He does stand-up for 15 years, but says he feels like he’s just started. “Making people laugh in a natural, natural and authentic way like when I make my friends laugh in my backyard takes time, but when that feeling is achieved, it becomes a superpower,” says Adib Alkhalidey.
He did no promotion and only shared two social media posts to talk about his new show Quebecois Tabarnak. However, Adib Alkhalidey tells his story in front of full halls since the start of his Quebec tour. Dates have just been added in Montreal, at the Gesù and at Place des Arts in Montreal. It is the power of word of mouth as well as the strength and power of enthusiastic spectators who do not hesitate to recommend this new show by the 34-year-old comedian to those around them.
500 times a person
“I couldn’t be happier,” explains the principal. I am very grateful to meet people and the bonds that are created between them and me by living such emotions together. As you age, you grasp the richness and potential of each human being who is unique. The spectators, I see them as 500 times a person and not as a crowd of 500 people.
Although the tour of this show with the title that can shake the minds of right-thinking people began before the pandemic, the artist modified and pruned his texts during the two years of imposed stoppage. His new leitmotif? Use authenticity in the creation that he considers infinite when an individual agrees to present his identity in all its facets.
“Each human being comes to earth seeking to tell their story while being themselves, in an authentic way, he continues. I’ve been thinking a lot during the pandemic. I had time to look out the window and sit down to ask myself questions. It is a luxury to be able to ask questions.
In the company of his audience – made up of 14-year-olds as well as 85-year-olds – he plunges into a search to tell his story and reveal himself in the most truthful way possible, as if he were saying to the spectators: the best proposition of what I think I am today.
It’s not Adib who chose the title of his show, it’s the title that chose Adib! In fact, Quebecers Tabarnak met all the expectations that the comedian could have in relation to his show. He is funny, he suggests to the spectators that it is not a very smooth show that they are about to see and it is an affirmation of his hybrid style combining neat vocabulary and a more raw and spontaneous side.
“It takes on its full meaning in the show, continues the one who receives many messages from spectators conquered after his performances. It’s always fun to make an artistic gesture and to make decisions that, at the time, seem to divide people, but which ultimately make them laugh.
Create links
The theme of uprooting is very present in this show composed of several layers and levels of interpretation. A universal theme that the comedian had wanted to address for years and that spectators are now ready to receive, for various reasons. The proof, the reactions of the spectators affirming that they had never laughed so much and cried so much in a comedy show.
Aware of delivering a show that tells a story concealing little bits of thought, Adib Alkhalidey imposes nothing on his audience. All he wants is to connect with people in front of whom he gives his best in the most real, down to earth and spontaneous way possible.
“I am more myself and I believe that people are more open to looking at someone who wishes, through his art, to reveal and seek who he is”, confides the one to whom the pandemic will have made it possible to redefine the concept of gratitude.
- Adib Alkhalidey continues the Quebec tour of his show Quebecers Tabarnak. He will be at the Gesù in Montreal on May 21 and 22, at the Grand Théâtre de Québec on June 23, 24 and 25, at Place des Arts in Montreal on July 9 and 16.
- More dates and tickets: adibalkhalidey.com