It’s as if the French humorist Panayotis Pascot, at 23, had already lived many lives. Creator of his own interview show, occasional YouTuber, then television columnist, actor and director, he presented his first solo show at Just for Laughs.
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The youngest of six siblings, born to a writer father and a teacher mother, Panayotis Pascot did not have a clear path in front of him to find himself on the boards. But Panayotis has always made jokes. “Little, I always wanted to make people laugh. It’s easier to get people to like you! »
As a teenager, he created a web show in which he invited comedians. “I saw myself as an intern who tried to meet people in the trade to ask them all possible questions. I wanted to understand how you make good jokes or how you use personal experiences on stage. »
Now, after trying just about everything in the showbusiness sun, he’s the one taking the stage to do just that: crack jokes. “It took shape a bit over the course of the adventures, because above all I wanted to become a director. Which I always want to do, by the way. »
Very quickly, I realized that there are many links between writing a film and writing a show. I fell in love with stand-up like you fall in love with a sport you hadn’t necessarily thought of.
Payanotis Pascot
Panayotis continued to practice his sport. “I had zero plan B when I started. I started at the end of college, I just thought that I was going to get the baccalaureate [en science] and then go up to the capital to make jokes. And I had the chance to pass a casting for the small diary. »
Engaged in the popular Canal+ show, he presents weekly chronicles there. There he learns “a discipline of work”, acquires a “maturity” which will serve him later. In 2017, after two years, he decided to leave television sets. “I was starting to get a little unhappy. […] In television, the best is the enemy of the good. And I started writing more and more “ambitious” stuff that I wanted to really develop, taking the time to craft it. »
The transition was not without fear, but risk taking was necessary. “I worked in comedy clubs in the center of Paris in front of 20 people a night to earn 25, 27 euros. But I was pretty well surrounded and that’s a chance. »
Adib and Montreal
Among those who revolve around him, a certain Adib Alkhalidey. The two comedians have known each other for a few years, have become very close and collaborate regularly. The Montrealer participated in the writing of the show Almost.
“I had gone to Montreal to work on my show, to do comedy clubs and I met Adib through other comedians. It matched right away. »
In recent years, it is Adib, his “favorite comedian”, who has marked him the most in show, says Panayotis Pascot.
“He’s the first comedian I’ve seen being exactly the same person on stage as in life. Me, I know that I’m less nice in life than on stage [rires] ! Adib assumes his share of shadow as much as his share of light. It was an initiation, a discovery. To tell me that we can make long sentences, get lost in our thoughts, make unfunny jokes just because we like them and that the public will like that we like them. He is very free on stage. »
“Almost self”
Following the first performances of AlmostPanayotis was called the “God of stand-up” by newspaper Point. A praise that speaks of a certain ease in being on stage. This does not prevent him from having made every possible effort to put on his show.
“It took me about a year and a half [à l’écrire]. For six months, I rented a small theater in Paris and there was a poster in the street saying to passers-by: “Come help me write my first show.” I had a little camera, I sat down with my stool and some notes, I talked to people. What I wanted was to see what interested them or not. It helped write the plot of the show. »
In the end, he wrote a show that talks about the human. “I try to ask the question: ‘When do you really become yourself?’ I wonder if we are “almost self” all our lives. »
After the tour, even more projects, of which he does not want to reveal anything. A word of advice: keep an eye out for Panayotis Pascot.
At the Gesù on July 17 and 18