With a wrestler’s physique that immediately reminded me of Chéri Bibi, a famous wrestling figure on television in the 60s, the character is as impressive as his stage entrance. Imagine 120 kg suddenly appearing right in front of your face, and all with grace, mind you! Another surprise, no props or costumes to embody the various characters in his one-man show which he has dubbed “Alone with Me” and where he does not hesitate to mock his physique, his character traits but also all the women who have passed through his life, “the only one who stayed being his mother.”
Thus, it is a show stripped down to the maximum and without any artifice that Gab insisted on presenting, while succeeding in the artistic performance of showing us that he can navigate, with the same success and depth, from his mother to a little girl, through his wife, his mother-in-law “who will take her shower later”, his girlfriend Brigitte, who drives a Kangoo in the countryside, and even himself, a mountain of 120 kg.
He embodies his characters to the deepest part of himself to transmit them to the audience’s imagination, who has no difficulty in visualizing each of the women mentioned. He doesn’t just make jokes for the sake of it. Behind all his texts, his gestures, his grimaces, or his mimics, there is always a message, more or less pleasant.
He tells his story, does not hesitate to throw our own faults, weaknesses, or cowardice in our face, but all with an irresistible humor that helps the medicine go down. It’s very funny, sometimes cynical or cutting like “the use of a round 36 shovel” but also very tender when he shouts “So tell people you love them, don’t hesitate”
This artistic transformation is due to his work with Pierre Lericq, an author-actor whom Gabriel has been a fan of for a long time and who is quite the opposite of him. As much as the author of “The Compass in the Eye” performed in Paris is rigorous and demanding, even harsh in his remarks, Gab was somewhat dilettantish. It must be said that it might have seemed easy for him after the huge success of his first show “120 Kg. Com” directed and produced by Jean-Marie Bigard, a one-man show played 700 times over four years, having won countless first prizes in different comedy festivals.
It was, in fact, at a festival in Porto Vecchio where he met Pierre Palmade. He had just dropped everything at 33 years old, abandoning his well-outlined life as a jeweler artisan after taking over from his parents, Armenians of Lebanese origin, settled in Vienna. A risky move, but paying off since Palmade, impressed by his abilities, introduced him to Bigard with the success now known. “I wanted a more serene existence, a healthier relationship with life,” he confides to us before talking about his next show called “Recall” which should be presented in Lyon in March.
He considers humor alone as “a job interview” with the public, truly enjoys making people laugh, the connection is established immediately. For “Alone with Me” there will be no recall after Saturday night in Antibes, but until then you can ask him each time. A precaution, do not forget to book because as artists recommend warm venues, the public does the same with talented and heartfelt artists, Gabriel is “right on” in this category.
(1) The DVD was released in September 2008
“Alone with Me” by Gabriel / Directed by Pierre Letircq
Theater of the Scene-on-Sea until February 28 at 8:30 PM
Place Nationale in Antibes
(1st floor of the restaurant La Cascade)
Reservations at 04 93 34 11 21 or on www.theatredelamarguerite.com
