A formative moment in Gad Elmaleh’s comedy career arrived as a child in the family home in Casablanca.
After watching a romantic film, he turned to his parents and told them he loved them. Elmaleh recalls how his mother’s reaction didn’t go according to script: “she just looked at me and said, ‘what do you think this is, a French movie?’”.
Speaking to The National ahead of Friday’s show at Etihad Arena – part of Abu Dhabi Comedy Season – the Moroccan-born French comedian, 54, describes the exchange as the essence of Moroccan humour – zippy and often used to deflect unexpected emotion or introspection.
“We come from a culture where real communication rarely exists. Sitting down and talking about everything just doesn’t happen. So to say real things, we go through humour. It’s how speak,” he says. “Sometimes when I was a kid, if someone was angry, it would come out as a joke. If you wanted to say something to a girl, or talk about feelings, you’d tease or make a funny comment. Humour is our filter. It’s how we manage awkwardness.”
The instinctive approach served him well. After moving to France in his late teens, Elmaleh hit the open mic circuit in Paris, where his quirky, autobiographical style gained traction and made him one of France’s biggest international comedy exports.
With television specials in both French and English, Elmaleh built a career on both sides of the Atlantic, supporting the likes of Jerry Seinfeld in the US and lending his voice to animated films including the French dub of Despicable Me, where he voiced Gru, and A Monster in Paris, voicing the character Raoul.
That progression was aided by the indirect mentorship of Seinfeld.
“For me, as a beginner in English, it was such a great opportunity to go on stage in front of an American audience every single night, do my 15 minutes as an opener, and then stay backstage watching him do stand-up. It was a masterclass for me,” he says. “He didn’t always give me specific advice, but I learnt something every day just by being around him. We still talk all the time. We laugh. He’s obsessed with comedy, and so am I.”
That road to Paris and Hollywood, is also rooted in childhood experiences from his homeland. Elmaleh continues to make regular visits to Morocco, where he draws inspiration from everyday interactions.
“This is where my comedy DNA is,” he says. “I’ll give you an example: I was back in Morocco not long ago, spending time in Casablanca with a comedian friend. We were just walking the streets, watching people interact, and I told her, ‘Is everyone here a comedian? What’s going on?’”
“Every person we met had a way of saying something important without making it uncomfortable. They would tease, laugh at themselves. It wasn’t a performance – it was just daily communication.”
It’s a form also absorbed from his father, an amateur mime, whose movements inspired some of the nervy mannerisms in Elmaleh’s performance.
He recounts the memory, naturally, with a touch of Moroccan wit. “I don’t really remember my dad teaching me anything. But I saw him perform. I copied him. It just became natural,” he says. “Today when I’m on stage, it’s physical, it’s facial, it’s slapstick and that’s all from him. Now, of course, my father says the only reason he didn’t become an international star was because he didn’t want to take all the light away from me. He’s lying.”
His Abu Dhabi set, performed in French, will draw on some of his personal experiences shaped by navigating cultures, traditions and languages. All of this makes Abu Dhabi a fitting setting for a show that speaks to its diverse Francophone communities.
“The fact that I’m coming to Abu Dhabi is already material,” Elmaleh says. “A French-language show in the Emirates, with people from everywhere, is funny before I even start talking. They speak the same language, but not the same culture. That’s what makes it interesting. You’ve got French speakers from Morocco, Lebanon, Switzerland and Belgium, each with their own references and sense of humour. It’s a mix of people who understand the words but not always in the same way. I like that complexity. It keeps me on my toes.”
It’s also the kind of laughter people need in a time of growing social polarisation, Elmaleh says, noting how stand-up’s resurgence is fuelled by its perception as a rare space for unfiltered truths. “Everything right now feels tense,” he says. “But comedy is a place where we can breathe. It’s a place where you can say things, explore contradictions, and still connect.”
Gad Elmaleh performs at Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, on Friday. Doors open at 6.30pm; tickets start from Dh395
