"I am not a critic, I am a doer" says Kyan Khojandi

Comedian discusses the importance of positivity during the promotion of "2040", an indoor documentary on February 26

Kyan Khojandi - Nicolas Messyasz / SIPA

Every Friday, "20 Minutes" offers a personality to comment on a social phenomenon, in his meeting "20 Minutes with ...".
Kyan Khojandi, humorist and actor, lends his voice again to a documentary by Damon Gameau, this time for 2040 .
Aware of the challenges to be met for the future of the planet, he has adopted several practices to preserve it.

Currently on tour for the show A Good Evening , Kyan Khojandi, who became known to the general public with his series Brief , uses his humor and the media, such as YouTube and social networks, to reach people in a positive. A state of mind at work in 2040 , a film by Damon Gameau, which will be released in theaters on February 26.

In this documentary, to which Kyan Khojandi lends his voice, the director wonders "what would the world look like in 2040 if the existing solutions were implemented today?" ". He thus travels the world in search of these solutions. In full promotion of 2040 in a Parisian hotel, the humorist and actor agreed to speak to us about the importance of positivity and what he does to be happy.

After dubbing "Sugarland", Damon Gameau's previous film, you went on a 20-day sugar-free diet. Have you adopted one of the solutions from the film “2040” like eating less meat for example?

Yes, I eat a lot less meat, but it's not because of the film, it's a whole global reflection on the impact it has. Anyway, I'm not a big guy in absolute terms and there, I reduced my meat-free diet to five days a week. I play every night 1:45 on stage, I play sports, it didn't not lower my energy. I am not a scientific study, but in any case, for me, it has not changed my life to not eat meat anymore.

Did the film make you feel good or did it overwhelm you personally?

I find that it challenges but positively, with a lot of humor. That is what is interesting ! With humor, the message already gets better and secondly, it is more relevant.

Damon Gameau explains that he wanted to make a positive film contrary to almost all negative forecasts. As a creator, do you think it is important to focus on the positive side of things?

I try to do this every night in a show. That is to say, to bring people together around a universalism, to show that we are all the same, that we all have the same fears, the same anxieties, the same decisions to be made one day in our life. I have the impression that it does them good ... I really think that we can send a message like that, that positivity is very important. In everything I do, I always try to have a somewhat happy conclusion.

What aspect of the world today makes you optimistic for 2040?

There are people who are experts and who want to change things, and that's what we see in this film. It feels good to think that there are people who want to change things.

And pessimistic?

The bait of gain. The taste of "always more" that we all have in us, which can harm us, which can harm the planet too, those around us, the environment, their choices.

You did a skit on this theme and on addiction elsewhere. Are the problems of society your main source of inspiration for your shows?

I live in this society, so I am only inspired by my environment, but I often start from the intimate. I start from what I feel and then I express it. It's easy to judge a guy who has a cigarette addiction, to say "Oh you saw, he's stupid" and in fact, to find yourself immersed in an addiction that destroys his own life without even to notice. I am addicted, I am clearly addicted to my social networks, to my phone anyway.

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Promo day for the 2040 film. We are slammed.

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Since you always try to be positive, do you see a positive side to this addiction, a way of making society with social networks?

The social network removes all intermediaries. For an artist, it brings independence and we can create networks. As in everyday life in fact. Recently, I tried something: I put books in front of my house in a shoe box with the inscription "Servez-vous". People took books and left others, it actually created virtuous circles. I used my social networks to tell that, I convey things that I like. I could see that sometimes I was told that I was not critical enough. I don't care, I don't have that to do, I prefer to encourage people to see good things since time on Earth is limited. Let the critics leave it to the critics. I am not a critic, I am a doer.

In 2019, you put your entire “Pulsions” show on YouTube and adapted it as a graphic novel. Why ?

We gain a lot from offering things to people ... I was overwhelmed with gratitude after giving my show and it touches me enormously. It gives me confidence that you have to give a lot in your life, and not just wait for a capitalist return. Afterwards, for the book, I still wanted to be able to offer an object, because it's a little boring to offer a YouTube link. I took it out as a book, because it was a kind of bet. It was my first book, I had never done that. I like to vary, to add strings to my bow… I decided to make this book in small format, a new format of the stand-up in book. It didn't really exist so I did it with a designer and ... it's pretty cool.

You launched a program on YouTube earlier this month and are currently on tour for "A Good Evening". Is there a difference in terms of interactions with the public between these two formats?

Many people who have seen my Pulsions show on YouTube have come to see it indoors. I had a real burst of room filling since I put my show on YouTube, it had a beneficial effect. Again, the fact of offering a show, it motivated a lot of people to come. After that, I have been going on the Internet for twenty years so I see Internet culture very well, I have hindsight on the culture of comments… I don't do that to have the most stylish comments on Earth, I do that because it makes me happy. This is what I have been doing for ten years, I go towards the things that make me happy. To make a good time , I do not force myself, it really makes me laugh, it makes me hit bars with my friends. My friends and I, we don't see each other very much because we are all on fairly busy careers, and for something that we can laugh about and share with people, why not do it?

What do you like about YouTube as a viewer?

I love a chain called "Hugo Lisoir", it's an astronomy chain where they talk a lot about space. They do shows twice a week and I love it, it's great. It fascinates me, the people who do these kinds of things. They are supported by their community, they are funded by their community and they do this without any guarantee of earning a living behind.

For you, the media like YouTube are above all vectors of positive values?

Obviously, this is even the main mission of a media! For me, that's the definition of a media. Cinema gave me incredible emotions and changed my outlook on life. Television has given me great things too. Les Inconnus, Les Nuls, Canal +, Nowhere else ; it's my whole culture of humor. This is media for me, it's something to reach people. The media is contact, it is the vector with people. And me, if I manage to reach people, I am happy, I feel like I have succeeded in my life… And it can be with any medium: a song, a sketch, something…

Or a photo of your dog on his Instagram account? You recently received Florence Foresti on your show. Which is the most beautiful between your dog and yours?

It's mine. It is not bad hers, but it is mine.

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