Gad Elmaleh will buy the former transformist cabaret Chez Michou

The Paris commercial court ruled in favor of the actor who wishes to take over the business of the famous Montmartre establishment.

The actor and comedian Gad Elmaleh was chosen by the courts to buy the business of the emblematic Parisian transformist cabaret Chez Michou, in liquidation, according to the judgment consulted on Tuesday October 8 by AFP.

By taking over this iconic place in Montmartre and tourist Paris, Gad Elmaleh “will make it a place of comedy and humor, while keeping the soul of the place”explained to AFP the actor’s communications department, which however did not buy the Chez Michou brand.

The founder of the establishment, nicknamed “Michou”, died at the beginning of 2020. The transformist cabaret then experienced financial difficulties, and was put into liquidation in mid-July 2024.

Gad Elmaleh, 53, was chosen by the Paris commercial court to take over the premises, closed since the end of June before their 68th birthday, and whose 23 employees, artists and room staff, were dismissed.

For Catherine Catty-Jacquart, Michou’s niece, “Gad Elmaleh will continue to bring life to 80 rue des Martyrs, which has fallen into good hands as Michou would have liked. We would have been unfortunate if the place became anything other than a cabaret“.

“It won’t be called anymore Chez Michou but Gad will make it a very beautiful place. It’s a very good thing to turn the page, taking a turn“, she told AFP.

The cover by Gad Elmaleh seems almost logical: a figure of French humor, the artist interpreted the character of Chouchou, a colorful and very exuberant transvestite.

Created on stage, it earned him one of his biggest theatrical successes with the comedy Petwhere his character frequents a cabaret in the northern suburbs, L’apocalypse. The film attracted 3.8 million spectators when it was released in 2003. For this role, Gad Elmaleh was nominated for the César for best actor.

Gad Elmaleh is not the only comedian to have his own theater. Before him, Fary, Jamel and Kev Adams launched their “comedy club”. With the goodwill of Chez Michouit offers itself an internationally known address, whose emblematic founder, nicknamed “the blue prince of Montmartre”, inspired in the 1970s The Crazy Cage (the play and the film) to the actor and author Jean Poiret. Among the most popular icons of Parisian nights, Michou and his cabaret had become French symbols, as popular as Le Moulin Rouge, Le Lido and Crazy Horse.

“The Michou cabaret is a big family. We stick together as much as we can but we feel a lot of bitterness“, Michou’s niece, who had taken over the reins since the death of her uncle, told AFP. Cradle of transformism and the smallest cabaret in Paris, Chez Michou presented a dinner show with extravagant transvestites nicknamed the “Michettes”, imitating stars of song and cinema such as Sylvie Vartan, Annie Girardot, Johnny Hallyday, Mireille Mathieu and Dalida.

In deficit for three years, the cabaret was confronted, according to its former director, “strikes, demonstrations and parking problems, especially for coaches“, causing the collapse of reservations. Drag queen shows and transformist shows have, however, seen a resurgence of interest in recent years, driven by establishments which have been able to turn more towards a young and trendy audience, such as Madame Arthur, also located in Montmartre.

In his memoirs published in 2017, Michou estimated that his cabaret should not survive him. “I want this house to disappear with me. It may seem pretentious but the cabaret will not survive me“, he said then. A few months before his death, he finally changed his mind under pressure from the “Michettes”.