I’m on the phone with Gad Elmaleh, France’s most beloved stand-up comedian. Unfortunately, it’s midnight in Paris. “My son lives in L.A. so it’s also very hard to catch him,” he says, sleepiness seeping in between words. “But he’s a teenager so it’s already hard to talk to him. Jet lag just adds to it.”
He sounds drowsy but Elmaleh is sincerely excited: He’s coming back to Las Vegas this week. His debut performance last year saw the Moroccan-born funnyman opening for his idol Jerry Seinfeld at the Colosseum and this time he’ll take the stage at the Rio’s new Comedy Cellar on May 9.
“I don’t know if was just my European thinking or some innate fantasy of all the big shows there, but I was nervous,” he says of the Seinfeld gig. “It was a great first experience but this is my first time in Vegas doing my show. I’m very curious to see how the Comedy Cellar feels because ever since it opened, all us comedians have been talking about it.”
The original club in New York was headquarters for Elmaleh when he was learning to perform in English, something he’s been doing for just three years. You’d never know it from his new Netflix special American Dream, a brilliant showcase for his unique genius.
“When I first discovered American stand-up comedians I loved them for how smart they were and the jokes they were writing but also for their physicality, but for French stand-ups it was the opposite,” he says. “I love the theatrical stuff but I’m always waiting for the jokes.”
Rio, Comedy Cellar, 7 & 9 p.m. Sun. & Thurs.-Fri., 7, 9 & 11 p.m. Sat., starting at $45 plus tax and fee. 702.777.2782
