″Fortunately, the cancellation culture in Portugal does not have the same expression as in other countries″
The comedian Luís Franco-Bastos is on tour around the country presenting Diogo, a show about himself, his family and some more sensitive themes – such as the death of his parents. Franco-Bastos, or Diogo, is no longer the boy who knows very well how to imitate the voices of public figures, 15 years later he is a comedian who manages to sell out the Lisbon Coliseum – it happened yesterday and he will return there at the end of March – with an audience of several generations. It was in this same place that he talked about his mood. With humor.
How many times a day are people asked to imitate the voices of Cristiano Ronaldo or Alberto João Jardim?
Very few, fortunately. Approaches on the street are a good barometer for the perception of genuine feedback from those who follow our work. And at a certain point, I began to notice that less and less people were talking about the voices they imitated, but about my other projects.
But was it a transition made with intent?
Yes, there was a set of circumstances that led to that, but mostly it was doing what I’m excited about. It’s not a whim, attention. I believe we should do look for what we liked. And I gained more desire to do things other than imitations. By the way, I resisted before, but since it was the imitations that helped me to stand out, I became associated with it. My stand-up shows always had a lot of things that weren’t imitations.
It’s been 15 years doing humor. Have you always wanted to be a comedian?
Have, had. I remember as a child – I have a scary memory [riso] – I watched Herman José programs religiously. There was that aura, which today is very difficult to touch, in which the country stopped to see Herman. I remember being fascinated by what he was doing and the power and impact of laughter. And I remember asking my mother what course I had to take to do what Herman was doing… she gave me a realistic answer, and said that there was no course and that I had to have the knack and luck to be discovery. With that feeling from a professional point of view in my head, I realized that I had few chances, but I kept that idea on standby and started to automate the idea that I would have a traditional profession. And since I thought that the closest thing was being a communication professional, I started thinking about being a television news anchor or sports journalist, and I went to the Communication Sciences course. Later I went to do a humor workshop with Produções Fictícias and that’s where he directed me. From an early age I thought I had comedy in me, I imitated Herman’s sketches at school, I played Deacon Remédios in a play at Salesianos. The comedy was already present, but later, with this workshop, I realized that the dream was realistic and I was lucky enough to be discovered.
“Those who follow and like my work don’t know much about me. I thought it was time to talk about the most personal and intimate things possible, situating the most tragic situations I’ve ever been through.”
Was that when you also started writing for humor?
Yes, while studying journalism. The writing part was always very important and I realized that it was where I had more competence. At first, and because of the imitations, they noticed less of my creative work. But I also did projects where the texts weren’t mine. I worked with other advocates, such as, for example, Joana Marques, who is finally getting the recognition she deserves.
Is there a favorite subject for the shows? Are they current issues, are they phases of life?
It goes through phases a lot. I currently have zero desire to talk about public figures, but for years I did a lot. But I don’t have favorite themes or that I hate. There could be a hilarious angle to a topic I never thought I’d talk about but there could also be a topic I love but can’t seem to find anything funny about. Incidentally, these new shows were born from there. These are topics they’ve wanted to talk about for years, namely the heaviest ones, but until then they hadn’t found angles that worked from a comic point of view. Above all, the humorist has to worry about making people laugh.
And speaking of Diogo, the new show that is, and will be, around the country [hoje em Águeda, em janeiro, Lagos e Porto]what it is?
I spent many years talking about current affairs, public figures, stereotypes, characters. And realized that I say little or nothing about myself. Even those who follow and like my work don’t know much about me. I thought it was time to talk about the most personal and intimate things possible. I’ve wanted to do it for some time, namely the most tragic situations I’ve been through. In the tests that I took in the last two and a half years, I started to realize that I could talk for an hour about myself and my family. There is a maxim that I like to use and that applies very well to comedians: if someone makes fun of us, let it be us, not someone who can do it better than us.
What difficult topics are these?
These are not difficult topics for me, it was difficult to make people laugh at them. Matters like the death of my parents, for example. I’ve joked about it since the day it happened. But how do I get a thousand people in a room to laugh about it without creating discomfort? It was hard to find the right angles.
But it is “normal” for some comedians to use more uncomfortable themes in their shows, perhaps not so personal. Still, are there taboo subjects?
Not! There are, yes, themes, like my own example, which, because they are more complex and more delicate, are more difficult to be funny to talk about. In line with the immediacy of entertainment, sometimes there is not enough time for a joke to come out before it has been well worked on. And sometimes there are jokes that cause more trouble than they return to the comedian. But this is part of our profession, in all professions there are mistakes. Sometimes even a chef can make a mistake with a steak, but he won’t close the restaurant for that. However, with comedians there is soon the idea that they should be cancelled. Our profession, like all others, thrives on trial and error, and not all of our jokes are as genius as they should be.
Is there a formula for making humor?
If it exists, it means working obsessively, and even then it doesn’t guarantee anything. But if we work really hard, we can get close. But there it is, the difficulty of knowing what makes A laugh and not B… But, as in all forms of art, if it makes you think about what others will think without worrying about what you think , you are more doomed to failure than to success.
Apart from Herman José, what are your other current references?
Bruno [Nogueira] and Ricardo [Araújo Pereira], clearly. In fact, my real desire to do stand-up was born when I saw Bruno on the show Levante e Ri. And only after that did I go looking for international comedians. But I can’t help but say that the younger generation is a reference for me. It is essential to see what those who arrived after you do. For example, Pedro Teixeira da Mota and Carlos Coutinho Vilhena exemplify the most creative and fresh humor in Portugal, and if you haven’t heard that, you’d be a complete idiot. At an international level, my references are Dave Chapelle and Louis CK, they are the two best ever.
It never happened to hear a joke and think “I could have done this”.
That I could have done not necessarily, but that I could have been the one to remember that joke happens a lot when I see the shows with Dave Chapelle and Louis CK
And about cancel culture. How to deal with it?
Fortunately, the cancellation culture in Portugal does not have the same expression as in other countries. We also never had scandals where comedian A or B violated someone. Then it should be canceled… and arrested! I’m talking about being canceled for a joke that people didn’t like. In Portugal this does not exist. It happens is what should happen: people don’t like it and won’t see your shows. This is the form of justice that must be employed. It’s different in the United States, suddenly they unearthed a tweet with a joke from 15 years ago that, fortunately, no longer made sense, because mentalities have evolved and even because everyone made those kinds of jokes even in their daily lives. It’s completely unfair and makes no sense.
And why the name Diogo for the show?
I’m Luís Diogo, my father was Luís and my brother is Luís Miguel. And so for the family I’ve always been Diogo and my brother is Miguel. Deciding to give the name I have but that no one knows I have, except my family. This in a show where I’m going to talk about my education, my biggest personal losses, even health problems I’ve had that nobody knows about. Decided to go with these themes in the nicest way I could, that’s why the show has my name that nobody knows I have.
Of the shows that have already been performed across the country, how has the audience reacted?
It’s been really good. I have confirmed that people like to find out about your life in a satisfactory way. After an hour of show, they have already overcome the discomfort of talking about death or illness and will go with you to the end of the world with these themes.
In addition to the shows, are there any new projects?
Continue with Hotel, my fiction podcast, which is basically a sitcom. I’ve just finished season 5 and we’ve reached episode 73. It’ll be back soon. As I am no longer on the radio, I have other availability to bet on the podcast in the future. I want to do this because I believe the independent path is the future of humor. Editorial freedom is always greater when it is 100% independent and the internet gives you a very attractive terrain.
Do the Portuguese have a sense of humour?
Yes, I have no reason to complain. It has to do with the fact that we are a relaxed, peaceful country. And also the “Velhos do Restelo” who think that certain themes are forbidden are becoming a residual thing. We are renewing our population a lot in this regard.