You are back with a new show. What inspired you to create “Ah… l’école!”?
After “Booder is back” which I played for four and a half years, I wanted to return to the stage quickly. I didn't want to wait for a break. We had to find a universal theme that brought together grandparents, parents and children. What's better than school? We've all been there, at different levels. Second thing, I started from the observation that school at the moment is not going well. So I wanted to talk about the school by sending important messages. Because education is the basis of a country. When I started reading the news stories, where there are students hitting teachers, harassment, all these things, I said to myself, given that I have a family audience, that we should let me talk to them about it.
Are there any personal memories that made it into the show?
Yes, there are personal memories that are a bit disguised as humor, because it had to be funny. I'm talking about my notes, my correspondence notebook (Editor's note: the class journal). I compare my school a lot with my son's. I'm a dad, so I try to see what was good before and what's better about him today.
Which student was Booder?
I was a kid who told a lot of jokes. I was not insolent or disrespectful. I have never been violent, neither physically nor verbally. I knew my limits. At one point, when the teacher said to me: 'Okay, now that's enough,' I calmed down.
Were you a good student?
Ten and a half, eleven out of twenty. It was enough to be at the edge of the ravine and not fall into it. This is what annoyed my teachers who told me: 'You could get so many good grades, but you prefer to concentrate on laughing'. Very early on, I was against the grade system. Because we took classes to get a good grade and not to learn. I regret it. Today, I discovered reading. I read a lot. And I'm rediscovering books that were imposed on me when I was little.
When you see today's school through your son's eyes, what do you see?
Many things have changed for the better. Like the Internet. The Web helps. Before, when I didn't understand the lesson, it was complicated. Today, when my son doesn't understand something, he goes to YouTube, where he types in the name of the lesson. There is always someone who will explain it differently. Sometimes we even explain theorems to him with cartoons. But there are many things that have regressed. School bullying, for example, which I talk about at the end of the show, has become something catastrophic. Before, the jokes stopped at school. Today, it continues on social networks. And it's getting worse and worse. Today, the solution is to change the school bullies. He has a double punishment. Not only is he harassed, but he is also forced to change schools. And for the harasser, everything is fine. I talk to you about it in a touching way in the show. To wake up parents and tell them that you have to educate your children, because harassment also comes from a lack of education of the child. Teach them that we are all the same, that we must live together. I am not a lecturer. I'm just making observations.
Have you ever been the victim of harassment yourself?
No, I'm lucky not to have been harassed. Because I was funny, I was the friend you needed to have a good day. I had repartee. So, no one made fun of me, because they thought I was going to machine-gun them if they made fun of me. But I put myself in the place of all these kids who don't have this repartee and who are made fun of every day.
“I do lots of things so as not to regret anything”
“TF 1 has two episodes of The Nanny ready to be broadcast,” announces the bulimic comedian of projects, who plays in this series which was a hit last February. He plays “this guy who grew up in working-class neighborhoods and who finds himself looking after rich people's children, for example, even though he doesn't know that world.” “I'm writing a book, I'm on my third written show, I wrote a play, etc. I hosted a TV show, 'Friday Anything Goes', with Arthur. I'm trying to do things that I like so as not to regret anything, to tell myself that the day it stops, no matter the reason, because no one is eternal, I will have no regrets, I would have done everything .”
Booder will be on 01/28/2025 in Namur, on 03/18/2025 in Louvain-La-Neuve, on 03/19/2025 in Braine-Le-Comte, on 01/30/2026 in Mons, on 01/31 /2026 in Liège and 02/01/2026 in Brussels. Info and reservation on Odlive.be
