Didier Gustin is 58 years old. “Like Daniel Craig,” he emphasizes on stage. But unlike the legendary actor in the James Bond saga, the comedian and impersonator has somewhat disappeared from the media radar in recent years, far from the popular success he enjoyed in the 1990s. We find him again at the beginning of the month of January in the anonymity of the Passy theater (16th century) where he launches, until this Sunday, the first Parisian dates of his new show, “Johnny, free in my head”.
A musical show that plays the self-deprecating card to the fullest, since it features an imitator struggling to convince his musician friends when he proclaims: “I’m not a nerd! » Accompanied on stage by an exciting trio – a percussionist (noise maker in his spare time), a guitarist and a keyboardist – Didier Gustin embarks on an incredible concert project tribute to Johnny Hallyday the day he receives a phone call from the former producer of Taulier.
A crazy, wacky epic
To help him in his business, the “has-been” imitator is helped by… Johnny himself, who comes to visit him directly in his head. A bit eccentric, this starting point is the pretext for a crazy epic which will lead Gustin and his musicians to cross paths with all the legends of French song…
Highlight of the show, which skilfully recounts quite a few anecdotes about the interpreter of “Allumer le feu”: thanks to subtly made arrangements, Hallyday’s eternal songs come to life “in the manner” of Francis Cabrel, Jean- Jacques Goldman, Michel Jonasz, Indochine, Bernard Lavilliers, Michel Sardou…
The voices are, overall, perfectly similar. The scores swing, groove at will, allowing you to rediscover the rocker’s hits in a new light. To dust off the ensemble, the imitator also offers some happy forays into a younger repertoire, imitating Matthieu Chedid, Grand Corps Malade or Philippe Katerine.
In a more dated, but quite delightful register, Didier Gustin recalls some voices from beyond, from Coluche to Devos via Brassens, Nougaro or Bashung. Directed by Éric Bouvron, the show turns out to be well paced, in every sense of the word. A comic ray, Didier Gustin skillfully avoids the pitfall of corniness most of the time. It’s really a shame that he gets his feet wet by offering the public two passages with jokes, hackneyed and embarrassing, aimed at Patrick Bruel and Stéphane Bern. Without that, we would have been keen to repeat the definition of “has-been” proclaimed loud and clear by Didier Gustin on stage: “An artist between two successes. »
musical show by Eric Bouvron and Didier Gustin, at the Passy theater (Paris 16th century), until January 12.
