Gad Elmaleh (Arabic: جاد المالح, Gād el-Māleḥ; born 19 April 1971) is a Moroccan-Canadian stand-up comedian and actor. Best known in the French-speaking world, he has notably achieved fame in France, Morocco, and the United States.[2][3]
Elmaleh was born and raised in Casablanca to a MoroccanSephardic Jewish family.[4] And was brought up in a culturally diverse environment, speaking Moroccan Arabic and French.[5][6] As a child he would introduce his father, a mime, with a placard.[7] His brother, Arié, is an actor and singer, and his sister, Judith, is an actress and stage director.
He studied at École Maïmonide, and Lycée Lyautey[8] in Casablanca. His family emigrated from Morocco to Canada when Elmaleh was 17. He later studied political science at a university in Montreal (it is unclear whether at the University of Montreal or McGill University, as both institutions' records reflect his attendance) for four years but did not graduate. In 1992, Elmaleh moved to Paris to study drama at Cours Florent[8] under the tutelage of Isabelle Nanty.[8][9]
Elmaleh's first one-man showDécalages, performed at the "Palais des glaces" in 1997, was autobiographical.[10] In the show he retraces his journey beginning with his departure from Morocco after high school, continuing with his studies in Montreal and finishing in France where he studied drama at Cours Florent. His fame further increased with the success of his second one-man show, La Vie Normale which was his first time performing at the Olympia as well his first show of more than two hours.[11] The show was released on DVD on 23 January 2001.
In contrast to his first two one-man shows, his L'autre c'est moi (2005) contains more improvisation and interaction with the public. He has been credited with bringing the American stand-up style to France and using it in his one-man shows.[12] He came back to the stage with L'autre, c'est moi in September 2006 in Canada (Montreal) and in the U.S. (on Broadway, at the Beacon Theatre in front of 3000 spectators); it was performed also in Casablanca, Morocco. Between April and August 2007 he played his successful show in France, Belgium, and Switzerland. The show attracted over 300,000 spectators. The show was later released on DVD and sold 1,500,000 copies.
On 6 January 2007, he was voted the "funniest man of the year" by TF1 viewers from a choice of 50 comedians. On 15 July 2007, Elmaleh premiered his fifth one-man show, Papa est en haut, in Montreal as part of the Just for Laughs festival. That year he sold out seven consecutive weeks at the iconic Olympia theatre in Paris, a new record.[13] After that he performed for another seven sold-out weeks at Le Palais des Sports. In total, one million tickets were sold to this show.
His sixth standup show was Sans Tambour (Drumless, "sans tambour ni trompette" (bugleless) = meaning making a big entrance unannounced).
In 2016, he appeared with Kev Adams in the M6 comedy special Tout est Possible. During the show, the two comedians performed a 10-minute sketch where they played Chinese men, which later received criticism for its racial portrayals.[15]
Elmaleh has performed in a mix of French and Arabic in Morocco and included some Hebrew in shows in Israel. Elmaleh is often called the "Seinfeld of France," a label he called "flattering"[16] and understandable, given that both he and Seinfeld are inspired to do comedy based on "everyday life."[16] Both comedians are friends.[14]
In 2015 Elmaleh began an American tour entitled "Oh My Gad" and moved to New York City. He first appeared in Joe's Pub in December following multiple workout shows in the fall. While Elmaleh speaks English fluently, he works with an English teacher to write his jokes while appreciating the nuances of the English language. One difference between his French shows and his English shows is that his English shows include no riffing, everything is scripted.[14] In September 2016, an episode of This American Life highlighting challenging transitions included a segment about Elmaleh and his transition to American comedy.[12]
Elmaleh's French stand-up special Gad Gone Wild was filmed in Montreal, Canada, and was released on Netflix on 24 January 2017. An English language special was released in March 2018.[17]
Acting
Elmaleh's first contact with cinema was the full-length film, Salut cousin ! by Merzak Allouache. He later appeared in L'homme est une femme comme les autres and Train de Vie. In 2000 he played the role of "Dov", the seducer in La Vérité si je mens ! 2. The character of "Chouchou" in La Vie Normale was reproduced in the comedy Chouchou (2002), directed by Merzak Allouache and also starring Alain Chabat; the film drew large audiences.[citation needed]. He then did his debut as a singer in "it's kiz my life", a popular song in a non-existing language. The music video was directed by J.G Biggs and shot in the famous Parisian Hôtel Costes.
He played the voice of Barry B. Benson in the French version of the 2007 film Bee Movie, Drôle d'Abeille.[18] There he met Jerry Seinfeld and became friends with him.[13]
In 2009, he released the film, Coco, which he directed, wrote and starred in. It opened number one in France, Belgium and Switzerland. In 2010 he appeared in a dramatic role in Roselyne Bosch's The Round Up, which is based on the events surrounding the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup.[18]
On 28 January 2019, the anonymous YouTube channel CopyComic released a video showing various stand-up comedians performing several years prior to several Gad Elmaleh performances, showing similarities that the YouTube channel described as plagiarism. Elmaleh sued the YouTube channel and asked for the videos to be removed from the website, on copyright infringement grounds.[20][21] On 24 September 2019, Elmaleh admitted to have taken inspiration from other artists in some cases, although minimizing the proportion of it in his works:
"We hear things and it infuses you. (...) In what is said to be plagiarism, there is what is fashionable, what we really take, and also the joke that runs, a little easy, that does not belong to anyone".[22][23]
Personal life
Elmaleh lived with French actress Anne Brochet from 1998 to 2002. They have one son, Noé, together.[24] The story of their relationship and break-up was told in Brochet's book Trajet d'une amoureuse éconduite.
He was in a relationship with Charlotte Casiraghi from December 2011 until June 2015.[25] Their son was born on 17 December 2013.[26][27][28]
It was reported that he converted to Catholicism in 2022.[29] However, he denied actually converting in 2023.[30]
Honours
In 2004, Elmaleh received an award for the best one man show from SACEM in France. In 2006 he received a Crystal Globes Award. by the French Press Association, for best one man show for La Vie Normale.
^Driss, Leïla (26 June 2024). "Gad Elmaleh: «Je suis né au Maroc, je l'assume à 1000%. Je suis juif, je l'assume à 1000%»" [Gad Elmaleh: "I was born in Morocco, I accept it 1000%. I am Jewish, I accept it 1000%"]. Le360. Gad Elmaleh revient dans cet entretien sur ses croyances et sa pratique de la religion (...) il y a des chants arabes, parce qu'on est séfarades. [In this interview, Gad Elmaleh discusses his beliefs and his practice of religion (...) there are Arabic songs, because we are Sephardic.]
