Gad Elmaleh is in the fortunate position of being a very famous unknown comedian. A movie star and marquee comic in France, the Moroccan-born Elmaleh is often compared to Jerry Seinfeld and Ben Stiller. But at age 44, he’s recently begun performing standup in English, and now he’s taking tentative steps to becoming a major American star with his extended run of shows at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan.
It’s a good time to be mysterious, yet successful in the comedy scene. South African comedian Trevor Noah was a well-known global act who had little US fame when he was named as the new host of The Daily Show, and his first guest, Kevin Hart, had a massive following in the black community before crossing over to full-fledged movie stardom a few years ago. Elmaleh has already had some exposure Stateside, with parts in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris and the Adam Sandler dud Jack & Jill.
His two-week run at Joe’s Pub, which has the simple subtitle All in English, sold out quickly, and he’s since announced a run of US tour dates for the later in the year. At his show on Monday night, it was clear from the myriad accents in the small theater that he would still be playing largely to a home crowd.
And he embraced his mostly foreign audience. Walking on stage in a blazer and jeans, he pandered with a quick “bonsoir” before switching back to English. “You want me to do my French show for 25 bucks?” he teased. “That would be a great deal for you.”
When he asked the audience about their origins, Americans were in the minority, with clear fractions from France, Morocco and Canada. He seemed proud of his international fame, and he indulged his French-speaking audience with little tidbits of French throughout the show. And the crowd’s enthusiasm for “Gad: the movie star” was obvious – he sternly reprimanded several audience members who appeared to be filming the show.
His material was mostly personal stories, with an obligatory chunk about the difference between the US and France. He was respectful of his temporary home: he marveled at the obsequiousness of American customer service, and mused on how French soldiers would have handled a terrorist attack differently than US marines recently did in Europe. But he never missed a chance to poke fun at Americans for their lack of language skills.
Overall, the show felt very much like a work in progress, as he jumped between generic topics – men versus women, religion versus atheism – and played with accents – American, Scottish, “Middle Eastern” and even the American perception of the French accent. Though he didn’t seem 100% comfortable performing in the language, his charisma shone through, and he was always fantastic company.
In some ways, watching a comic like Elmaleh challenge himself is watching a veteran relearn his craft. He occasionally stumbled, but when a joke went over well, he looked almost giddy. He walked a delicate balance of appealing to locals without pandering too much, with a sweet story about dressing up as cowboy as a child that suggested he was particularly interested in winning over Americans. (As were his fans: after the show, my Moroccan neighbor asked me worriedly: “Was it funny?”)
And luckily, it really was. It’s far from a perfect hour, but the chance to see Elmaleh spreading his wings in the US is not one be missed.
All in English is at Joe’s Pub to 6 December.
