gad. Gadfrey. So then, you know, I do a little research, and it's very fragmented, the research I do. You know, I'm like, who is this guy?
Starting point is 00:15:41 He's like, well, you know, Jerry's his friend, and you brought him over. And I'm like, what do you mean Jerry brought him over Seinfeld brought him over like it was adopted yeah yeah it's like he decided well I knew what happened you know this happens occasionally you know big uh big stars here they they go around the world and all of a sudden they're like oh my god you know there's uh there's there, there's whole popular people that I know nothing about. Yeah. He seems to be a professional of some kind. Maybe he'd enjoy America.
Starting point is 00:16:13 But you were here before? No, no. I just started to do stand-up in English. But you know what? This happens. I talk about that in my show, but this happens really often. Sometimes I'm with some American friends, and French people, they recognize me, you know. Right.
Starting point is 00:16:26 On the street, in a bar, and they freak out because French people get so excited. And it's good for girls, you know. Yeah, sure. They're excited to see you because they know you. I mean, that's happened, you know, we know, we have Russell Peters, who none of us know as an American star, but all we hear about
Starting point is 00:16:42 is Russell Peters, like, everywhere else in the world, he's the biggest comedian in the world. But not here. Also here, no? I think, yeah, people know him. They know him,
Starting point is 00:16:50 but not like that. They don't know me. At all. At all. They can't even say my name. Right, because now you, like, well, you know, there's a language barrier.
Starting point is 00:17:00 No, not anymore. But this is new is what I'm saying. Yeah, because I worked so hard to learn English. I saw that. And it was interesting when I saw you at Largo, because I know that you're now internationally you speak French, because in other countries people speak more than one language. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:17:17 Especially in France. But you go other places. You're big in other places, correct? Yeah. In Europe and North Africa and Middle East. North Africa. Now you used to do French. I was born in Morocco, raised in Morocco.
Starting point is 00:17:28 But it's still French. First language is Arabic, obviously, Moroccan Arabic. Do you speak Moroccan Arabic? Oh, yeah, of course. You say that like, you know, of course we speak nine languages. No, I mean, I grew up there, you know, and because I grew up in a Jewish Moroccan family, I also speak hebrew
Starting point is 00:17:45 so you speak hebrew yeah arabic arabic french now english english was the last the final frontier italian a little italian yeah but a little italian because it's also a romantic language and it's some similarities you got it and but the arabic and english arabic and hebrew i imagine some similarities very Very similar. Very similar. So once you get the knack for that, if you got the brain that was wired that way when you were a kid, you can't pick that shit up. Yeah. Right?
Starting point is 00:18:12 Yeah. But English is the hardest one, right? English is hard. You have no idea. I can't imagine. I barely speak. I don't speak it well. I know.
Starting point is 00:18:22 I have a hard time with it. Yeah. I don't know what a lot of things mean. I use words wrong. It's ridiculous. I mean, expressions. And sometimes you guys have things that you think are so logic and normal. For us, we learn. Okay.
Starting point is 00:18:35 This weekend, I was talking to a girl by text. I said, let's go for dinner. She said, I'm down. Yeah. I swear, Mark. I swear she was depressed i'm like okay so let's do that uh some other i don't know another day she said no why i said if you're down i respect i'll wait i said no no i'm told i mean i'm i swear she said i'm totally i mean i'm totally up i'm for it
Starting point is 00:19:02 yeah so now you think you've got a depressed girl that's gonna be fighting her depression that you're gonna hang out yeah i don't know i'm gonna be depressed girl who's totally down for it well you said something else in the act too about that the i'm good thing which is very funny had a nice uh nice long english bit with a callback it was very good it was impressive uh the you're excited about the word fuss i mean i i understood all that but i found myself watching you thinking like i don't just see this guy in french because i bet you it's just like crazy like just because when i saw you get animated i'm like well that's he does a big act somewhere because like american stand-up is sort of specific and you know and
Starting point is 00:19:39 you're doing you're dealing with the language and you're dealing with the timing and it's going very well but it seems like that you're a lot more mobile, you know. In France, in Europe. Yeah, yeah, that's right. You got it. It's right. But let's talk about how one comes up in comedy coming from Morocco. See, I'd like to go to Morocco.
Starting point is 00:19:57 You should go. I should take you to Morocco. But is it okay? By the way, the Morocco. Is it okay? My parents, everyone's very afraid. Don't travel now. You can't travel now.
Starting point is 00:20:06 It's safer than some places in Europe. Yeah. Yeah, no, no, no. They really protect people who come visit. And by the way, the stand-up scene in Morocco is getting very, very... Isn't that what? Good? Good.
Starting point is 00:20:18 Great. What do you mean? People do comedy all around the world. That's relatively new. No. Yes. No. Come on. Comedy has been, you know... Stand-up or some sort of weird. That's relatively new. No. Yes. No. Come on.
Starting point is 00:20:25 Comedy has been, you know. Stand up or some sort of weird. Not stand up. Ah, see, different. Sure. Yeah. There's been funny things for a long time. You have this idea of us in Europe and Maghreb and North Africa doing comedy with, I don't
Starting point is 00:20:38 know, props. Not props. Just very broad. Birds. Broad. Jerry always make fun of me. He say, oh, I'm sure you do some mime things with a rope and you bring someone. No, I don't think that.
Starting point is 00:20:49 But I think that there is a physicality. No, you're right. In other countries that is different. You know, American stand-up is sort of a thinky, individual, you know, kind of like singular person. Yeah, but I like it. I like to mix those two things. Weirdly. kind of like singular person. Yeah, but I like it.
Starting point is 00:21:02 I like to mix those two things. Weirdly, you're just... Because the only dry standing up, telling jokes, very serious, very... Yeah. Eh, it's not my thing. And only moving around and dancing and doing body language thing is not my thing.
Starting point is 00:21:17 Like, yeah, I just know that in Montreal, they have, you know, for two weeks, they have the French comedy thing. And I'm like, what is that? It's just a lot of people going... People... You know, walking around
Starting point is 00:21:27 with their hands up making funny faces. You know what I'm like? I want you to come to Paris and say that. I'm going to take you. Why? I'm going to hate you forever.
Starting point is 00:21:38 I want to take you. Am I wrong? Yeah. Okay. I'm judging. Maybe I was being a little. No. Okay. By the way, because, no, now, it's a funny example. Yeah. Okay. I'm judging. Maybe I was being a little... No. Okay.
Starting point is 00:21:45 By the way, because... No. Now, it's a funny example. Yeah. For a bit. I think you could do that as a bit. That would be a funny bit. Maybe you already have it in your act.
Starting point is 00:21:54 But if you take the very specific Montreal, Quebec example, they do stand-up in French that looks really, really like English stand-up. They're North American. Right. Only the language changes. Right. We, in France, do something more theatrical. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:22:11 Right? Very act out. Yeah. And the body language. Yeah, I like it. And the music. Oh, music. The lights.
Starting point is 00:22:17 Well, let's go back to your childhood. Because what I learned and what made me interested in talking to you is that I found that backstage at Largo, when we were talking, that you're just this insecure jewish guy from morocco who speaks french and i'm like i understand that like that's a good start for comedy no yeah it is but i didn't know that when i first saw you in new york i'm like who the hell does this guy think he is mr suave and then like i was like i talked to you for five minutes i'm like oh he's a comedian the guy is a comedian a jewish comedian like me that's funny because that's when i heard about you and i meet you today it's the opposite uh-huh all what i thought before is true oh yeah yeah which is good i don't know the lonely man the garage thing the crazy everything that's true
Starting point is 00:23:02 it's true someone told you otherwise no surprise they talk about it in france also oh really yes they talk about this yeah oh good but like how do you like i don't understand see like it's new to me that i know there are persian jews i know there are iraqi jews now i know they're what is rocky jews iraqi oh iraqi i heard rocky uh they're you know moroccan jews like that community seems like i don't you know all i understand from my life experience is sort of middle class jewish shit like you know so you know american middle class jew stuff yeah third generation second generation it's american but this fascinates me so because he did an it's funny because you did an impression
Starting point is 00:23:42 of your jewish mother on stage in English. That was a little different than the classic Jewish mother here. But the French understood it. Yeah. There's a French Jewish mother apparently. But this is a new perspective that I want to bring here. Yeah. Because Sephardic Jew, which is so different than Ashkenaz and in Morocco, obviously, we're Sephardic.
Starting point is 00:24:01 Sephardic. Which means Arabic based. Kind of. I mean, the word Sephard in Hebrew means Spain because Sephardics are from Spain, obviously, and they were
Starting point is 00:24:13 kicked out by Isabel the Catholic. Sure, during the big thing. Inquisition. Yeah, Inquisition, yeah.
Starting point is 00:24:20 So Sephardic Jews, it's a great story. It's a great history between the two communities by the way it's one of the only place on earth where two people Muslims and Jews lived in in really good harmony for decades where in Spain in Morocco and Casablanca they They had the Jewish neighborhood. It was very, very like a peace, you know. Now, you brought something interesting because the cliche that you guys have
Starting point is 00:24:52 and use in the American comedy of the Jewish mother has nothing to do with our Jewish mother, which is so, I mean, the Jewish mother here in America is not sexy. Our Jewish mother. You haven't met my mom. She's America is not sexy. Uh-huh. Our Jewish mother.
Starting point is 00:25:06 You haven't met my mom. She's very, very sexy. I have a very specific. Like, I did relate to the experiences. Like, I almost bought you a cookie that day. Yeah, but selfish. Right, selfish. There you go.
Starting point is 00:25:15 A little selfish. Oh, no, that travels. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. Yeah, completely self-involved. Like, it's my thing. Oh, yeah. And if I do something good for you, it's because it's me.
Starting point is 00:25:25 It's for me. It's for me. Look what, you know. Look how great I am. I did the good thing for you. Like my mother with my son, the little one. Yeah. If there's no audience, family, friends, she would be okay with my little one.
Starting point is 00:25:39 No problem. But as soon as there are people. Yeah. Like friends. Yeah. And then she puts on a show. Oh, she's the best grandma. Right. But alone, she's a people, like friends. Then she puts on a show? Oh, she's the best grandma. Right.
Starting point is 00:25:47 But alone, she's a little selfish. Yeah. Exactly. When they leave the house, it's like, okay, I'm tired. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, my mom's a little more like that. I guess the classic Jewish mother stereotype here is the overbearing, smothering, eat some more. No.
Starting point is 00:26:03 No, my mom. She doesn't cook. My mother doesn't cook. Mine neither. She barely eats. They should meet. They should. Completely vain and worried about her looks,
Starting point is 00:26:13 but doesn't eat much. Terrible cook. You know what she did? She did something crazy. My sister was traumatized. The day of my sister's wedding wedding my sister was getting ready in the hotel room yeah so my mom she knocked at the door my sister opened the door and my mom looked at my sister and asked her how do I look yeah my sister
Starting point is 00:26:41 was traumatized really she talks about it every week. It's all about your mother. Yeah. The wedding day. Yeah. Then she divorced. Did she? The sister? Not because of that.
Starting point is 00:26:51 Yeah. But your parents are still together? Yeah. 50 years. Uh-huh. I would not like to be with someone for 50 years. How about your mother? You stuck with her.
Starting point is 00:27:01 She said a great line last summer. Very cute. I took them to Capri in Italy. Now I feel I have to explain. Yeah, it's the beach, right? Yeah. It's the sea, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:27:15 By the ocean. Flip-flops, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That kind of thing. I see romantism and Mark sees flip-flops. No, no, it's beautiful. Everything in Europe is beautiful. It's all, yeah.
Starting point is 00:27:25 So I take them to Capri, you know, and we have this big party with all the family and the grandkids and the kids and everyone. We're in a club dancing and she looks at me and she said, you know what? Only for this moment that I'm having right now with you, it was worth to stay 50 years with this man. And I think.
Starting point is 00:27:47 They get an understanding. You know, they get a pattern. You know, these married couples that you think are crazy. They're both crazy, but somehow or another. They know. They talk a lot about this or that, but they're still together. You know what I mean? But like, so how many people in this family of yours?
Starting point is 00:28:03 You got a sister. Three kids. My sister is a writer in Franceance she works for a tv my younger brother is an actor a pretty serious actor oh yeah theater and plays all uh all uh all arts and my father was a mime which is a moroccan mime i mean this is funny is funny. Was he really? I swear. Because you know you're French, right? Even that phrase, my father was a mime is a funny one. If you add my father was a mime in Morocco, it's even funnier.
Starting point is 00:28:35 But here you were poo-pooing the idea that we have this weird judgment of French comedy. Like Jerry's saying, do you do the rope? Do you do the wind? Are you in a box? And then with all sincerity, you're telling me your father's a mime. And saying, do you do the rope? Do you do the wind? Are you in a box? And then with all sincerity, you're telling me your father's a mime. And like,
Starting point is 00:28:48 we're the assholes? You think we're going to, it's obviously a job and show business that people do there. You know, no one ever in America goes like,
Starting point is 00:28:57 I'm going to go into mime. But clearly, it's something that happens over there. It's not some weird stereotype. Marcel Marceau. Yeah. Have you heard of Marcel Marceau?
Starting point is 00:29:06 Of course. He's the one guy. He's the one guy who teached to Michael Jackson how to moonwalk. He did? Yeah. Oh. And my father was a big fan of Marcel Marceau. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:29:18 And he was a mime. He did that as a hobby, right? Yeah. Like in private things. As a hobby. As a club. Hobby. Not a professional mime.
Starting point is 00:29:24 Nah. How could he be a professional mime in morocco i mean i don't know i don't know the landscape there i don't know what a night out is in morocco and i first time first time i went on stage in my life was with my father i was presenting his um his routine you know with the with the board and doing oh you're the guy that walked out that with that said uh no no no wind no talking but just written yeah written on it did you uh what kind of two men in a restaurant yeah want to kill each other i don't know oh yeah right got it so so that was your first experience in show business carrying signs for your father so people would have some context for what he was about yeah
Starting point is 00:30:01 he would have some comedians should put that sometimes before a joke. So you know at the beginning? Yeah. Doesn't take 10 minutes. The setup. Yeah, the setup. Just a quick setup. Please, get to the point.
Starting point is 00:30:12 Right, or a segue. A segue. I like that. Yeah. But that's interesting to me. So he loved Marcel Marceau. So I guess mine was actually very popular, and I think that Marcel Marceau popularized it, like obviously over there.
Starting point is 00:30:26 And what is the... So, but he didn't do it professionally. No, it was a hobby. I think he would have loved to be a professional mime, but it was hard. Was he good at it? Very good. Yeah, he was the only one. The only one in Morocco?
Starting point is 00:30:43 Yeah. He had the market cornered. I mean... Looking for a mime? There was not another mime. He was the only one. The only one in Morocco? Yeah. He had the market cornered. I mean. Looking for a mime? There was not another mime. He was the mime. The mime of Morocco. Now we have a very important comedy festival in Marrakech.
Starting point is 00:30:55 It's funny. I was just talking to this. Did you play it? Yeah, of course. Yeah, because you're the guy. Yeah. You made it out. Yeah, of course.
Starting point is 00:31:02 They're proud, you know. What do they do? What kind? They bring all the French comedians because obviously everyone talks French in Morocco because Morocco was colonized by France, you know? Right, right. And also they bring Moroccan comedians, obviously,
Starting point is 00:31:19 and Jamel Debus, who is the biggest comedian. He's Moroccan, but he's maybe the second biggest comedian in France. Really? What's his name? Jamel Debbouze. I think I've seen him. Yeah. I was talking this morning about what I was going to do here, and he says, but podcast.
Starting point is 00:31:38 We don't have this in France. We don't care about podcast. I think he might. I guess not. Well, you don't care about a lot of things, right? I don't care about podcast i think you probably might i guess not well you don't care about a lot of things right i don't care i don't care about that conversation yeah yeah i don't i don't know it's very funny though like the way you characterize like i thought it was kind of interesting that you know by doing your act in english you know you're speaking to there was a like i guess probably about a third of the audience were French people living here.
Starting point is 00:32:07 And, you know, by choosing to do it in English, you kind of make it a more personal experience for people who are French who live here because you're talking about being French, learning English and dealing with America. Yeah. As opposed to just come out and do the French act, that would have made them all happy. But I think you spoke directly to their experience as expatriates, right? That's a very good point because it's true. Obviously, I do the show in English
Starting point is 00:32:29 and a lot of Americans are in the room. But the expats, as you say, relate really strongly to the frustration they feel with Americans and how with the language and some habits. And yeah, yeah, you're right.
Starting point is 00:32:43 I do this because it's a mixed crowd. But when I go to like where we met at the Cellar, for example, in New York City, I do only bits that could be understood only by Americans, obviously. And that's a pretty international club in a weird way. It used to be more so. You know, like they get a lot of people
Starting point is 00:33:00 from all over the country. Oh yeah, I feel so. I like that. I like that. I saw comedians from South Africa, from Europe, from east yeah and it's great it's great so when you started out in in in morocco yeah you're just a jewish kid from morocco and you got obviously parents that are very supportive of of doing the arts yeah encourage it uh what is your father's business outside of doing a mime? Nothing special.
Starting point is 00:33:25 He worked here and there as an employee in many things, in restaurants, real estate, whatever. He was just trying to... Hustler.
Starting point is 00:33:32 To, you know, how do you call it? A hustler, making his meat. Yeah, yeah. A lot of different things. Hustler. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:33:38 It's a store on Sunset. Right, but that's the, yeah, the skin mag, that's a dirty magazine, dirty, it's a dirty magazine. Hustler Industries was built on Hustler Magazine,
Starting point is 00:33:50 which was pussies and tits. So my father was not working at that. And Hustler is also, as a slang for a male prostitute. But somebody who... We're going to get to my real father's job. But like a guy who's like, he does a lot of things, and he's just figuring out the angle to's just, you know, he's figuring out the angle, you know, to make some money. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:34:09 He tries at the end of the month. Oh, okay. Yeah. And to bring food for the family. Right. That's it. So that's a fine way to use it. But I'd be careful using it in conversation.
Starting point is 00:34:17 No, I won't. No, I understand. Yeah. Because if you were just with your broken English to say, my dad was a hustler, they'd be like, really? That sounds sad. You know, so he had a, he was a male prostitute and you're like no no no no like the other guy yeah but uh all right so you grow up in this environment but like i know from uh being an
Starting point is 00:34:33 american comic you know we we you know stand-up comedy is you know part of the fabric of our entertainment industry and it's very specific and you there's a sort of a way to go about it like i like richard pryor i like woody allen whatever you go how do i do that and then some people figure it out now it's a little easy to figure it out but as a kid in morocco you know what what inspires you to do this thing that's funny because i i have the same um um models i would say when you talk about role models yeah role model woody allen and and richard prior and even the more recently jerry seinfeld and you're seeing these guys yeah when you're younger not younger because i i didn't speak uh english but i you know i've seen uh french comics moroccan comics when i was young
Starting point is 00:35:20 like on tv so we didn't have because in mor Morocco when I was young, we had just one channel. As an American, you're like, oh my God, how did you survive? We had one channel and didn't work during the day. No, I'm not kidding. I believe you. We would come back from school, do the homework, blah, blah, blah, only the weekends. And we would watch Dallas, the series. Right. Dallas with the South Fork Ranch, Bobby Ewing.
Starting point is 00:35:52 Sure, yeah. By the way, they would cut all the scenes where they kiss or touch or whatever. So Dallas in Morocco was taking place basically in an office all the time. Yeah. No drinking, no. Yeah, yeah. JR, you know when JR all the time. Yeah. No drinking, no. Yeah, yeah. JR, you know when JR had his bottle? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:36:08 He would go toward the bottle, cut, boom, he's in the office. And that was why, religious reasons? No, really, like his little censored, you know? For what reason, the white censor? You know, the kiss. Oh, yeah. You know, like, so it was really funny, you know,
Starting point is 00:36:25 just to, but I didn't know that. Right, sure. You just thought that these people. I thought it was, they were working
Starting point is 00:36:30 really hard and never get to the glass of the. Never kiss anybody. Never kiss anybody. No one sleeps with each other. So then,
Starting point is 00:36:39 we didn't understand why they would fight, you know, because they don't see when they kiss and they, it was really interesting. But they kiss and they it was really interesting but the business part of it was really really strong intense you know there's
Starting point is 00:36:50 oil right it was all so we were all about oil we were focused on it was a cereal about oil yeah only oil and horses and people that never quite made it to the drink or the bedroom never and horses they would ride horses and do business. So you didn't really get the full experience. The cleanest Siri on earth. That was maybe a little peculiar because it didn't quite make sense. Yeah. And it was on Friday.
Starting point is 00:37:14 Right. So it's a whole, you know, it's all messed up because Friday was Shabbat also. Yeah. In Morocco. You live religious? No, but tradition, we would do Shabbat at home. And, you know. Was it a Jewish neighborhood, a Jewish community, a Jewish area?
Starting point is 00:37:30 There's a Jewish community who get really along, as I told you, with the Muslims. And, you know, they know about Jewish community. We know about Muslims. And we had a really, really great relationship. So you watch it in Dallas. Yeah, Dallas. And you know what? So the channel, the TV would start around, I think, 6 p.m.
Starting point is 00:37:50 Yeah. Not before. Right. And then something happened crazy. I was named B12. And the private second channel came in. Wow. It was like the revolution.
Starting point is 00:38:02 Like cable? Cable. Not cable, but the second one, private. Right, new. But we had those- Private as opposed to what? State? Like, or as opposed to, like-
Starting point is 00:38:11 Like- One channel was run by the government? Yeah, and the other one was more- An entrepreneur, like some guy started a TV channel. Okay. But we would watch French shows, obviously, entertainment show, talk shows from France on a cassette. Video cassette?
Starting point is 00:38:31 Video cassette. Yeah. Like all the other cassettes from France, right? Right. So a family who moved to France many years before would send us by someone the talk show of this famous, I don't know, host and some comedians were on the show. But because, you know, it was rare. You know, we would get one cassette every two months. And they'd be dated, old stuff.
Starting point is 00:38:54 Yeah, old material. But also I would watch and watch and watch the cassette every night. With the comedians. After school, because with comedians. So this guy, Thierry de Luron, big French comedian, he would do only impressions of politicians and artists
Starting point is 00:39:10 and performers, singers. I was amazed by that. I was really impressed. So I was watching this and the first movie I've seen, I was maybe six years old, in the cinema with my father was The Kid, Charlie Chaplin.
Starting point is 00:39:22 Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. And people would smoke in the movie theater. with my father was the kid Charlie Chaplin oh really yeah yeah and people would small smoke yeah in the movie theater and no kids I was there yeah with my father and I saw the kid yeah it was a shock Oh Jackie Cooper yeah yeah yeah oh yeah yeah the little kid big shot yeah why was it a shock because I wanted to be that kid oh yeah and it was it was great Because I wanted to be that kid. Oh, yeah. And it was great.
Starting point is 00:39:46 You wanted to be in the movies. Yeah, I wanted to be in a movie. You know what they used to do in movie theaters in Morocco? They would take the film. Yeah. And a guy with a bike would go and deliver the film. The reel, yeah. How do you call it?
Starting point is 00:40:01 The reel. The reel to another movie theater. Yeah. And one day I was To another movie theater. Yeah. And one day I was in a movie theater and we were waiting for the film. Yeah. And the guy said, he come on the set, he said, I'm sorry. The guy with the- Real.
Starting point is 00:40:15 Real. He fell with the bike. Yeah. The movie. So we're just fixing now everything. So you had to wait. Wait. Yeah. And we're going fixing now so you gotta wait wait and we're gonna bring
Starting point is 00:40:27 don't worry we're gonna bring that is that how you saw movies when you were a kid do you go to these theaters I go I went well not a lot
Starting point is 00:40:33 because you know we didn't have enough money to go all the time how old are you if you don't mind me asking I'm now 45
Starting point is 00:40:40 I just turned 45 so you really like so in a way it seems just in relative to to what we're used to entertainment-wise, a little bit primitive. Oh, totally. And it's not that long ago.
Starting point is 00:40:53 No, totally. And then I moved to Canada. I stayed four years in Quebec and Montreal. What, for school? School, yeah. I studied a little bit. So your experience as a kid, so you liked the Charlielie chapel movie and you like this french impressionist so but you know as a child you did not see woody allen movie you didn't see no i discovered woody allen i was maybe yeah yeah i was 15 16 you know yeah yeah but so
Starting point is 00:41:18 you saw it so but but you know you want to be an entertainer yeah and at this time more than an actor right but you like the comedians oh yeah because they yeah because they it's very specific job you know what i mean you gotta make them laugh you gotta it's a very specific thing and you gotta get something from them right now and you right and you can also be yourself to some degree yeah yeah so yeah you can tell your story and you can be yourself which is better than, you know. Pretending to be somebody. I did movies in France.
Starting point is 00:41:49 I did also some movies here in America. But to be very honest, I get really, sometimes I get bored. Yeah. I get, I don't know. You're waiting around a lot when you do TV and movies. And I don't know. I don't want to play this guy named, I don't know, Frederick. He's a dentist.
Starting point is 00:42:05 I don't believe. I don't want to play this guy named, I don't know, Frederick. He's a dentist. I don't believe. I don't believe in that. He's just divorced and he has a dog. I don't like dogs and I have to deal with the dog. It doesn't sound like acting is your thing. No, no. I like to kiss a very beautiful girl. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:42:19 Well, that's probably because it was denied to you by Dallas when you were a young kid. You're like, I just want to. That's a good callback. You got it. Yeah. But so what are you doing as a kid? Are you playing instruments? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:42:32 What do you play? I play percussion and piano. Moroccan drums? Yeah, Moroccan drums called darbuka, but also drums, guitar, and piano. Piano was my thing. I thought, okay, when I was a kid, I would play music every day, and I thought I was going to become a pianist. Oh, yeah?
Starting point is 00:42:48 Like classical? No, jazz music. Oh, yeah? I'm a very, very, very big jazz fan. So was your dad into jazz? Where did you start? No, he plays a little piano, but I was listening to jazz all the time at home. Back in the day, it was my father's stuff like Louis Armstrong
Starting point is 00:43:05 oh yeah and you know and Didi Bridgewater yeah yeah and the singers more yeah and then when I you know
Starting point is 00:43:13 I traveled and I played and I went to concerts and traveled I discovered the other you know from Brad Meldo
Starting point is 00:43:21 today to Chick Corea yeah and Ahmad Jamal. You like that stuff. Oh, yeah, yeah. Jazz music. I love to go to festivals.
Starting point is 00:43:30 I love jazz music. This is the only thing that I can do all by myself. I could go to a jazz concert in the city. I don't know. I can fly there. Jazz and comedy. Yeah. I can go see comedy, stand up.
Starting point is 00:43:41 Yeah. Like when I land, New York, LA, whatever, Boston. Yeah. I go by myself i need a beer yeah and the time yeah and watch some stand not even money they they let me yeah get in for free yeah because you're you're a guy you're a comic yeah you're a comic yeah come on in you want a soda yeah get your drink how much is down are you're a comic i like that just sit back there i love it oh yeah me too you know the first time they gave me money
Starting point is 00:44:06 in a club in New York it's I felt something very very strange because obviously we make money
Starting point is 00:44:14 by doing movies but I didn't feel what I felt I mean I didn't when they wired me money for a movie yeah I didn't feel
Starting point is 00:44:23 what I felt right when they pumped me those 30 bucks. Yeah, here's the 30 bucks for your 10 minutes. I loved it. I loved it. And that was in New York?
Starting point is 00:44:30 Yeah. But recently? Recently. But you get paid to do big shows, but you got like a manager and you don't see the money until later, but just the sort of like, you just went up there,
Starting point is 00:44:40 here's your $20. Yeah. You're like, I earned that. I like that. Oh yeah, it's great. The first time you get paid in a comedy club the only thing is
Starting point is 00:44:47 they make me sign something oh yeah I would love to have just the money and the handshake yeah right it used to be that way it used to be that way
Starting point is 00:44:54 then the clubs are sort of like well the tax people they need some proof maybe I would even even more prefer more like you know what I'll pay you tomorrow
Starting point is 00:45:03 I can't tonight that would make it so real. Oh, you should have started here. That would have happened a lot. You should have struggled here. Yeah, yeah. You do gigs and the guy, you do a week and the guy's like,
Starting point is 00:45:13 I'm a little short this week. Have a drink. Well, yeah, exactly. I'll send you the check. There are guys that have stories about guys that didn't pay him 20 years ago. Oh my God. So how do you start doing shows? shows i mean do you start as a
Starting point is 00:45:27 like it's interesting about jazz is jazz has a much bigger life in europe yeah that that you know that that's really where jazz uh lives as a popular medium like you know it just seems like a lot of jazz musicians end up spend a lot of time in fr. They get it here. Saint-Germain, there's a whole school, if I may say that, for jazz music. But not for stand-up. No, but what's the evolution of you as a performer? Where do you start performing? What do you start doing?
Starting point is 00:45:53 So I started to perform a little bit in Montreal when I lived in Montreal. Were you going to college? The college, yeah. I went to college. In Montreal? Yeah, in Montreal. And I started to study at the University of montreal uh political science what was the plan comedy right there yeah yeah so they say
Starting point is 00:46:15 that's yeah you gotta tell your parents something that's the right place yeah and i was watching those guys who you made fun of. The... But those guys are great because they're from Montreal and they do comedy, they do stand-up. And I was watching them. In French. Yeah, this is where I said, oh, wow, they do stand-up comedy like my idols,
Starting point is 00:46:39 like Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock and this and that. But in French, I'm going to bring that to Europe, to France. So then I moved to France. I went to the acting school. After college. After college. And then I was 20 years old and I really quickly started to write some things. And we don't have clubs in France.
Starting point is 00:46:59 We have one now, what we didn't have back in the day. We didn't have clubs. So here you can work out the material 10 minutes by 10 minutes no there you had to have like one hour one hour 15 one hour 30 they don't know you have to bring the family you have to bring tv you have to bring everyone and you do an okay show and then the show becomes gets better by the time you know that's how it works in france yeah but did you do but i prefer how it works works here. Sure. Because if you have an hour or an hour and 30 minutes,
Starting point is 00:47:26 it's only good stuff. That's right. You got to do it in sections and you go out every night. It's like going to the gym. Exactly. Whereas in Europe, you got to show up with the hour.
Starting point is 00:47:35 Yeah. And it's okay or if it's not great, there's a little more, they're a little more forgiving. I noticed that even in, they'll give you a little more leeway. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:47:46 Like if you go to Edinburgh. Do you go to Edinburgh? Oh, yeah, yeah. So you see these performers, they come every year with a new hour, but it's not punchline. No. It's sort of like, wow, this is it? I guess getting the laugh every 30, 40 seconds is not that important here. But there are some guys, like some British comics, that are very punchline efficient.
Starting point is 00:48:06 But I noticed that, you know, you show up with the show, there's different expectation. Yeah. They're in a kind of ambiance, right? There's a whole... Right. When I go to the cellar, for example, again, the cellar. Right, where we talked about the other night.
Starting point is 00:48:19 We talked about the other night. You and I have been doing stand-up. How long have you been doing it? 20 years? 20, 22. I've been doing it like 25 years or more. But yet you go to that club and somehow you can do a set and you get off. You're like, holy, do I know how to do this?
Starting point is 00:48:30 I was so happy when I heard you said that because you're like, you know, you're who you are and you do stand-up for 25 years. And when you said that, I was like, oh, man, that's great to hear that. Like I can feel really, really like a beginner like what i was doing i've been doing this for 20 years i think i bummed i just bummed and again because the seller they they i mean this it's a very strange and radical i love it audience it's either you gotta laugh a Either you got a laugh, a real laugh. Yeah. Ha ha. You feel it. You hear it. Or nothing. Nothing. Not even the, how you say, a little chuckle.
Starting point is 00:49:12 A chuckle. Yeah, chuckle. Nothing. No. Yeah. We have chuckle in Europe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, it's like, oh, I know what you want to say, but it's not funny.
Starting point is 00:49:22 Yeah. No. In New York, at the cellar. Oh, they'll just leave you hanging there. Ooh, nothing. All alone up there. No friends in the room. So that's why when I go there, when I go up, I'm like, I'm going with my strong bits, you know? Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:49:34 You got it with the cellar. It's not a workout room. No, that's what I told you last night. Like when someone was telling me, are you trying new things tonight? No. I'm doing old, great things to look good and feel like i'm good so when you go from montreal and you get to france and you decide you're going to put together a show yeah so you get where do you get booked for something like that small theaters okay very
Starting point is 00:49:57 small get a production taking care of everything going on tour so so really you know when you go it's not just sort of like you show up and do the set you got it you got to get you got to book a theater yeah you gotta get a stage manager yeah gotta get some producer and you stay there six months every night like five nights five nights a week this is how we do it over there that's how you build your act yeah and then tv guys come to see your radio guys and media and they get interested or not in your thing so it's really more of a it's more like a theater production. Oh yeah, exactly. So what was the first show?
Starting point is 00:50:27 What did it include? Now that you've watched your French, the French comedy in Montreal, so when you decide I'm going to. No, I was a little boo-boo-ba-ba in the beginning. There's nothing wrong with it. No, it's okay. The boo-boo-ba-ba. I'm sure you do a little bit of that now.
Starting point is 00:50:42 A little bit, a little bit, a little bit. I don't do it at the cell. If you want to see me do the boo-boo-ba-ba. A little bit. A little bit. Sometimes. A little bit. I don't do it at the cellar. If you want to see me do the ba-boo-ba-ba. You got to see it in French. Yeah. Yeah. I won't do the ba-boo-ba-ba like at Carnegie Hall. No.
Starting point is 00:50:56 Right. No. No. I will do only sharp, efficient, radical, straight. But no, I'm just saying that I have nothing're like i have nothing against you know i'm not i'm not being dismissive but i'm just saying that the the actual theatricality yeah of of what i i notice in you know what i assume is you see it here too with latino television and stuff that there is a broader performance style la la comics are more about sometimes in new york there's a there's a variety, you got a little more room on the stage here.
Starting point is 00:51:26 But, yeah, no, it depends who it is, but I'm just saying, generally speaking, the theatrical element of comedy
Starting point is 00:51:33 in French comedy is a big part of it. It's just a tradition. It's not, you know, it's not like some bad thing. No, no,
Starting point is 00:51:39 I understand that. I understand that. And also, I think with Middle Eastern comedy, when I see like, you know, Persian acts or people that come from an expressive yeah it's not heady it's not thinky you know it's thinky but it's also like there's a guy
Starting point is 00:51:53 I really like Sebastian Maniscalco I love that guy yes Sebastian very funny yes hilarious when I watch him he's very physical no no he's very physical it's very specific but it's not boo boo bubba no no no no no no it's a character character yeah yeah yeah and he helps to yeah yeah he's got a very weird way about him it's very unique yeah yeah i like that guy where'd you see him uh i saw him live uh in boston and i watch his stuff on the internet i'm i'm i really like his because he's la guy he calls a comedy store like yeah yeah i don't know where he's at. He's a good guy. He is a very specific thing. Oh, yeah. But it's his thing.
Starting point is 00:52:27 Yeah. Sometimes he does things with your body language. Yeah, it's very funny. Yeah, it's very... Yeah, yeah. He does a thing. Right. I like it.
Starting point is 00:52:34 But I think that, you know, I guess generalizing the boo-boo-ba-ba is that there is a... And you did it in your show. Yeah. And it's just by virtue of where you come from. It's not a bad thing. I get it. It's just like, you know,
Starting point is 00:52:47 even when you say, when you do the bit about when you ask a French person for directions, the singing thing, that there is obviously a type of French character that's very familiar.
Starting point is 00:52:57 Yeah. Not unlike, you know, we have characters here. You got your New York character, you got your Southern character, you know, you got your hippie character, whatever.
Starting point is 00:53:04 It's always a question of perspective, right right for example when we if you bring okay when a comic goes on stage in france with holding a mic yeah and if he has a wire yeah we're gonna be like this guy has no money the production is so poor they he has no manager they cannot even afford a headset or a love thing on his clothes poor guy he's really struggling but here in america i show up with the headset you're like who the fuck is this guy who's this guy is he a magician what is he is he a vegas circuit du soleil some i don't know that's a relatively new thing it's a new phenomenon the the the headsets within the last decade like but like if i go on the road i prefer a wire i don't like wireless mics they're too big they don't fit in
Starting point is 00:53:56 the thing right you're always struggling to get them back in the goddamn holder and the lavalier thing they i'm always worried about it and i fucking fucking, if I go on the road, I'm like, I want a fucking 58. 58. With a wire. Yeah. A short 58. The SM 58. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:54:11 With a wire. Why the wire? Because I want to feel like I'm connected to something. I don't like. I think that's the best conversation between comedians is about the microphone. No, a 58 on a stick with a wire that's what i want i want a fucking stand like this thing yeah it's a dirty the stool right yeah no no just a mic stand i want a straight straight with the round bass that's right no i need that no no no no no music
Starting point is 00:54:37 or the tripod the three no it's gonna fuck you up oh man if i see a tripod no no you can't oh you i i don't go because you're going to wrestle with it. It's going to cause you trouble. At some point, it's going to be a problem. But the wire, I don't get it. Why the wire? For me, the wire, like, it's just that they haven't made a cordless mic that feels right to me because they're too fat and the clip is always fucked up.
Starting point is 00:54:58 Like, always getting it in and out of the clip is always a little more of a trouble than you just slide it in with the wire. You just slide it in. the wire you just slide it in it's a nice little it's the right size and the mic would know the one and then i don't trust it yeah yeah i don't trust it yeah yeah i think it sounds weird but this is you know this is just the preference yeah but if you're going to be moving around on the stage and doing something i get it i get it yeah yeah yeah you need uh you need you knowba-ba, yeah. I get it, I get it. The boo-boo-ba-ba thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You need, you know, wireless maybe.
Starting point is 00:55:28 No, I get it, I get it. You're playing big rooms. You don't have to rub it in. You're playing big places. Yeah, big places. Yeah, okay, so let's talk about... Big places in Europe and Middle East also. Right.
Starting point is 00:55:36 I don't know. Do you do the act in Hebrew? I did. I put some Hebrew stuff in my act when I played my shows in theaters in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in French. Yeah. Because there's a very big French community there.
Starting point is 00:55:50 So I've done shows. And I put some Hebrew because I told you I speak Hebrew. And also Europe, you know. But also there's something interesting. I did a lot of shows. I started to do shows in America in French for the French community everywhere yeah this is how I started how many years ago like three years ago and then I was putting here and there's some English to try you know and then it was in the beginning it was hard and then you know I felt more confident and
Starting point is 00:56:18 now I do all in English you know I would I was not able to do what I'm doing right now with you today yeah two years ago right I was not able to do what I'm doing right now with you today two years ago. Right. I was studying English every day for two hours with a teacher. Yeah. This is very hard. Yeah, I imagine. But the first show, so you come from Montreal, you can do your six-month run to build the hour. What is that hour?
Starting point is 00:56:36 It's about my story. Born in Morocco and then going to the acting school, and I talk about my first experiences on the theater. It's a one man show. What? Exactly. And is there music? No stand up.
Starting point is 00:56:49 Is there music? Music, one man show. So you play some piano? No, not at this. No, I play some guitar
Starting point is 00:56:54 on the second show. Singing? Singing. Yeah. Impression. Totally boo boo ba ba. Totally boo boo. Ladies and gentlemen,
Starting point is 00:57:02 boo boo ba ba is. Bee boo boo bee bee ba ba ba. gentlemen, boo-boo-ba-ba is... Bee-boo-boo-bee-ba-ba-ba. Oh, the beach-a-boo-boo. Yeah. Ha. Ha. Yeah, yeah. Woof, woof.
Starting point is 00:57:11 All right, stop. No, but... No, no, man. But it's still a one-man show, which is, I think, the difference in, you know, American stand-up really integrating into Europe. That was the difference, that most of it early on like edinburgh style you know you do an hour that has a theme that has a story and it's not you know it's not about jokes necessarily it's about the story yeah yeah and then my second show so that was my
Starting point is 00:57:35 first show one man show second show was more characters and my third show i was watching now this is a year you put in these shows you do do a show. You're in that show for a year. No, for three years, for two years. I go on tour and I travel. And then I started to watch all those guys, and especially Jerry. Yeah. And I was like, wow, I'm connected. This is what I want to do.
Starting point is 00:57:58 My observations, it's always. I feel connected to this kind of writing and taking small things and making them big but that's because once you establish not unlike a lot of us do in a different way you know you you're comfortable with who you are on stage because you fucking talked about it so like you know you you you now found where you live up there and now you have a point of view from telling your story now you want to take that point of view and apply it to the world and not to yourself that's it yeah exactly right for example I do material now in America about oh I'm from France but Bobby boo yeah but I hope in one two years from now I will not talk anymore about oh because my French perspective
Starting point is 00:58:37 yeah you say that right I just want to be a comedian right just a funny guy right oh yeah he's from France I don't care I just want to be a funny man right right we are funny men okay you're already a funny man. Right. Oh, yeah, he's from France. I don't care. I just want to be a funny man. Right, right. Well, you are a funny man. Okay. You're already a funny man. All right. But you've taken on this...
Starting point is 00:58:49 You give me the visa, right? You need a visa? For a funny man. There's a stamp. Boom, you're a funny man. Yeah, funny visa. Oh, you want to hear a very funny story, by the way. I mean, not funny, but strange.
Starting point is 00:58:59 What? With Jerry Seinfeld that happened in Cannes. Yeah, in Cannes. In Cannes Film Festival. You were both at the Cannes Film Festival. So wait, before we get to the Jerry story, which I'll make note of
Starting point is 00:59:08 because I'm a professional, is that... There's no assistant. There's no people with cards showing you what to do. No, no. No, no. Just you and me.
Starting point is 00:59:17 I'm riding the knobs right here with the levels. I'm watching your voice. This is how this works. So you did go to acting school though. Yeah. For how long? The whole thing? For two years. That is how this works. So you did go to acting school though? Yeah. For how long? The whole thing?
Starting point is 00:59:27 For two years. That was the whole time? They gave me a scholarship, by the way. From the Montreal school? No, from the Paris school. Oh, you auditioned? I auditioned, yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:59:36 And that was great because I worked for the whole summer in a hospital in Montreal to pay my school and everything. I got there and I do the audition at school, and they give me the scholarship. So I have extra money.
Starting point is 00:59:49 Okay. And what do you earn? You earn all the basics? Basics. From Moliere to Shakespeare and Alfred de Musset and Tennessee Williams and Eugène O'Neill
Starting point is 01:00:01 and New Guys and Israel Horowitz. Oh, yeah? You did Indian Wants the Bronx? Oh, great. Yeah, yeah. I love this play. Okay, so you're doing all that. You're doing scenes, you're doing plays.
Starting point is 01:00:12 Plays, some little, you know, scenes from plays. Mostly comedy. I like comedy. So, obviously, those teachers are like, no, we're going to give you. But that was the template. That's how you thought. You thought when you entered your own show that you'd a theatrical show that makes sense yeah but you know i had no interest in i don't know i just wanted to be funny and do funny things and do my shows you know yeah yeah
Starting point is 01:00:34 yeah but it helped right yeah they offered me to do movies so i did a lot of movies in france you did a lot a lot yeah yeah are you a star in the movies in france i started movies yeah like a first lead role for in i don't know 20 movies oh really yeah french movies yeah you're a big star yeah this is why what what yeah boo-boo baba yeah yeah no but the movies they're not you know i know but they're painful romantic comedies painful man yeah i it's very hard to do movies i don't i don't want to do my i did i did movies here in america small roles with very big directors it was great experiences you know with woody allen with steven spielberg and what'd you do with woody allen um midnight in paris oh
Starting point is 01:01:15 yeah yeah i was playing a detective at the end of the movie very funny i gotta go back and look awesome yeah yeah and what'd you do with the uhintin. Uh-huh. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Tintin. Yeah. It was a great experience. You know, here, I was also in a movie with Adam Sandler
Starting point is 01:01:32 and Al Pacino. Obviously, they gave me the French chef to play in Jack and Jill. Oh, Jack and Jill. Jack and Jill. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:01:40 A crazy movie. But I was, you know, I was happy to meet with Al Pacino and he came to see my show in New York at Joe's Pub. A new show? This show right now that I'm doing now. And I went to see his play.
Starting point is 01:01:54 But I'm not, I think movies are not for comedians. You know, our pacing, our way of thinking, that's not for us. This is not the way we think and do away right right but it's just i respect you know you can do it though the thing is is like if you separate it this is not my thing this is me playing this character it's exciting i'm in the movies but you're already tired of you do 20 movies you know in france on that yeah that's it and you're you know you so here's the i guess here's where we're at now and we'll get to the jerry story is that
Starting point is 01:02:23 so you tour around the world. You're very successful. You probably live in a nice house. I met your son, so you have a couple of sets of kids, a couple of marriages, right? And you're good. You're good. I mean, you're a fucking star.
Starting point is 01:02:37 But there's some part of you that somewhere in you, you're like, oh, I've got America. What the fuck is that about? The fuck is? I think there's two things. There is the American thing, but there's also the personal and deep and very personal thing about challenging myself. I say it as a joke in my show. You do.
Starting point is 01:02:56 Because I make fun of Americans about challenge. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Passion project. Yeah, yeah. passion project yeah yeah but it's not totally true that it's a joke because it's it's it's great to step out of this you know to go out of this comfort zone to take a risk if i but is there some part of your brain that that no matter how big your success is internationally that if you can't make it as a comedian in amer, you haven't made it. Yeah. Oh, really?
Starting point is 01:03:26 This is what I think. I'm sorry. You create a hell of a challenge for yourself. Yeah, this is a big challenge. By the way, I, yeah. So what is this Jerry story? That's funny. There's two stories about Jerry. The first one is he made fun of me.
Starting point is 01:03:41 He used to make fun of me. Like, why do you want to come here to America to do comedy? Where'd you meet him? It's like, so in Cannes. Why is he made fun of me used to make fun of make fun of me like why why do you want to come here to america to do comedy where'd you meet him it's like so in can why is he in can why are you in to promote the b movie so animation animated movie okay he wrote and they produced with steven spielberg and he did the the voice of this b thing there and then so we were supposed to be on the same talk show yeah so i'm invited on the show and he's invited we're supposed to be on the same talk show. Yeah. So I'm invited on the show. And he's invited. And we're going to be on the same show.
Starting point is 01:04:08 And the producer of the show says, okay, you're a big fan. Do you want to meet with him? I say, yes, of course. I want to meet with my, he's, you know. Your idol. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm sitting there in a hotel room.
Starting point is 01:04:19 It's a mess. It's a fuss. Yeah. It's crazy. People running all around. The publicists and Americans are loud. it's a big fuss about Jerry and then Jerry walks into the room there are like 12 people sitting there yeah my friends blah blah yeah and I swear and I'm not making that up and he said he was honest about that
Starting point is 01:04:41 he he never saw me before yeah so he point to me like that point at me or point to me yeah he point at you he point at me yeah and he said oh you're the funny guy yeah and he didn't know that never so i said what oh you googled me i said yeah he said no never and i said so how do you know i'm the funny guy? He said, because in a room, you know who's the funny guy. I said, what do you mean? Because there's always one funny guy. There's not two. And you are the funny guy.
Starting point is 01:05:12 It's like when he said, I saw your material in French. It's good. I said, you don't speak French. He said, funny is funny. That's flattering. So the story is one day we were sitting at the cellar. But what happened in Cannes did you guys talk
Starting point is 01:05:26 did you hang out yeah of course we did the show and then and then he offered me to do this the French version of the B movie
Starting point is 01:05:33 so I made the French voice of B movie I did also Despicable Me right the Steve Carell movie I did it in France so
Starting point is 01:05:43 then we you know I go I see his show on tour and he comes to paris and you know one day we organized something where he performed in english in paris and we become friends you know um and and he comes to see my shows in new york city and um and by the way uh when he offered me to open i'm'm going to open for him. Oh, yeah. And as a joke, I said, so you have to open for me too. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:06:08 He said, yeah. Oh. I said, when? He said, Thursday. Do you have a show on Thursday? I said, sure. So there's this guy who is supposed to open for me every night, Harrison Greenbone. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:06:20 New York comic. Yeah. I say, Harrison, you're going to do it, but you're going to do a two minute warm up. Yeah. I say, Harrison, you're going to do it, but you're going to do a two-minute warm-up. Yeah. And you're going to bring up Jerry Seinfeld.
Starting point is 01:06:31 Yeah. He said, is this a joke or what? No, no. Yeah. Because Jerry's going to open. So then he said, ladies and gentlemen,
Starting point is 01:06:38 Jerry Seinfeld. The audience thought it was like a joke. Right. They didn't even do like, what? And then when he showed up, like,
Starting point is 01:06:46 right. Bananas, as you guys said, right? They went bananas. Sure, yeah. I like this expression. Okay, yeah.
Starting point is 01:06:54 So, and then I did my show. How'd that go for you after Jerry? Bananas. Yeah? Oh, it was good. No.
Starting point is 01:07:00 No good. No, no, it was good. It was good. He made fun of me. He said to the crowd, oh, because he said to someone, how do you know, where are you from? You're French.
Starting point is 01:07:09 So the woman said, first of all, she said, no, I'm American. Yeah. So he says, so how did you hear about this guy? What? You just saw him on the top of the cabs because I had a whole ads. And you said, oh, this guy is funny. And this is Joe's pub? Yeah. Yeah. Because he's on the And this is Joe's pub? Yeah.
Starting point is 01:07:25 Because he's on the top of a New York app. She said, no, I read in the New York Times something about him. And he said, what did you read? She said, I read, here's the Jerry Seinfeld of France. And then he said, oh, oh, so you came to see a shitty version of me.
Starting point is 01:07:44 Oh, boy. But it's okay. He did 10 minutes? Yeah. And is that going to be the last time you have the biggest name in American comedy open for you? It's not open for me. Not now? Not now.
Starting point is 01:07:59 It's not open. It's just, you know, I love him. You did a guest spot. Yeah. Oh, guest spot. So not paid, right? That's the whole difference. I guess that's true. No, probably true, right? You didn love him. You did a guest spot. Yeah, guest spot, so not paid, right? That's the whole difference. I guess that's true.
Starting point is 01:08:06 No, probably true, right? You didn't pay him, did you? No. That's nice of him. But you didn't have any problem following? No, ba-ba-boo-boo, no, during that night, right? Right. So those are your experiences with Jerry.
Starting point is 01:08:22 So Jerry's sort of like you become friends and he's supportive of you here and that's a nice thing. Yeah, I would talk a lot and how does it go? Because it went very, how do you say that? Organic. Well, yeah.
Starting point is 01:08:33 The way I got here. Well, you were here and I'd heard about you and Godfrey, who I like. Because I have to say that. It's not to, we have an expression in France. What is it?
Starting point is 01:08:43 It's called, I don't want okay if i translate literally i want to hear it in french but okay means i don't want to rub you with cream but let me tell you when i say i'm gonna go do mark maron people are you know, they're like, oh, well, that's big.
Starting point is 01:09:06 That's really big. That's huge. That's huge. Oh, it's great. Oh, my God. Okay.
Starting point is 01:09:13 And then some people, they say it's even more important than TV, blah, blah, blah. They have a whole thing. Yeah. So, so,
Starting point is 01:09:19 so I don't know why I'm telling you this. Yeah. So for me, so, oh, the way it worked with us. I heard of you, with us, because we have a friend in common, right? Well, no, you know, a guy. you this. Yeah. So for me, so. Oh, the way it worked with us. I heard of you, with us.
Starting point is 01:09:25 Right. Because we have a friend in common, right? Well, no. We know a guy. Well, you have a friend in common, but also like, you know, it seems like an interesting story. It's not a story that I've talked about. But I'm glad that you get interested too, because if, I'm sorry to interrupt, but because
Starting point is 01:09:37 it's very good to do that because you could have said, ah, Ian, people don't know him. Yeah. Ah. Well, it wasn't like my first impression to be honest like like i said to you before like i didn't know what to make of you and and like you know i heard about you and then i met you at the cellar and you know i'm judged to whatever based on nothing but like until like when i went to see you at largo because i have a little time now because i'm not shooting the tv show i'm like i should go you know like watch this guy that's
Starting point is 01:10:01 great yeah and then like when i talked to you afterwards like and then I realized like it's just it's a comedian you know so like I like being able to do this I like you know like it's easy for me I live down the street you're not here for that long and after I saw you I might just come over and do I've never okay I've never done something that way you know oh yeah no neither in France or you got the big but Jerry cause the posse no There's a lot of people. No, no, no, no. Jerry, he's my friend. It's easy. I'm talking about...
Starting point is 01:10:28 He's making fun of you traveling with people. Yeah, yeah, because the entourage. Yeah, the entourage. No, but if you go on a TV talk show here in America or in France, even radio or something, it's going to be the whole... You know, the publicist and the assistant. I love that. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:10:41 I still didn't believe when I came in front... Of my house? Yeah. Yeah. I still didn't believe when I came in front. Of my house? Yeah. Yeah. Came in front. No. Can I mean another thing? Yeah.
Starting point is 01:10:51 No. You didn't do that. No. When I came into your house. Yeah. No. Yeah, it's fine. It sounds a little bit sexual.
Starting point is 01:11:01 Yeah. I don't like that. You come into the house and be like, don't flatter yourself. All over the house. My large French cock. I entered the house with my cock first. Beep. Beep.
Starting point is 01:11:15 No, there's no bleep. There's no bleep. So when I arrived, I was like, is this real? Is this like this guy? Is this real? The thing with the publicist and the assistants and the being ushered in do you want coffee mr french guy all that shit that that you're gonna ask if this is real i made the fucking coffee right there yeah i give you the coffee the cat yeah the cat the lonely the the yeah the house yeah i know silence yeah it's nice
Starting point is 01:11:42 the neighbor yeah the neighbors over there. Nice guys. Hello. Yeah. This is how show business works here. No, this is the American dream. It is the American dream. American way of life. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:11:53 But so this challenge that you've given yourself, so what's the hope that you build a following here of not necessarily French expats? Oh, no. Yeah. Yeah. How's that going? What's going on with the Joe's Pub show? What do you find?
Starting point is 01:12:08 Yeah. I get a lot of Americans now. Because Joe's Pub is a very small venue. I hang out after the show at the venue, which I never do in Europe. I cannot. Right. Because it's huge.
Starting point is 01:12:20 Because it's arena. 900 people. I don't know. It's 12,000 people arena in Belgium. You don't hang out in front of the venue. It's a 900 people it's i don't know it's 12 000 people arena in belgium you don't hang out in front of the venue you know it's parking lot and see that's another difference is that like now you're learning how to do intimate comedy i love it yeah well that's that's where it happens i love it yeah so i hang out there and every night i'm surprised and i'm very happy to meet with the americans who come to my show because they read something about me
Starting point is 01:12:46 because they've been brought by some French guys who want them. Or maybe there's a French guy dating American girls. Sure. So the French guy brings them and the American likes the show and the French guy goes, you should see him in French.
Starting point is 01:12:59 No, and the French comedian goes with the girl, with the American girl. Oh yeah? That's it, you get the girl. No, I mean, it's a mixed ground. A lot of expats from different countries also. I'm always surprised because I have nothing to do, maybe, or related to Armenia, Iran, Australia, Brits.
Starting point is 01:13:17 And they come to my show because they relate. To the experience. Yeah, the experience. This is very funny. I was talking to, I think when you were here or the night before with the girl from Argentina, she was like,
Starting point is 01:13:30 oh, this is, I feel like, I feel everything you said, I feel about when I first moved to America, they relate as a foreigner. Right. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:13:39 It's an immigrant experience. Yeah, immigrant experience. So obviously, of course, That's interesting because that's a good angle. Yeah. So you're going to attract international audiences in America. Yeah, immigrant experience. So obviously, of course, I want- That's interesting because that's a good angle. Yeah. So you're going to attract international audiences in America.
Starting point is 01:13:48 Yeah, so I should perform in Times Square. Sure. Well, you do. Close. Close, yeah. Down the street. Down the street. Not far, but that speaks a lot to the cultural landscape of America at this time.
Starting point is 01:14:02 You know, that there is, that you are being sought out by people that the immigrant experience or the transition into becoming an American or living in America is something common with a lot of people yeah but but let's not underestimate your job no no no how Americans also hear that story as a new thing and perspective. Right. I was really amazed by some comments they say about my, they don't know maybe
Starting point is 01:14:30 about my story about Morocco, whatever, friends, whatever, but they're very, they connect to the story and it's, I love that.
Starting point is 01:14:37 This is the best compliment I can get when I, What's the other side? Walk out. It's the other side, you know, Americans like they, they have a,
Starting point is 01:14:44 not necessarily an arrogance, but they, they have a, it's not even entit out. It's the other side. You know, Americans, like they have a, not necessarily an arrogance, but they have a, it's not even entitlement. It's just that we assume a certain thing about America and that we, you know, we don't necessarily empathize, you know, with what the immigrant experience is. So like to hear your frustrations for an American, it's sort of like, oh my God, that guy was going through that. It's refreshing. I just said, hi, how you doing?
Starting point is 01:15:03 And he looked like he was in panic. And now I get why. It's because he didn't know how to react. You know, so you're giving guy was going through that. It's refreshing. I just said, hi, how you doing? And he looked like he was in panic. And now I get why. It's because he didn't know how to react. So you're giving the other side of that. It helps us be more empathetic. But also a culture with comedy and a sense of it that is very, very strong with Americans. Really, I was surprised. In the beginning, I was, oh, can I do that big I do?
Starting point is 01:15:23 The self-deprecating is in the American culture yeah it's very very present as a comedian oh yeah yeah no even the general yeah I mean they know right they know really well they know what this is they go to the club they sit there and they know there are comedians they know how to know more than Europe yeah we think about ourselves a lot here. Yeah. Yeah. But the self-deprecating thing is well accepted by Americans. Sure, sure. And I like that because- The underdog.
Starting point is 01:15:53 Yeah, it's a culture. It's a culture, you know? Yeah. So again, going back to your friend Jerry, when I told him I was going to do comedy, he was like, why would you do this in English? Okay, here is what- Really, he said that? Yeah, because he was making fun of me.
Starting point is 01:16:10 And this is a guy that can't understand direct in French. So all he knows is that you're a funny guy and he likes you, but he has no fucking idea. No, but he saw my jokes in English and he gave me the best advice on earth. He said, why are you going to do this in English?
Starting point is 01:16:28 The best, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no he was like in the beginning was making fun of me but because i shot a documentary about doing stand-up in english it was called 10 minutes in america i was building my 10 minutes and so i i did interviews with sarah silverman woody allen and jerry and other comedians and jerry was as a joke making fun of me. He said, oh, you're going to come to America and do... But this is America. They know... I mean, it's like...
Starting point is 01:16:51 Okay, here was... It's like if I go to Germany and I say I'm going to start to build cars and then I go to Italy and I'm going to do pasta factory. I'm going to start a pasta factory. Wow. And then I go to France
Starting point is 01:17:04 and I'm going to start a new kind of baguette. Yeah. pasta factory wow and then i go to france and i'm gonna start a new kind of baguette yeah and then i'm gonna go to america and do stand-up comedy yeah i think that's i don't think that's right me too it was it's a little off as a metaphor because comedy humor laughing is an international human thing yeah and it was just making fun of no his style because style yeah it's an american thing like why would you do that to yourself i guess the concern really and the concern for me too and watching it is that you know your observations are good and your structure is good and your performance is all good but i think what you're up against is that you know you have to have the point of view
Starting point is 01:17:39 that you have right now because that's showing you how to use English and do the jokes. But I think what Jerry might be saying is that, like, you know, are you, do you have more creative range in your own language? Oh. Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah. That, like, you know, there's something challenging and endearing about your struggle with English
Starting point is 01:17:59 and your struggle as somebody who is here. But, like, you know, can you express yourself to the best of your ability better in french yeah yeah so that's the tricky thing yeah yeah but this is again part of this crazy challenge right uh this is why i told you i would like in a few months few weeks talk about different things not only you know not only and you will that was like because that struck me in the show today like you know the way you're writing and the joke structure because Jerry's very much a technician and you know like even when
Starting point is 01:18:32 you had the call back with the I'm down yeah I'm good I'm good I'm good right it's very clever you know and I come back around now is that a device you use in France as well no right exactly that's how I learned that right in America I noticed yeah really yeah I said well that that's good that the you know he's understanding the structure funny because I'm working now with the French comedian on a project in France I'm gonna be doing in a few months and my vision it changed totally right about writing yeah yeah they write me back oh why are you so uh uh how you say um how you say exigent like very hard on on on what we're doing you know why don't you
Starting point is 01:19:17 just that's a good joke yeah i said no it could be better right we need to get it sharp and and clear right and sweet right yeah yeah boom sharp and clear and sweet and boom. And they're like, no, no, no, that's great. It's very long setups. Those emails are very long. And I cut the fat. I'm like, boom, boom, boom. I cut all the fat and I send them back.
Starting point is 01:19:36 I say, that will work like this. Boom. Three lines, one setup, a joke. Do they agree? Yeah, but it's a little bit but we have to mix those two cultures right sure the booboo baba can be can be fun you know yeah but if you only do the booboo baba ah you could be better like the joke could be better yeah you get away with I like a good joke sure because the booboo
Starting point is 01:20:04 baba you know it's a lot of charm. It's a lot of charm. Seduction. Yes. You can do boo-boo-ba-ba even with no jokes. That's exactly right. Just a little, ooh. Nice suit.
Starting point is 01:20:13 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nice suit, music, good lighting. Sure, it's character journey. Boo-boo-ba-ba. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, come on. Let's make a better joke. Well, that's interesting.
Starting point is 01:20:20 You know, that's, yeah. So you're going to change French stand-up. A lot of guys that were getting away with it no i we brought not not only me but we brought we kind of brought this way of doing comedy in france um stand-up talking directly to the audience not with an imaginary third how you say that third wall no yeah fourth wall fourth wall we brought this with jamel this other guy in france so um now we gotta go one step further we have to stand up we have to be more efficient sometimes i go see some shows in europe not only in france and there are like four minutes with no laughs set up and theatrical it's okay it's fun they
Starting point is 01:21:07 do it very well the thing moves the music the line yeah but now that I'm here I don't know I can't fish change my yeah I want the joke I want to laugh that's interesting to me that you're gonna like to integrate that into a tradition of entertainment that it's what you're really up against. Also short sets. Sometimes I go to Europe and I see shows, two hours of comedy, two hours. That's too much. You cannot be funny for two hours.
Starting point is 01:21:35 It's impossible, even if you're a genius, you cannot. Right, but that's interesting that you're really up against uh you know uh different expectations like you know like like maybe a french audience doesn't know that this could be better because they've gotten so used to the here's the music here's the guy but it's exactly like the american audience no i think it's good they they don't they don't know that maybe with a little physicality would be crazy no that's when i do it sometimes even at the cellar sometimes or other clubs i put a little fake expressions they like it of course well it's a natural thing it's it's not that's not necessarily french but there's a way of doing it
Starting point is 01:22:14 that you're used to that you're i think your muscle around physicality yeah is it has to do with you know that you know that's what you do you know so like when you just when you when you like temper or when you trim it when you make it more efficient because i noticed that right when you started doing physical i'm like that like he you're very comfortable doing yeah you know what i mean we're having a real conversation right now it's great right that's what That's what I do. Never happens. No? On the radio. Yeah. Well, that's the podcast.
Starting point is 01:22:49 That's the podcast. That's different. Yeah. But I'm excited about that. I like the idea of that, of working within this tradition of comedy in France, and then you bringing this new skill set to it, and kind of changing the face of French comedy while you learn how to do American style. Because you want me to go back there.
Starting point is 01:23:07 That's why. I understand. I'm not exactly saying that. I love that you came here to take some great ideas and go back to your country to use them over there. Well, I think that was Jerry's point when he said, I don't go to Italy and make pasta. Yeah. I don't.
Starting point is 01:23:22 Yeah. But, you know, he's, you know, he's indulging you. And it's nice. No, I mean, he's right when he talks about how New Yorkers are so aware of the, they know this, the stand-up. This is where stand-up was born, you know, in America, in New York City. So, obviously, he's very sarcastic, but also it's true. But he comes from that tradition.
Starting point is 01:23:45 But I think what you're doing, it's not by me saying that I want to send you back to France. I just think it's exciting that you take a form, which is not unlike jazz, which has a lot of roots and integrates a lot of things, that you're conscious enough to know the difference between what has become not necessarily stale, but expected
Starting point is 01:24:05 in france and you say well why don't we integrate you know what i'm learning here into into trying it there and seeing you know what happens you know making a different expectation like it might be surprising like there's actually this opportunity to take a form that's very you know again i'll say traditional in terms of how entertainment works, but taking these new skills and just seeing like how that joke works now. Have you seen the results yet? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's interesting.
Starting point is 01:24:32 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, yeah. And is it working? Oh, it's great. Oh, yeah. But they don't know why. They don't know. Oh, it's great.
Starting point is 01:24:40 That's exciting. That's a very exciting thing. It's great, you know. It's like, I don't know. I was thinking about analogy, but it's great. That's exciting. That's a very exciting thing. It's great, you know? It's like, I don't know. I was thinking about analogy, but it's not a good one. I was thinking about a sexual analogy. Yeah. Like you took something and you're very performant, but she doesn't know.
Starting point is 01:24:57 Right, right. That you've been with another woman learning new things. I get it. Or having so many pills. Yeah, yeah. And she had no idea. Yeah, yeah. She's just thinking. Don't tell Or having so many pills. Yeah, yeah. And she had no idea. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She just think...
Starting point is 01:25:06 Don't tell her you took the pills. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What happened to you? I don't know. I don't know. Just, it's you. It's you, baby. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 01:25:18 But my question to you is, is the opposite would be true? Like, would you go, you or another comedian go to booboo baba land i do more now i like and would watch something and and we have our own version of that inspired no we have our own version of that and and it's not in it's like uh it's not it's not the same in that you know whatever we're calling boo-boo-ba-ba is really just the way french comedy has worked for years that's all it's a and we have you know there there are certain types of comedy that have existed here for years but lately for me i've become more a little more
Starting point is 01:25:55 light-hearted like i open up a little more and i'm very envious of of natural physical comedians i do i know that i have the ability but i don't have the comfort. And I do it a little more now. And that's something I'm consciously doing, but I don't think of it as boo-boo-ba-ba. But I think of it as like, why not be a little more physical? Try it. You have the skill.
Starting point is 01:26:15 Yeah, but you have a character. I saw you on stage. You don't want, it's not, we don't expect that from you. Right, well, that's why I like to do it now. Oh, you see? You're challenging yourself. Sure. And I'm challenging you to take those risks. I mean, if you saw me in another environment, we don't expect that from you right well that's why i like to do it now like i see i do challenging yourself sure and i'm challenging to take those risks and i mean if you saw me in another
Starting point is 01:26:29 environment like tonight i'm going to do the comedy store you know where i'm doing these these newer bits where you know i do do physical stuff in my last special i'm a lot more physical but i'm aware of it like i i know that's a instead of looking at it as something like uh that indicates a certain side where you're sort of making fun of it it's just another way of looking at it as something like that indicates a certain side where you're sort of making fun of it, it's just another way of another tool. It's another way of doing what you do. You integrate these different things and you know, you want to best be funny and make it fun for you.
Starting point is 01:26:56 I'd like to hear that. Yeah. Oh no. Yeah. I, I, I, you know, I'm, I'm kind of a dick initially, but I get it. Like, cause like for me to be watching you and actually be craving, in a genuine way, to see you perform in all French, just to experience that, to see what you're the most comfortable with,
Starting point is 01:27:15 was not to go like, look at this fucking clown. It was to see you're a good comedian. I'd love to see, because I never see French comedy. I make fun of it. I don't know anything about it. But I want to go back. Which is American. I want to go back on I'm a dick. You because I never see French comedy. I make fun of it. I don't know anything about it. But I want to go back. Which is American. I want to go back on I'm a dick.
Starting point is 01:27:27 You said I'm a dick. Because no one else than someone who doesn't speak English can picture better this expression. Because what we do immediately is we translate. But you guys, it's an expression, right? Yeah. Oh, he's a dick. Yeah. But because we know what the word dick means. Yeah. And we don't speak English. Oh, you don't's an expression right yeah oh he's a dick yeah but because we know what the
Starting point is 01:27:45 word dick means yeah and we don't speak english oh the expression what the oh we have to say oh all right oh he's talking so we translate and we're like oh he's talking about penis and then he's a penis and he's a penis it was never going to make sense so never gonna make sense how you would have to translate it is that yeah how it would be more like he's a judgmental ignorant American that does not allow himself to experience different things because he's stubborn
Starting point is 01:28:16 because he's stubborn that's a dick to you it would be a dick to me it would just be like I'd be talking to a guy I'd be like I don't fucking like that shit either that's a bit To me, it would just be like, I'd be talking to a guy, I'd be like, I don't fucking like that shit either.
Starting point is 01:28:27 That's a bit. No, that's a bit for you. That's a bit for your... You're probably right. I need new bits. I'll listen back to it. Yeah, listen only that part. Who signed this? Hey, Mark.
Starting point is 01:28:38 Iggy Pop. Oh, well, he came here. Yeah. Yeah, a lot of people come here. All right, so let's wrap it up. Wrap it up. We did good. We're let's wrap it up. Wrap it up. We did good. We're going to wrap it up.
Starting point is 01:28:48 Good expression also, because I see the- How would that translate to French? We don't have this. What's the expression where you say- C'est fini. It's finished. Oh, yeah, c'est fini. C'est fini.
Starting point is 01:28:59 Right. Merci beaucoup. Yeah. Ça m'a fait très plaisir d'être avec toi aujourd'hui. You know what marron means in French? Chestnut and brown. No. Okay.
Starting point is 01:29:09 Two things. I hope they're good things. There's one who's not a good thing. Marron means brown. Yeah. But marron, if I say we are marron, means fucked up. Yeah. Like if someone says, oh, oh man, where's the car?
Starting point is 01:29:25 You didn't bring the car? And it starts in two, three, we are marron. We are marron means we're fucked up. We're fucked. That's more fitting. Than brown? Yeah. Thank you, Mark.
Starting point is 01:29:38 Thank you. That was lovely. That guy's a lovely man. I didn't know if I had time to play guitar, but I think I might. guitar solo Boomer lives! No, you can't get a nice rank on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. Goal tenders, no. But chicken tenders, yes.
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