Comedian Rachid Badouri, who felt “powerless” in the face of the violent earthquake that shook Morocco on September 8, will present two benefit shows at the Olympia in Montreal to support the victims. The first event will take the form of a comedy evening on October 9, while the second will be a concert by rap and hip-hop artists which will take place on October 12.
“My Moroccan heart bled when I saw all this,” says Mr. Badouri, about the earthquake which struck a region southwest of the tourist city of Marrakech and left nearly 3,000 dead and 5,600 injured. If his relatives who live in this country are safe and sound, the families of some of his friends have however been affected by the disaster. “We are thousands of kilometers away, we don’t know what to do,” he says.
The Quebecer of Moroccan origin therefore made a series of phone calls to join his fellow comedians in order to organize a benefit show to help the victims of the earthquake.
However, he realized that his friend Charaf Bouregaa, director and partner of the record company Pollen Records, had taken similar steps. “He said to me: “Ah! You are doing this, so it’s beautiful,” relates Rachid Badouri. I told him, “Wait, you have something I can’t have. You have the contacts of all the big names, especially in the world of Quebec hip-hop.” » The idea of a concert, which would take place a few days after the comedy evening, therefore emerged.
During the first event, hosted by Mr. Badouri, comedians Laurent Paquin, Christine Morency, Eddy King, Anas Assouna, Neev Bensimon, Oussama Farès and Douaa Kachache, will take turns taking the microphone.
The other benefit show, which will be musical, will feature among others the rappers Loud and Souldia, as well as the singer La Zarra, who participated in the Eurovision contest earlier this year.The artists MB, Lost, White-B, Rowjay, Ya Cetidon, Capt. Gaza, Mikalya and 4Say will also be there.
“As they say in French from France, it’s heavy,” jokes Mr. Badouri. He will be on site during this last evening to present the event, but the entertainment will be entrusted to the two comedians Anas Assouna and Oussama Farès, both of Moroccan origin.
The return of Us for you
These two evenings will constitute the sixth edition of Us for you. This is a series of benefit shows launched by Rachid Badouri first in 2017, to help victims of spring floods in Quebec that year.
The artists quickly responded favorably to his invitation this year, he emphasizes. “Asking them to say yes to participate is a joke, a real joke. It touches me every time, it knocks me to the ground. »
Tickets will be on sale for $45 starting this Wednesday. All profits from the two evenings will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross which supports the Moroccan Red Crescent present on the ground.