The comedian continues his tour with The next gala eveninga funny and musical show, with a stopover in Paris, at the Olympia, on June 5.
“I have a lot of trouble presenting The next gala evening… Let’s say it’s a funny show, while also being musical. It’s Rire et Chansons, what!” If Vincent Dedienne had already established himself with successful one-man shows, roles in theater or cinema and television columns, he demonstrates with this innovative concert that he is still exploring new territories. For this show, the comedian and actor asked around ten artists – Jeanne Cherhal, Vincent Delerm, Adrien Gallo – to draw inspiration from the sketches from his previous show One gala evening, to write songs for him. Result? Vincent Dedienne performs some titles on stage (Old soul, As odious as that, La Terrasse…) interspersed with unpublished sketches, and signs a singular artistic object, suspended between laughter and emotion.
Madame Figaro.- Do we say the same thing in a song and in a sketch?
Vincent Dedienne.- It’s surprising because we say a lot of the same things, but we’re not talking to the same person. In a sketch, we talk to people we don’t know to entertain them and show them a good time. As for the song, it creates a much stronger intimacy. And that’s what amused me about this show: creating a rollercoaster shape that takes you from laughter to emotion.
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Have you ever tried your hand at songwriting?
Yes, and it’s a disaster! A lovely soup. Besides, if I die, I definitely don’t want these texts to be revealed! I want them to stay on my hard drive. As my way of expressing myself relies a lot on the second degree, humor and derision, writing a song proves extremely difficult for me because it requires a first degree and an immodesty that I do not have.
What place does music occupy in your life?
A large space but it is really the French song which occupies all the space because there is in variety a form of immediacy which ends up taking everything away. When a comedian makes a joke, we say to ourselves that it’s funny, well taken, whereas a singer sometimes gives the impression of having written something to console us, to remind us that we are not alone. It’s as if we had entrusted him with something one day and he answered us. He’s almost a friend, someone who understands us.
Is there a duet you dream of?
I have already made many dreams come true by singing with Véronique Sanson, but also with Agnès Jaoui, Muriel Robin or Valérie Lemercier. I even sang a song with Catherine Deneuve on the set of Terrible Jungle by Hugo Benamozig and David Caviglioli because she was humming Ballade à Sylvie by Leny Escudero, and that I was obviously the only one who knew this song. As I have also already sung with Pierre Lapointe, whom I love, I would like to share a duet with Sabine Azéma because I really like her voice. I never tire of hearing actors, actresses or comedians sing because there is a fragility, an imperfection in their voices, which touches me more than those of divas or tenors, almost indestructible, like that of Johnny Hallyday.
“I would love to play Michel Berger”
Which artist would you like to play in a biopic?
I would love to play Michel Berger and I was disgusted to learn that it was William Lebghil who had been chosen to play him in the Johnny biopic (laughs). But I inquired and I believe that Raphaël Hamburger(the son ofFrance Gall And aboutMichel Berger Editor’s note) does not want a biopic to be made about his father.
The public will find you at the cinema at the start of the school year Explosive species . What attracted you to this comedy?
Its director, Sarah Arnold. I went to our first meeting convinced that I was going to refuse her film because the role she offered me was a world away from me — a kind of idiot, an alpha male house marshal, not at all deconstructed. I sincerely thought that there had been a misunderstanding. And then I found her so intelligent that she convinced me. She is such a subtle, sensitive and delicate woman that I was convinced that she meant well for me.
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You will also find Alain Françon who directed you in An Italian straw hat pour The Marriage of Figaro …
I admire Alain Françon so much that if he wanted to play a medication leaflet for me, I would accept. And it’s the first time that I’m going to play Beaumarchais, whose language is totally different from that of Marivaux or Lagarce. It’s always great to learn a new, almost foreign, exotic language. I am also delighted to share the stage with Alix Poisson, of whom I am an absolute fan, but also Micha Lescot and Noémie Lvovsky. And then today putting on a big show with around twenty actors becomes so complicated that the idea of forming a troupe, a family, for a few months, remains extremely exhilarating.
I admire Alain Françon so much that if he wanted to play a medication leaflet for me, I would accept.
What do you have left to accomplish before you turn 40 next year?
My God! What a horror! Maybe try not to become stupid… I have the impression that the times are becoming more and more vulgar, stultifying, and that threatens us all. We see people falling one after the other, like in the time of Covid. So we must try to resist.
“A gala day after†by Vincent Dedienne. June 5 at the Olympia, in Paris, and on tour throughout France.
