Thomas Ngijol is a comedian, actor and director. His specialty is stand up. He became known to the general public with the Jamel Comedy Club, then as co-director and co-screenwriter with Fabrice Eboué of the film Starting point in 2011.
He will be, until July 2, at the Déjazet Theater in Paris for his one man show The eye of the tiger, before embarking on a tour throughout France. And this Wednesday, June 15, he is showing the film Fratè, directed by his wife Karole Rocher and his daughter Barbara Biancardini.
franceinfo: This film is called Brotherhood because it tells how two brothers meet at the death of their father, right in the middle of the Corsican maquis. One is a son of blood, the other an adopted son. They will have to share the heritage left by the patriarch, a family home. Watching this film, we realize how the material is not the most important and that what is, ultimately, is what we inherit from family and others.
Thomas Ngijol: It’s exactly that. There is above all the confrontation of these two brothers and each lives with his share of neuroses. When the character of Samir Guesmi, the son of blood, arrives, I find myself completely without landmarks and it’s a bit of a mess in my head that rebounds because, in the end, everything was buried.
And we realize how important integration is. These two brothers do not have the Corsican pedigree and yet they have been totally adopted. They experience Corsica as if they had already been part of it for a very long time.
That’s what I also find interesting in this film. Obviously, there is a reference to each of us in relation to our origins, but that’s really not the point.
“I find it important, as a cultural actor, not to always justify France in its diversity because being French today means 100,000 different definitions.”
Thomas Ngijolat franceinfo
What did you dream of doing as a child? We feel that you liked the comedy a lot. You have been an educator.
When I was an educator, I wanted to be a teacher for a long time because I realized, in fact by being an educator, that I was lucky to have a natural authority. I felt that when I talked or watched children, something was going on. I said to myself with great humility: I would have liked to have had a guy like that when I was little, who looks at me, listens to me and talks to me. I learned a lot, a lot of comedy from children. At the same time, I was doing a lot of theater at that time and always being in contact with them was a great asset for me.
To find out more, you have to go see you on stage: The eye of the tiger, a show that is close to your heart, in which you tell your story. Have you always wanted to perform?
Between my family life and my neighborhood life, at one point, I said to myself: but our life is extraordinary, it is rich. So I gave myself the chance to write. I’ve never been funny, well if, in my small circle of friends and a little at school, but not in family. I’m the last boy, with four older brothers and sisters behind, so my role was to exist. I started to let go in writing, I gained confidence and it took with the public.
You were adopted with the Jamel Comedy Club. There, you understood that the scene was going to be part of your life?
Yes. I was determined and I gave myself all the means. Today, I am on franceinfo!
When we talk about Thomas Ngijol, we obviously think of the stage, stand up, but also cinema and Starting point with Fabrice Eboue. There were successes, failures, failures, did that make you doubt at times?
“This job is all about doubts. I’m not a child of the ball, I’m the child of my parents, so I have no guarantees when I come into this job.”
Thomas Ngijolat franceinfo
The only thing I tell myself is that I don’t come with the desire to hold up, I come with the desire to live dreams, to live things. And if you want things, dreams for real, you take your courage in both hands. When I turn around, I say to myself: but it’s still crazy what we’ve done and all that remains to be done.
Brotherhood is a piece of you, of your children, of your wife too. The eye of the tiger, it’s the same thing. What do these two completely different media, but which come together, represent?
There is a family connection in both. Brotherhood, I see it more, not as a gift, but something that I wanted to do a little for children. It was nice to live this experience for them in Corsica. Now, The eye of the tiger on stage, it’s my field and what’s nice about a show is that the family discovers me. It’s a kind of family, love, life therapy where she sees all my neuroses, my areas of discomfort, my areas of laughter, etc. It’s more my field and the other was more a gift.