A true free spirit on stage, Christophe Alévêque delivered a fine lesson in caustic humor to the audience in Nice. In an initially chilly atmosphere and in front of an audience not won over in advance, he managed to take advantage of the various situations available to him to win the crowd over.
The first laughs began to be heard. Relief showed on his face and the show was underway. The Alévêque show could begin. With intentional provocation, a pessimistic view, and satire of society, the line was thin. With mischievous pleasure, he enjoyed scratching at the everyday troubles of our society. A true Scapin of modern times, he does not hold back his enthusiasm to get his message across.
Through his politically charged show, he simply wants to awaken people to make them realize, through humor, the world as it truly is. Committed, passionate, he lets nothing pass and verbally eviscerates politicians at every opportunity. Clearly aligned with the left, he humorously and unconventionally analyzes Sarkozy’s “Zébulon” method. A true stylistic exercise when you consider that the city and the department are strongholds of the UMP. The task wasn’t easy, but doesn’t humor triumph over everything? The laughter heard confirms his success, and the bet is won.
In the interest of fairness or simply for his own pleasure, he also enjoys crafting cynical portraits of the left, of his left that he says is “at the bottom of the pit.” The strength of his show: current events. He skillfully bounces off of the various recent political events. Nothing is left to chance, everything is open to debate. Ecologists, women, children, religion are not taboos but trifles. The therapy of laughter to exorcise, to understand the world around us is surely the new leitmotif of humor.
With a richly colored musical theme, the entire government is caricatured and mocked for the greatest pleasure of spectators who came without really knowing what to expect from this comedian. Known for his penchant for provocation during his numerous TV appearances, notably with Laurent Ruquier, there might have been doubts about his stage performance. He made people laugh on the small screen, but what about on stage? This was the unknown of the evening. Christophe Alévêque quickly dispelled this fear.
With some hindsight, one might wonder if his show has more purpose than just entertaining us. The message seems clear when, accompanied by his band, he ends his performance by singing Serge Reggiani’s “The Permanent Revolution.” In short, the opposition is not dead, it is just asleep… Through his perspective on the outside world, he asks us to think, to act, to be our own life’s actors. Tired, exhausted, frustrated by seeing the “government build prisons instead of building people,” he stands up and sometimes loudly says what people think quietly. This is the panache of great men, of great artists.
