Gad Elmaleh lived for several years in the United States, where he managed to make a name for himself in the stand-up world.

Guest of Isabelle Morizet, the comedian recounted this crazy adventure and its setbacks, such as her debut in small rooms and her difficult mastery of English.

INTERVIEW

He made his childhood dream come true.

In 2014, Gad Elmaleh flew to the other side of the Atlantic to try the American adventure.

Far from his notoriety in France, the comedian had to start from scratch to make a name for himself on the stand-up scene, in a language he was far from mastering.

After a difficult start, Gad Elmaleh managed to break through, crisscrossing the United States for a tour of more than 160 dates. 

But all was not rosy for all that, between difficulties in mastering the language and distance with those close to him.

Guest from Europe 1 on Saturday, he told this crazy adventure at the microphone of Isabelle Morizet. 

>> Find all of Isabelle Morizet's shows in podcast and replay here

"I played in caves where my name was scratched and where I was paid 100 dollars" 

For Gad Elmaleh, it all started with a childhood dream.

"It was the absolute challenge, to get out of comfort and crowded rooms in France. I had dreamed of it for so long, I wanted to so I did it," he says.

Completely unknown in the United States, he must completely reinvent himself to seduce the American public.

"I created specific material for the United States which included the story of this trip. I had to tell them what I saw as a French person. You have to have a specificity when you are a comedian in the United States" . 

And like any new comedian, he first started in small rooms, far from the huge enclosures that he regularly fills in France.

"I was really in cities that are not the metropolises of the west or east coast. Sometimes there were venues with 100% Americans and no expats. I played in malls, in comedy clubs. I went into caves where my name was scratched and where I was paid 100 dollars for four passages. I would remember it all my life, but those 100 dollars I loved them very much, "he recalls. 

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"Speaking English and speaking English are not the same thing"

Then, little by little, Gad Elmaleh made a name for himself.

He then begins a tour throughout the United States, where the clash of cultures is never far away.

First example: the themes addressed in his shows differ between the two countries.

"There is this tension in the United States even when we talk about the couple and sexuality. In France, it can be money, and we don't dare laugh at that or with that," he says. . 

Another pitfall: language.

"Sometimes I would make the same joke two nights in a row, but one day it worked and not the next day. My English teacher then came to see my show, and she explained to me that I had not placed the emphasis on the good part of the word, so people did not understand and did not laugh. In comedy, it has to be immediate. She taught me that, it took me a lot of time and work ", adds- he does. 

He missed his loved ones too much 

Gad Elmaleh then made a name for himself in the stand-up scene and was even invited in 2018 to the prestigious Jimmy Fallon talk show, an institution in the United States.

But the estrangement from France and his relatives begins to weigh on him.

"I understood that it was not an end in itself when I got off the Jimmy Fallon talk show, which I dreamed of doing. I came home and had a FaceTime with my child, who had five-six, and I couldn't share that. Then I called my mates for an hour or two. I thought to myself that I am doing what I love, but that I am not happy because I am too far from them. I came home for that too, "he recalls.  

"The United States is steep. Over there it's very square, there was sometimes a rigidity that did not suit me," he adds, without regretting his American adventure in the slightest.

Gad Elmaleh ended his tour at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York.

An English-language show called

American Dream

and a comedy series called

Huge in France

have also been released on Netflix.