COMEDY CLASS BY ÉRIC AND RAMZY
Ramzy! Ramzy! Ramzy!
What do we have in store this episode?
My dear Éric, read your notes.
It's the second part of the third challenge,
before the semi-final.
Spiffing, Laurel. Black Comedy.
Yes, that's it!
We still have 11 acts in the competition.
-Can we drop the accent? -Yeah, it's getting annoying.
Agreed.
We've already seen six acts, and it looks like two could be eliminated.
That's right, we've changed the rules. No more warnings.
Now, anyone can be eliminated.
Sudden death. Everyone is in danger.
Black Comedy is cruel.
-Ladies and gentlemen. -You were crying with laughter
during his last performance,
and we had the audacity to tell him he seemed lazy.
He invented Facebook, right?
-They do look similar. -Tristan Zucker-Pierre?
Tristan Zucker-Pierre!
For the Absurd challenge,
I felt like I had nothing to prove.
I knew what I was doing.
This next one is a real challenge.
I'm fired up and ready to go. I'm not stopping now.
I want to get to the final.
I live next to a cemetery.
Some people grow up by the sea.
I grew up facing death.
I didn't go to the park. I'd go to the cemetery,
making ash castles.
I was with my grandmother on the day she died.
I arrived at the door of her hospital room.
I didn't know what to say. I'm about to say goodbye.
All I know about death comes from movies.
I remember thinking, "Tristan, just act like the movies."
I took my glasses off,
and went in as if I was entering a saloon.
"Leaving without a goodbye, Granny?"
I stood by her.
I ran my hand through her hair. I brushed her hair off my hand.
I pointed at her and said, "Where's the gold, Billy Boy?"
No answer. She grabbed my finger, I farted.
I put my glasses back on. It wasn't her. I backed out of the room.
"Apologies for the fart." It's fine, I'll start over.
I find the right door.
"You think you could escape me, you old lady?"
Except she wasn't there. She wasn't in the room.
I could smell that she was there, but not for much longer.
I looked behind the door.
I had knocked Granny out with the door.
My family was about to arrive.
They would've thought I killed her if they saw her.
I tried to lock the door.
I tried slapping Granny awake. It didn't work.
"Snap out of it, Granny!" My brother knocked at the door.
"Hello, Grandma!" It's over for me.
"Hello!"
That doesn't sound right. "Keep France French!"
There.
"Can I come in?"
"No, I'm naked."
I undressed my grandmother.
What was I doing?
I got her dressed, she woke up, I put her back in bed.
My family came to say goodbye.
I wasn't scared because when she passed away,
I thought of it more like a move.
In a week, she'd be living across the street.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Let's see what the audience thought.
It's a no from us, though.
Well done, Tristan. You smashed it out the park.
You made us laugh the way we wanted to.
You told a story
that we all wanted to know how it would end.
The audience's laughter doesn't lie. Well done.
-I loved it. -So did I.
Me too.
-Thanks, Tristan. -Thanks.
-He's ready. -Yeah, he doesn't need Amazon.
He doesn't need us, he doesn't need anything.
Let's get rid of him, he's too good.
He'll take Paul's place in a year. He's the next Paul.
What's it like seeing the guy who's going to bury you?
In front of his house, apparently.
Our next act is a serious contender.
Mr. Mirabel, announce them.
Let me hear you make some noise for our next act. It's Dudley.
DUDLEY 28 YEARS OLD
Hello, how's it going?
I'm thrilled to be doing the Black Comedy challenge,
especially with Paul.
The rightful ambassador of white comedy. It's a pleasure.
Let me tell you about when I was a little boy, back then.
It was my father who named me Dudley.
My mom didn't like it.
He named me Dudley. He said, "Here, Dudley."
And left. Imagine that.
It was complicated for my mom.
One day, she nearly made a mistake.
A huge mistake.
Is "mistake" the right word?
When you think "mistake,"
you think, "I spilled coffee on the carpet."
It was more like, "Mom's brains are on the carpet."
Not the same.
Just as she was about to do it, the doorbell rang.
They saved Mom.
They said, "Do you have a few minutes?"
She said, "A few more left, sure."
"Do you have five minutes to talk about Jehovah?"
There they were, in their capri pants.
They were like, "Please take a brochure."
We have Jesus at the Nativity.
No?
We also have Jesus vs. Ninjas.
It's a manga, for the kids. We're adapting.
We have a special edition, Where's Jesus? You need to find Jesus.
You know where he is? In your heart.
We have Jesus at the Gym.
He works out. He's buff.
Have you seen his… On the cross? Muscles.
Jehovah's Witnesses are the only religion
you can shit on, and no one cares.
No one's going to be like,
"Don't talk about them like that!"
You know why?
They're still at the door. We didn't let them in.
Thanks for listening.
-Dudley! -Dudley.
Okay, time for the audience to show their lights.
One, two, three, go Algeria!
One, two, three, lights!
-Wow! -Of course.
-That's pretty good. -Of course.
Well done, Dudley. What did that have to do with black comedy?
Suicide, abandonment.
Was it true?
-Yeah, it was. -Really?
Yes, that's why it's dark. Because it's true.
I was enthralled by your story. I listened to it, I followed it,
but I was listening to your story, not a comedy act.
-Is that harsh? -Kind of.
-I laughed. -I have mixed feelings.
I wanted it to be darker, a little more raw.
Your flow is something else. You've really found your vibe, your world.
-Thank you. -Well done, Dudley. Thank you.
Well done, Dudley!
It was good, but for me, not quite good enough.
I wanted it to be unanimous.
While we're waiting for the results,
I didn't want to feel anxious. I'm not so sure.
I could be sent home, which sucks.
It was sad comedy, not black comedy.
Black Comedy is written pretty big…
If he made it darker, we'd have laughed.
It was just sad. We listened intently.
He has so much fucking stage presence.
This is his calling.
-For sure. -It's his thing.
Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome
-to Mr… -Étienne…
-Lautrette. -Let's go.
Black comedy jokes about other people's misfortune.
You have to hit where it hurts.
Now, we're going hardcore.
My name's Étienne. I was born in the south west of France
and I grew fat… Grew up there
in a family with three main passions.
Eating, drinking, and dying young.
You have to accept it. We die young.
We never make it to 100 in our family.
100 years old. 100 kilos? Easy.
I'm in one of those families
that loves to celebrate Christmas, you know?
Christmas is always a good time.
Except the time my uncle had a stroke.
I've never seen my dad like that. He was like, "Fuck, not now!"
Dinner will go cold.
Christmas is important,
but there's another very important day in the family.
All Saints' Day, to honor the dead.
We have a lot of them to honor, okay?
We'll take you on a cemetery tour through Dordogne.
You'd think it was a wedding procession.
There's enough charcuterie in the trunk to feed an army.
It's nice to have a laugh, but you have to be careful.
This kind of behavior can lead to death.
In the end, my uncle died in his car.
In a parking lot. He choked on his own vomit.
I'm kidding, don't worry.
He crashed into a tree at full speed.
I actually had two uncles.
One died in a car crash, the other watching Éric crash and burn in Platane.
Season two.
There's nothing worse in life than dying of boredom.
Well, I hope I didn't bore you.
Thanks for your attention, guys!
Étienne Lautrette!
-He's hard on Platane, but fair. -He's fair.
Audience, vote now please!
Thank you!
I remember your punchlines. If that's the case,
-it's a good sign. -The Platane one
-was the best one. -It wasn't.
I'm still laughing about it.
If I'm honest, I think it was missing…
You could have looked at us every now and then,
but I think your material and performance were seriously on point.
-It was great. -Thank you, Étienne.
It's all green!
Not bad at all.
I was surprised at how effortless some of them were.
They passed the test with flying colors.
They followed the instructions and they've shown
that we could see them in unexpected places.
Like the Eiffel Tower.
-In the subway. -On an island.
Now it's time for Violaine Henry.
Hey. How's it going?
I don't know if anyone here has done Bible study.
Clearly, you have.
I did it when I was a kid.
-I didn't. -You look like you did.
I don't know about you, but at middle school,
I thought it was pointless to repeat sex ed. classes.
Why study the theory when you've had years of practice?
I did Bible study with my cousin.
I say cousin, but it's a bit more complicated.
She was born in Nord-Pas-de-Calais,
so she's also my mother, my aunt, and my uncle.
Wait, he was my father. Sorry.
What can I tell you about my cousin? Sometimes, when you talk about someone,
it's easier to talk about what they don't have.
For my cousin, it was the use of her legs.
One day in Bible study, the teacher told my cousin
to go erase the board.
The teacher insisted. She said,
"When there's a will… Jesus walked on water."
My cousin couldn't do it. It was horrible to watch.
A bit like this performance.
I know.
This is awkward.
My cousin and I were really close. We shared a lot of things,
always swapping stuff.
My old, worn-out sneakers for her brand new ones.
When I got a new bike, we'd swap wheels.
One day, we wanted to take it a step further.
We wanted to swap parents.
Her parents said, "No!"
"Ours gets disability allowance."
"Our holidays in the south of France are non-negotiable."
I can't do a northern French accent. It's because I went to school.
What else can I say about my cousin?
For me, it's important to share her story.
Sometimes I wonder what she'd be doing today.
I think she'd have switched to electric.
Thanks for listening.
Violaine Henry!
Let's see your lights. One, two, three!
Show us your lights. Come on.
It's a bit more mixed.
That's an understatement.
No, it's mostly green.
-You came across as pretty serious. -I agree.
You can only get laughs if the audience feels you're relaxed.
If we feel tension,
and you point it out yourself, it's more painful than funny.
There was good stuff.
I think it actually helped to make a joke about a joke that didn't land.
But afterwards, you distanced yourself.
Let us form our own opinion.
Don't point it out. You did great.
I'd just like to add,
I was in the Les Dalton movie and a bunch of other goofy stuff,
I think your delivery feels a lot like other people's.
Just your delivery, not your jokes.
I'd like to see Violaine.
That could have been anyone.
-Thank you, Violaine. -Thank you.
I didn't know my lines.
I forgot some of my jokes,
which meant the story didn't make sense.
I didn't connect.
We could have been harsher.
-Yeah. -We stopped because…
-Amazon… -…Amazon told us…
-Hold back. -…you're being too mean.
That's the problem with our show.
I have my own show…
I don't do double acts.
It comes down to experience too.
I agree, I didn't want to say it though.
She's been performing for a couple of years.
She lacks experience. You can tell.
I think she's going home.
-Say goodbye to €50,000. -Right?
-What do you think, Paul? -It's hard to be the bad guy,
but sometimes it's necessary.
Good or bad, let's be mean to the next guy.
-It's Antek, poor guy. -He's great.
He's good most of the time.
-Antek, ladies and gentlemen. -Antek.
I hope to surprise them with this challenge.
Obviously I don't want to go home.
It'd be hypocritical to say otherwise.
I don't think I have what it takes to join ISIS.
I'm not saying I want to.
It's just that I saw a documentary not long ago on the subject.
There were all these grumpy people,
and one guy stood out to me.
He was pale, ginger, and his name was Corentin.
Corentin in ISIS? It's like finding a crisp in your fries.
Just to be clear, I'm not being racist.
Don't put words into my mouth.
Just because you're white
doesn't mean you can make your dreams come true.
I remember Corentin
because he looked a bit like me.
I couldn't help but wonder what it was like.
Spoiler alert, I didn't do it.
I didn't do it because you have to go to parts of the world
that are insanely hot, and I'm not really built
for high temperatures.
I think that's obvious.
Look at me. My face doesn't exactly scream Andalusia.
When I came out, you weren't like…
"Hello! I vacation in Puerto Rico."
I look like I'm a mechanic in Pas-de-Calais.
I really struggle in the heat. My skin is quite sensitive.
I feel like the guys in ISIS are pretty into outdoor activities.
My worst enemy isn't the UN, it's the sun.
I'd be useless on a mission, like,
"Abdul, do you have any more aftersun?"
"It burns!"
I'd be useless, and I don't have the right mindset.
I don't have the right mindset. I'm a bit of a control freak.
I like things to be well organized.
Over there, they wing it.
They wake up like, "Let's go pillage the neighboring village!"
"Get on your motorbikes!"
I'd be like, "Without a helmet?"
The other thing that would bother me is that
I can't grow a beard.
Over there, the rules are clear.
No beard, no AK-47.
"You, over there."
"Did you put explosives on your cheeks to make your beard so patchy?"
Comedy for terrorists. It's pretty niche.
Doing comedy over there would be tough. I looked into it.
There are no comedy clubs.
I see the entrepreneur mindset kicking in, hunting for gaps in the market.
Maybe you can create a new scene, troubadour.
I could create the ISIS Comedy Club. "Hey guys! How's it going?"
"Hostages, make some noise!"
We're bringing out the big guns!
Literally.
Thanks for listening. I'm Antek.
Thank you.
Antek!
Time to vote. Use those airport batons.
Thank you so much.
Of course. Thank you.
You owned the stage.
Your writing could be even sharper.
Black comedy isn't my thing.
I thought, "Let's start with ISIS." But…
Did you enjoy it?
Did you feel inspired?
I don't know, that's for the audience to decide.
-We couldn't tell. -Yeah.
I think, in any case,
you can still refine your act.
You can trim it down, it'd be just as funny.
-We're talking about comedy, right? -Yes.
I have nothing to say.
It's funny. Everyone laughed. I laughed too.
You're great. Period.
I agree, great, funny. The audience vote speaks for itself.
-Well done. So good. -Thank you, that's kind.
Thanks, bye.
He's ready. He's ready for the show.
I heard the "ding!"
-I'd pay. For sure. -Me too.
I wouldn't pay for all of them. I would for him.
I wouldn't go to some.
What's the most unusual place you'd see Antek?
-Antek? -A wooden swimming pool?
-On a plane? Too intense. -Maybe in tech…
The French are good with tech. We have the tech expo.
All the latest things, like AI.
Antek, An-Tech, I don't know. It seems too modern for him.
No, he looks like everyone who works in tech.
-Are we done with An-Tech jokes? -What about An-Tique?
-He's not that old. -He's not An-Tique.
I've seen him dance to An-Tektonik music.
The show is coming to an end. We need to have a discussion
about who's going home.
Let's go, Paul. Time to deliberate.
BLACK COMEDY DELIBERATION
Instant elimination.
Paul, don't let us influence you.
The more we progress, the closer the final feels. I want to be there.
I'm terrified.
The pressure's building even more.
-It wasn't great. -Lack of confidence, lack of experience.
-Were you disappointed? -Yeah.
I think I could have done better in terms of delivery and pace.
I'd hate to go home.
-Are we good? -Yeah.
It's tough now.
BLACK COMEDY THE VERDICT
We're going to tell you
the acts who won't be competing in the semi-finals
which are about to take place.
-There are three eliminations. -Three. semi-finals