Gad Elmaleh has been voted the Funniest Man in France, named Night of the Order of Arts and Letters by France's Minister of Culture and named Night of the National Order of Quebec.  He's also worked with such giants as Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen and Al Pacino... but you may know him from his hugely popular Netflix comedy specials, Gad Gone Wild, or American Dream, if you don't know him as "the Seinfeld of France".  Tonight, April 12, 2019, he adds Huge in France, the scripted Netflix Comedy Series very loosely based on his life and comedy, to his repertoire.   

Luckily for me, I had the great fortune of acting opposite Gad on Huge in France, where I learned that his attention to the craft of comedy and his philosophy on taking risks are two of the biggest keys to his immense success.  We talk about comedy, acting, hard work, risk, bombing on stage, starting over from scratch and much, much more.  We may or may not have a few laughs at ourselves for the ridiculousness of two guys sitting in a hotel room talking about themselves and their work.   

   

SHOWNOTES: 

“For me I want to ‘be in a box’ as a writer, a comedian, joke-teller, storyteller, (6:20). “Comic’s sometimes say ‘I’m a comic and I want to be taken seriously and want people to see that I can be moving”, but you don’t need that, you don’t need to be serious, just be funny,” (7:39). “The comedy I like are the real life comedies that is sincere, sad, real or accident, but I don’t like gags. I like to be touched by it because there is always a problem that is being solved”, (9:15). My dad was a mime and I was inspired by him, I used his influence even in my acting, (11:56). Sebastian Maniscalco is one of my favorite comics in America, his body language is almost a mime sometimes and you see everything that he describes, (14:06). I need to do new material, for the audience but obviously for myself too, I want to have fun. (15:24). "Maybe the thing I fear the most is to get bored", (15:44). Some people will say it’s being a workaholic but I'm just passionate about it, (17:01). “If you don't have the language, it's hard to be yourself.", (17:59). When I met you Matt, you were talking about “feeling saucy” what does that mean?, (22:05). It’s hard to do your job but not as completely as you want, I getting there little by little but it’s a process, (27:50). The great feeling is every time that I get a laugh, I would feel like I earned it, (28:30). “I wanted to go to law school but I failed the exam”, (31:40). “I was more interested in people, humans, history than pure political science,” (32:25). "I'm obsessed with obsession... I'm obsessed with observation. Sometimes when I do a movie and I get bored, I get more excited about observing the crew and speaking to them,” (33:50). Rock bands could relate to this, one day I woke up and had no idea where I was. Then I was wondering why I do what I do?, (40:35). I learned something about stand up comedy, do what’s the most organic, make it natural and go with the flow, (52:13). The word “NO” is the beginning of a very long process that I am not going to give up, (56:50). "You have to see yourself as the starting line, but never as the goal.", (57:50). "The only things we regret in life are those that we didn't do.", (59:13). 

 

LINKS: 

Instagram - @gadelmaleh 

Facebook - Gad Elmaleh  

Twitter - @gadelmaleh 

Official Trailer for Netflix Comedy Series: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AG7tsCshXI&t=79s 

Official Trailer for Netflix Comedy Special, Gad Elmaleh: American Dream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YBTyzBDk_o 

Official Website - http://gadelmaleh.com 

 Gad Elmaleh Teaches Jimmy the Moroccan Hip Thrust-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udpSQIaSVDg 

Gad Elmaleh Points Out The Absurdities In The English Language - CONAN on TBS-  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1syXYTG4qVY 

 

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Singer/Songwriter, Chip Taylor- https://www.10000nos.com/episodes/ep67hall-of-fame-songwriter-chip-taylor?rq=chip%20taylor 

Singer/Songwriter, Artie Tobia- 

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