David Castello Lopes: The Authenticity of Comedy and Song | Touring Avignon and Beyond

2023-06-17 08:08:32

A veritable Swiss army knife, David Castello Lopes will be in Avignon throughout the month of July and on tour throughout France from the start of the school year to present his first show, “Authentique”. On stage, the 41-year-old journalist wants to mix everything he likes: jokes, precision and song. Encounter.

Between his YouTube videos, his radio columns and his interviews, David Castello Lopes found some time to write his first show last July, a one-man show about authenticity. A theme that is an inexhaustible source of jokes and that brings people together. Already 44 dates on the clock this year but he is back on the road this summer to perform at the Festival d’Avignon.

First and foremost a journalist

During his studies at the Berkeley School of Journalism in the United States, David Castello Lopes trained in data journalism and web documentary. An experience that will then allow him to integrate The world then the Capa agency. It is mainly thanks to the video The parable of the Tuileries, made with his friend Léonard Cohen, draftsman, that his career takes off: “çexplained economic principles that justify each year the do qthat we invest money in culture”.

The Canal+ channel then orders him The Chiffroscope: “It was very educational. During three years, I did large summaries with hyper-precise figures where you should not mess around, don’t never be wrong, while being light and funny”.

Then comes the moment when David Castello Lopes offers Canal+ his real first project, his own, a series of videos: Since when ? “VS’is the first time I did something completely personal, it was exactly what I wanted to do and it was accepted. From there, it gave me gigantic freedom and I had a lot of fun”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF382COmvdI

In 2021, his notoriety explodes thanks to the success of the song I own money, part of a video titled Why do people buy super expensive Swiss watches? He is still surprised: “I did a little math, it worked out more than 100 million views. During three weeks, everyone sang that in the colleges. A lot of people don’t know where is that from, they do not know that it’s actually part of a videoo qhe explained economic stuff“.

Journalist, David Castello Lopes never really thought about getting on the boards to be humorous…until 2018. “I thought to myself if I have an opportunity, maybe. But it’s weird to do that… It’s not weird if it’s the way, but I was in Le Monde, it wasn’t at all logical” he confides. Last July came the moment when the apprentice comedian began to write his first show. Since then, for his many performances, he has been inspired by the know-how of humor professionals to evolve: “It’s quite a profession. I learn on all my dates, I have made a lot of progress. I often say to myself: calm down, separate the ends of sentences, put a three-second silence, do not continue your joke right after, sit down, adapt the rhythm according to what is happening in the room”.

Apprentice comedian

For his show, it was important for the data journalist to choose a specific theme that he would allow him to demonstrate: “CWhat I like in life is to start from point A and arrive at point B, to have a problem, a question and to answer it“. But why authenticity? “It’s something which has been close to my heart for a long time, it is universal and very human. Only human beings are concerned with authenticity. You never wonder if a cat or a dog is sincere because he is completely himself at all times, he never shows an emotion that is not the right one, he is in the immediacy. He does not know that he exists whereas we are aware of ourselves so we can show a face that does not correspond to what is happening in our head”.

The conclusion of this one man show, punctuated by a lesson in the geopolitics of Portugal in the 19th century, a musical break with the Portuguese anthem and numerous demonstrations on human bad faith, is “that basically it’s impossible to be authentic but all you can aspire to is to be lucid about your own inauthenticity. Ta small remark on the fact that Greek yogurt and Bulgarian yogurt have nothing to do, be clear about the fact that you made it to show off and not to transmit information”, he says sarcastically. “Cs in any creation, it’s good to have the theory and then the examples of course. I havearrange one tout the stories a little bit to make them clearer but otherwise they are just things I’ve been through.”

“On stage, you can constantly improve”

The videographer, accustomed to producing content on YouTube, realizes the pleasure of going on stage: “The thing that I like, is that we can constantly improve. When you make a video, you post it and it’s over, it’s dead. In a show, you can change a sentence or a passage the next day. It’s better or worse, but in any case you’re moving forward”, confides the journalist.

“JI won’t stop now. It’s extremely pleasant and it’s also inimitable to have immediate feedback from the people who come to see you. It’s not the same thing to have people saying oh, great your videos, and real people laughing at your jokes in a packed house.

“Authentic” by David Castello Lopes, from July 7 to 29 in Avignon, on tour throughout France from the start of the school year and in Paris, at the Olympia, on June 6, 2024.

1686999056
#David #Castello #Lopes #humorist #journalist #lover #figures #stage #onemanshow