[Interview to be found in the spring issue of têtu magazine, in kiosks or by subscription.] Starring at the Théâtre de l’Atelier with his show Arecibo before a tour in France, the comedian Louis Cattelat also features on the show Quotidien, on TMC, where he popularizes the art of the roast.
“Roaste me like a Christmas turkey.” Yes, Mika did pronounce that sentence. It was during his appearance on the show Quotidien, on TMC, in December last year, and he was addressing Louis Cattelat. Since the previous season, the new recruit of Yann Barthès’s talk show has been doing roasts of guests. Widely used in the drag world, especially in the United States, this balancing act of humor consists of openly mocking the person targeted by chaining together jabs… without tipping into malice!
Each Friday, in his segments, the 28-year-old stand-up vet takes aim at well-known public figures, from Disiz to Orelsan through Léa Drucker. When some manage to get away with a light slap, others get their egos trashed… “You have to adapt to the profile of the guest,” explains the bold one when we meet him over a glass of sparkling water in a Paris 10th arrondissement brasserie, a few hours before he goes on to perform his one-man show, Arecibo, before a full house. “I love this constraint-filled dimension with a lot of parameters to consider”, he adds with the air of an innocent intellectual. In the course of a well-timed quip, the young gay man does not miss an opportunity to poke at the rise of the National Rally. A political use of humor that Louis Cattelat intends to develop in an increasingly incisive way.
So, what does it feel like to be a TV star?
It feels like… not much at all! In truth, it has mainly aged my audience: a lot of moms stop me to talk now. Just yesterday, at the gym, a woman around 50 came up to congratulate me, it was cute. Television fédère much more widely than the stage, and it diversifies the audience of my show.
Does having different audiences influence your humor?
I adapt it. When there are children in the room, I replace certain words with others. For example, “to jerk off someone” becomes “to grate someone.” That way, adults understand very well what I’m talking about, and the ears of children are protected.
Are you more comfortable on a TV set or in front of a full house?
With stand-up, I’ve tested my jokes fifty times, so I know they’re funny. Whereas on Quotidien, I have to present fresh material to an audience of one million people, which is far from guaranteed, and all in front of guests who don’t always feel like joking. When you stand in front of a star like Aya Nakamura, the pressure is on: you have to be funny! My tactic is to crack jokes about the guests for the guests. If they don’t want to play along, it all falls flat.
Your chronicles are completely in the realm of the roast practiced by drag queens…
In fact, the roast isn’t a very French exercise. Yet, Quotidien being a welcoming show, guests wouldn’t understand why they would come to be roasted for free, so I have to dose it. And with the roast, you can’t attack everyone in the same way. For example, Ebony, from the Star Academy, is a young Black woman targeted by racist harassment on social media, so I won’t pull out the machine gun; she’s already taken her hits. On the other hand, when Florent Pagny is in front of me, it’s free rein: a white, heterosexual, rich man who claims not to pay his taxes in France. There, I can go for it… It’s really case by case.
With Aya Nakamura, it looked like you didn’t dare be as sharp as usual… Is it harder with personalities you admire?
It’s precisely better to tease people you like. For me, a good roast must be shocking, but also bring everyone to an agreement. Nikki Glaser’s speech at the latest Golden Globes, for example, where all the stars present get called out, is mastered to perfection. It’s one-line humor, meaning the joke has to land in one sentence, whereas you can take more time in classic stand-up. Here, you have to be funny in a more frontal way: the jokes must be clear and sharp in tone, rhythm, and word choice…
Which personality would you dream of roasting?
I’d say Adèle Exarchopoulos, or Marina Foïs, because they have humor and there’s material. In fact, to solicit a shared imaginary, I need people with long careers and established in the cultural landscape. I need benchmarks.
And someone you wouldn’t see yourself roasting?
Isabelle Huppert! In truth I’d love to do it, but I know she wouldn’t laugh for a single second. [Laughter] That would be both my climax and the end of my career.
After one of your shows, you shared a comment saying: “That finesse in the craziness he spits out!” Scaring people with subtlety—does that sum up your view of humor?
Dark humor has always made me laugh. But I don’t like it when it’s crude. I prefer vivid, imagery-heavy jokes that only work if the audience has a similarly skewed mindset as mine. That creates a sense of connivance and, on top of that, it absolves me! I suppose that’s perhaps what makes my humor subtle.
You make people laugh, but what makes you laugh?
Not current events, that’s for sure! [He ponders.] When it’s well brought, anything can make me laugh. Otherwise, I’d say British humor is always effective. In France, we have funny people, but we’re not as innovative as the English.
What boundaries do you set for your humor?
I think you have to train yourself to allow certain jokes and topics. I once saw a young comedian make jokes about the Shoah when she had only four months of stand-up under her belt… Darling, I applaud your ambition, but that may be a bit premature. Some topics require a savoir-faire that can only be learned with experience.
In your view, can humor free itself from its political and social context?
If the far right comes to power, for example, I think I’ll have an even more political show. But I’m not anyone to tell others how to do their stand-up. Each person must steer their own ship. I believe that if you hand me a microphone and people come to listen for an hour, I owe it to attempt to talk about two or three things that concern all of us. I look forward to gaining more influence so I can be more radical in my approach.
