Gad Elmaleh Used to Fake Singing English

A man sitting in front of a piano

“I apologize, for these people who paid drinks for years and thought it was English.”

The truth is out. On Conan talking to Conan O’Brien on March 1, Gad Elmaleh, a French-Moroccan stand-up comedian, revealed that before he was selling out theaters and concert halls, he was making up English words to songs in piano bars.

The cause of this false bilingual performance? Elmaleh didn’t yet speak English. Eager for an impromptu performance, O’Brien whips out a keyboard.

Let’s just say, wow does Elmaleh perform. It’s actually a bit of a parody on American ballads. At one point, he sings something that sounds like “And you were strained and the bread is stoked.” It’s clear Elmaleh is a real performer; his confidence is convincing even if the actual words aren’t!

Elmaleh was on Conan to promote his upcoming Netflix special, American Dreamcoming out March 6.

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