Interview. Gad Elmaleh delivers himself on the stage of the Zénith de Rouen
By Thierry Chion
Published on
The comedian Gad Elmaleh returns to the Zenith of Rouen (Seine Maritime) Tuesday, April 12, 2022. He will make people laugh by indulging through his show Moreover.
Gad Elmaleh: “I’m back in Rouen! »
76news : Finally we see you on stage…
Gad Elmaleh : Finally, yes. I am Back in Rouen, especially since we ran the show at the theater in the West.
It’s my return to the stage, alone. In the meantime there was the American parenthesis, the show with Kev Adams and the films. There, it’s the return of the only one on stage in France, but it’s also my most intimate show.
“You had to live more or less pleasant things”
Was it really necessary to cross the milestone of 50 years to engage more intimately with the public?
You had to live more or less pleasant things, experiences. There was the American dream, the media crisis of which I was the object, the man that I became after, the Monaco period, the midlife crisis and the health glitches that go with it, the spiritual crisis also . I end with a message. I have a desire to talk about faith, about secularism. We must not suppress the spiritual aspect of our life. It is an important element in everyone’s life. But I’m not giving a lecture on the subject, I talk about it with a lot of humor and derision of myself.
Has the experience with Kev Adams changed your approach to things or your writing?
My writing remains my writing, but I drew more from the approach and the energy. Going to Kev’s Comedy Club, I saw the new generation and I’m in tune with them.
The American adventure was a risky bet where you started from scratch…
They even scratched my name. I had a unique story and that’s what appealed to me. I had a color, a comic identity, I was able to do all the talk shows I dreamed of. But in the end, I had the impression of being like a married man who had an affair, of being the one who wants to go home with the one he loves. I missed the idea of the French public.
VIDEO. The teaser :
An important character to appear in the show: your grandmother…
It is the pillar, the culture, the roots. It was in front of her that I made my first sketches, my first imitations. It’s a moving moment. She refocuses me on the stage by sending me the message that we must keep our feet on the ground.
You also talk about your Monegasque history…
Monaco is an important passage in my life. I have my child there. I have a relationship of love and friendship with the Principality. I present this on stage, but seen by my mother. I was more afraid of my mother’s reaction than that of the Monaco family, because it is my mother that I present in the sketch.
The show was to be shot when the first confinement was decreed. Did you have to readjust the texts?
There are no major changes. The advantage, if there is one, is the possibility of having marinated the show, I let it mature in spite of myself. This period brings perspective and reflection. Finally with all these analyses, the show was finally established before its time.
Projects that are taking shape on the cinema side?
I’m pretty show-centric right now. I have ideas, but live keeps me busy and preoccupied more.
This experience on stage of telling personal things makes me want to go in this direction.
Practical information :
At the Zénith, avenue des Canadiens, at Grand-Quevilly, at 8 p.m.
Prices: from 54 euros.
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