Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing Gad Elmaleh perform live for the first time, at the Beacon Theatre in New York. Gad, often referred to as “The French Seinfeld,” is undoubtedly the biggest name in comedy in France, with two Netflix comedy specials (one in French, and one in English), as well as the flop Netflix sitcom, “Huge in France.” The one thing I have always heard about Gad, who has spent the last three years living and doing standup in the U.S., is that he’s better in French. And man, is that true. Gad was in his element, performing for what I assume was every French person in New York. Almost as entertaining as the show itself was watching everyone in the massive theater waving to each other before the performance, like it was one big family gathering of all the Francophones in town. (I saw plenty of French dude fashion there as well… check out our new piece on dressing French below.)
Gad started 45 minutes past the show’s “start time” with a slew of jokes about how French people assume a 7pm start time is more of a suggestion than a fact. In his new act, D’ailleurs (which is available on CANAL+), he talks about life in America, awkward encounters with the royal family of Monaco, and wading through the overt generational differences between his gruff Moroccan father and overly-communicative 7-year-old son. It was a treat to watch, and the energy in the crowd was electric.
Like Gad, I spent the weekend lovingly rolling my eyes at family members when I went home to celebrate Easter. But I was delighted when my aunt and uncle brought a selection of bougie French pastries from the Montclair, NJ bakery Le French Dad. There were: a yuzu meringue pie, macarons, miniature hazelnut financiers, canelés, and itsy bitsy powdered madeleines. After writing last week about sweet and savory canelés, I had the bordelais pastries on the brain, and have to say that Le French Dad really brought its A-game with hollow, perfectly crispy shells and custardy centers. As it happens anytime my family encounters something French, they ask if I’m going to write about it. “Of course not,” I mumbled, munching a financier and snapping photos of the spread.
Things I found on the Internet this week…
Zombies in Paris. Jacquemus brought giant handbag-shaped cars to Paris. The Musée d’Orsay taking Poisson d’Avril a little too literally.
As the weather warms up, I’ve found myself revisiting the steamy Dua Lipa-Angèle collab “Fever.” It’s particularly suited to a four-minute lunchtime dance break.
Ciao,
Catherine Rickman, Managing Editor, frenchly.us
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