“We had a crazy ambition, it was to go on stage and be free”: Jamel Debbouze back on stage with the Comedy Club

You are embarking on a major Zénith tour with the Jamel Comedy club, expected from January 9 in Montpellier. How did this project come about?

Very good question! In front of exceptional artists, truly exceptional, we say to ourselves that we cannot miss this opportunity to expose them, I have done that all my life with the Jamel Comedy Club, when I see gems, I know them. recognize. And there, I have a generation of pearls, I have a necklace, I can't keep it for myself.

That’s what motivated my desire to go on tour again, it’s really the quality of these artists.

How do you find them?

Over time, what is extraordinary is that I no longer go to find them, it is they who find me! (laughs). They come to the Comedy Club, 42 boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, in Paris. For novices, they know that on Tuesday at 6 p.m., they register, they play 5 minutes, they can do what they want.

If they are good, they join the weekend troupe, with the most successful artists, those who have the most experience. And if their passage is not good, we will help them to improve.

It remains a school…

It's like Barça! We spend three, four years with them developing them, they are paid for that, so they don't need to look for part-time work. And we allow them to become artists in their own right. And when they are ready, they will play at Camp Nou, that is to say in Marrakech of Laughter.

Who will we find on stage alongside you?

There are artists who already have a real reputation and have filled quite a few venues, I am thinking in particular of Redouanne Harjane, Franjo…

And there are people that you will certainly discover, like Julien Santini, who is exceptional. There are a lot of phenomenal artists, I can guarantee you they will be a hit.

And you, what will be your role during this show?

I'm going to do what I've always done, but in a more spectacular way. We have a magnificent decor. Thanks to Portuguese friends, we achieved the technical feat of taking the entire front of the Comedy club with us on stage. And I, in there, I will be able to play alone, in twos, in threes, in fours, in everyone. There are plenty of surprises. I won't just introduce the artists.

Since the beginnings of the Comedy Club, have the profiles of the comedians you highlight evolved? Has the approach to humor changed?

We were already children of Coluche. We tried to be as close to us and as subversive as possible. It is in this lineage. They are free and disorderly. They don't hesitate to say what they think. But they are more ready than us when they arrive, armed with social networks, with everything they have seen on television. These are comics 2.0. We just have to give them more confidence.

You were one of the pioneers in France of the Comedy Club, since then, you have been emulated, this genre has established itself.

Our generation comes from hip-hop and the street, the theaters were not necessarily open to this discourse, this form. We wanted to have our own tool so as not to have to justify ourselves. We have often been compared to a kind of community theater, which is completely false. It is an urban theater open to all young people. Today, still, it is France in all its splendor.

This genre is now spreading across the regions, Kev Adams must set up his Fridge comedy club in Montpellier and in certain cities. These are the kind of initiatives that you welcome, I imagine…

I do more than greet them. It's a source of pride for me. It's almost an accomplishment to have the feeling that I was able to spin a good idea and have it be taken up everywhere like that. With my family, my friends, we opened this theater naturally without asking any questions.

We had a crazy ambition, it was to go on stage and be free. That's what it's about, the opening of all these little café-theaters, all these artists. Society needs to express something and since they are full, that also means that it needs to hear it. It is very beneficial. Could you send me this interview? I find it extraordinary!

We have seen you in many fields, from cinema to television, but transmission remains a common thread in your career.

Yes, it’s an education, a tropism even. I have a large family, we have always been about sharing, we had no choice. I come from a place where transmission is natural. Little brothers, we always make sure to take the short ladder or leave the emergency exit door open.

Then, it was the associations that allowed me to go on stage. It’s solidarity that allowed me to get here. I would never have gotten there alone. We had to come across kind, cultured, open and altruistic people. And the first institutions that welcomed me were an underground radio station, Radio Nova and then behind Canal +, which was a less institutional television than the others.

Do you have other projects with this channel?

The next step is “Terminal 2”. Canal +, has always followed me in all my delusions. “Le cinéma de Jamel” with Omar and Fred, behind it, gave the after-sales service and we know the careers of the two. The Jamel Comedy Club, then, is all that, Blanche Gardin, Alban Ivanov, Malik Bentalla, etc. These are people who fill Zéniths today. This is all very virtuous.

You also remain associated with the success of the cult H. What memories do you keep of that time?

Like a supercolor that you will never forget. I was a little adult who had just arrived and we were given a funfair with incredible people in it. It was a moment of ultimate grace for us in terms of expression, we could really say absolutely everything and do everything.

Do you still find yourself in today's Canal +, the way this channel has evolved?

When you come from Trappes, you develop an extraordinary ability to adapt, so anything could happen behind you, I would adapt (laughs)

But it's true that times are changing, I feel it today while writing Terminal, we manage sensitivities much more today than yesterday and that's good. It's not a constraint, we have to deal with the times in which we live. Times have changed, fortunately. Before you could smoke on a set, it didn't bother anyone. Today, this is no longer possible. That's why it's really exhilarating to also go on stage and be able to not conform to expectations.

Many artists have also accompanied you in the adventure of “Marrakech of laughter”, in this country which is dear to you, you were present again recently during Emmanuel Macron's state visit there. Are you going to continue this festival?

As long as I am allowed, I will continue this adventure, we were slowed down by Covid and the earthquake. But the El Badiî Palace is an extraordinary place and we are ready to do lots of things.

Will we also soon find you alone on stage?

I go back on stage every seven years. But I never left her. With the Jamel Comedy Club, Marrakech du Rire, I always had one foot on stage. Now I'm really going back and I'm also counting on the tour to go back to another show.

Other projects?

I have just made two films at the cinema. This is the first time I've made two films in the same year! There is “Mercato”, a kind of sports thriller, where I play the role of an agent, it's not a comedy at all.

And I just finished “Le Marsupilami 2”, I just finished filming. This is the first time I've worked with the Fifi gang, it's an experience that I won't forget, you'll cry with laughter.