One, a child from Laval and of Moroccan parents, is one of the best-known faces of Quebec humor. The other, a Malaysian of Chinese origin who grew up in Singapore and the United States, is part of the Daily Show, legendary satirical newsletter. Rachid Badouri and Ronny Chieng talk about their friendship, born behind the scenes of Just For Laughs, where they will meet on Sunday evening.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
Rachid Badouri appeared for the first time in 2015 among the alignment of theEthnic Show, an annual showcase bringing together some of the most promising pranksters from cultural communities around the world. Other names on the awning include: Ronny Chieng, then living in Australia and not yet the star he would become thanks to the Daily Show of Trevor Noah, where he is a correspondent, as well as thanks to his shows powered by the powerful Netflix machine.
The comedian, who now lives in the United States, remembers with all the gratitude of the world the welcome of his Quebec colleague, a host who obviously does not know how to do things by halves. “There’s a lot of camaraderie between comedians in the United States, but it’s still a little more business. We show up at the show, we leave, we do our little business, ”explained Chieng this week, during a three-way videoconference, while he was in the studios of the Daily Show in New York and granted The Press and to his friend about twenty minutes thanks to a break between two shoots.
I don’t know if it’s Moroccan or Quebecois, but Rachid did everything, everything to make sure we had a good time. Rachid is a star in Quebec, but he never made us feel it. You only realized it when you walked down the street with him.
Ronny Chieng
PHOTO PROVIDED BY RACHID BADOURI
Ronny Chieng in front of his friend Rachid
But being hospitable, for Rachid Badouri, what does it mean, concretely? This means that in 2015, he had caps made for all his comrades on which was inscribed a memorable line taken from a Chieng number. That he opened a pizzeria in Ahuntsic on a Sunday so that the gang could celebrate the end of the festival there. And that all these beautiful people were transported from the city center to the restaurant, then from the restaurant to the hotel, in luxury SUVs.
Ronny laughs, while Rachid blushes. “You quickly learn with Rachid that it’s impossible to be as generous with him as he is with you. It’s impossible to win. »
Good tips
“It must also be said that we immediately got on well because we were the only two in the gang to be married or engaged”, underlines Rachid. Ronny adds, mocking his host country: “It’s curious, but if you’re in a group mainly made up of Americans, the non-Americans will tend to get along better. »
Although Chieng, 36, is his junior, Badouri, 45, considers him a big brother. “Ronny is not only a great listener, but he remembers what you told him time and time again. And he gives the best advice in the world. »
As he tried to make adjustments to his style, to strive for a stand up purer and relying less on the physical comedy that had made its mark in his first two shows, Rachid will thus be gently brought to order.
I remember, we were at the restaurant and Ronny was like, ‘Do you want me to tie your hands, put a balaclava on you like Kanye, take you on stage and explain to people that you are not allowed to move? Who exactly do you want to impress?
Rachid Badouri
“What I wanted to tell him is not to turn his nose up at his talent,” says Ronny. He can express his opinions on stage, but he should use his natural talent as a performer to convey them. He shouldn’t try to be someone else. I have already seen him in a gala in French in Montreux, and even if I don’t speak French at all, I understood everything he said. Rachid performs at this level. »
After 2015, Rachid Badouri had to abandon the language of Seinfeld in order to honor contracts in Europe. He got back into it at the beginning of the year in the hope of being drafted for his pal’s Just For Laughs gala, a joy he will taste on Sunday, after several months of showing new material in the comedy clubs from Montreal.
“In 2015, I started a fire which I then extinguished myself. But there, I would like it to become a forest fire, ”he confides about a potential career in English.
“During the two weeks of Just For Laughs, it’s in Montreal that everything happens in the world of humor,” says Ronny. But there are so many Americans that it’s as if some comedians forgot that Quebec is not an American state. Thanks to Rachid, Ronny knows Quebec, for real.
The Ronny Chieng Gala will be presented at the Théâtre Maisonneuve on July 31.