For a long time he wanted to be a footballer. But life means that he is becoming one of the comedians who count. Paul de Saint Sernin, born in 1991, raised in Chaville, eldest of six siblings, experienced the childhood of beautiful neighborhoods, the easy life and the floodgates that never fall into the gravel. “With my three brothers and my two sisters, things were pretty good,” says the latter. As in all large families, the atmosphere was rather festive.” To a certain extent. Paul sees his parents and, even today, he would not miss Sunday mass.
But his little thing, very early on, made him take side roads. “I quickly became a source of worry for my parents because I was a bored child. I did well at school, but I didn't have any friends, I was in my own world. » Doctors and psychologists looked into his case and diagnosed great precocity. Paul will skip two grades, go from kindergarten to CE1, then from fifth to third grade.
If the results are there, the behavior leaves something to be desired. “I was the type to light fires in the yard, to deal in jeans,” smiles the person, who was sent to Ireland for a year to become a good man. “But what mattered most was Football every Sunday too. Like mass. Yes, I had a long name but my best friends were the Ivorians who played with me. In the locker room, everyone didn't care about my origins or my problems. » Even today Paul loudly claims this double identity, half-gentleman, half-scum.
I never experienced any stress in front of a camera, even when I presented my first news
Paul de Saint Sernin
The number 10 on his back – that of Platini and Zidane – does not allow him to imagine a destiny at PSG. “I started too late…” No, it will be through watching football broadcasts that he will enter the industry. “At 19, I completed eleven internships in different sports editorial offices. I took it very seriously, I even launched a website dedicated to my passion. I didn’t even feel like I was working…”
In the middle of the 2010 World Cup, he was tasked by Canal+ with “rushing” the images of the Blues bus in Knysna (South Africa), a prelude to the psychodrama [grève des joueurs français, NDLR]. A few months earlier, he had presented his first radio flash and was sent to comment on a Rennes-Guingamp on the edge of the field. “But, ultimately, it was all too easy for me. I never experienced any stress in front of a camera, even when I presented my first news (on the late iTélé). »
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I pushed the Lyon coach, made Kylian laugh. It was seen…
Paul de Saint Sernin
No, Paul needs adrenaline, strong sensations, to rub shoulders with someone stronger than him. In 2016, we headed to the Paname Comedy Club, who, as a big fan of Jamel and Gad Elmaleh, felt he had a complete place there. “I was the only white guy with long hair, who didn't seem suited to the place at all. But I told my story, starting from where I came from. I got into trouble, but I also started to make people laugh. »
The rest is obvious: his life will be on stage or it will not be. While continuing to bring back its strawberry on Téléfoot, the channel launched by Mediapro around Ligue 1 in 2020, which collapsed after six months. “I had a slightly different way of doing player interviews,” he concedes. I pushed the Lyon coach, made Kylian laugh. It was seen…”
When Téléfoot collapses, due to lack of strategic vision, he is the face of the revolt, somewhat in spite of himself. Under his altar boy appearance, Paul throws his four truths at the shareholder without shuddering. While he is finally planning to present his first show, he is called by Léa Salamé to be the sniper of her show “What a time! “.
I am a child of TV, but my ambition is to give it up to devote myself to the stage which I love more than anything in the world
Paul de Saint Sernin
“France 2 didn’t want me at the start,” he says. The channel would have preferred a woman… Régis Lamanna-Rodat, the producer of Léa, imposed me on the pilot. » And since then, every week he is in the audience, reacting to what is said on set. The advantage? His show is sold out. The danger? “Just be the guy on TV, the one we’re going to know in advance what he’s going to say. I won't do one too many seasons with Léa. »
Since September, he has returned to stadiums as a commentator on Ligue 1 matches on DAZN, the “Netflix of sport”, while continuing to defend his sensitive and terribly funny one-man show. “I am a child of TV, but my ambition is to give it up to devote myself to the stage which I love more than anything in the world. » And, if his wife gets annoyed by his odd schedule, he already has his next show in the drawers. The theme? Football obviously…
“Paul de Saint Sernin”, until December 28, at the Théâtre du Marais (Paris 3rd). Then on tour throughout France in 2025.
© DR
France
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