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I have a family back home that counts on me. I had to redouble my efforts to get out of the galley. And that helped me to build up, to get stronger. I had to learn to fight. I still have this strength in me today.
One of your best opportunities is your association with Charline Vanhoenacker show on radio France International where your spicy chronicles are followed by millions of listeners how do you enjoy this experience on the radio?
The show Par Jupiter, on France Inter, was for me a gift from heaven. I cannot thank enough Charline Vanhoenaker, Alex Vizorek and the whole team for welcoming me so warmly. Not only did they give me an incredible visibility, thanks to which I can fill theaters in Paris and on tour, but it's also a real joy to work with this golden team. We form a band of friends while remaining very professional. These people know how to appreciate my work and encourage me a lot.
Ouagadougou Pressé, written by you and staged by Stéphane Éliard, has had an astonishing success on French stages; in your opinion, why this Africa that you tell with comic contours so much pleased the French public, yet it is not only native Africans who attend your shows?
Thank God, my audience is mixed (laugh). Not only people of all origins come to see me, but also of all ages. And I like the idea that I'm not just talking to a small group, or a community. I believe that many people are happy that we are talking about an Africa that is not just the sum of the catastrophes we hear about in the medias. But beyond, through all the characters that I play on stage, I tell small human adventures that are universal and in which everyone can meet. Even those who do not know Africa at all can enjoy watching this show.
One of the criticisms that we like to make to the comics is that we cannot laugh at everything because some jokes if they make some laugh can frustrate others. In your opinion can we laugh at everything? Even if I as a journalist I understand that one can write about everything, freedom of the press obliges?
Flashmag February 2019 www.flashmag.net
Your rapprochement is good: all subjects can be approached, both by journalists and artists. As an actress, I do not impose any taboo, however, I have moral or ethical principles that are dear to me. For example, my rule is to laugh with people and not against people. Never rely on scapegoats to make people laugh. I'm still uncomfortable with these pseudo-comics who will choose a victim in the front row to ridicule him on stage. But I am especially shocked by those who want to make people laugh with a malicious humor towards this or that category of people. Besides, I'm staying away from vulgarity.
Above we talked about Africans or Afro-descendants who often do not have the opportunity to do what they want. As an artist and actress moreover, isn’t it just as difficult to embody on the screen some roles when one has the baggage that one has, as an African?
Yes, of course, French cinema is very compartmentalized and it is difficult to get out of the boxes where we have been put away. As an African comedian it is impossible to escape the clichés characters (nannies, prostitutes ...). I address this topic in my last show, Je Demande la Route (I ask the road). But I think it's changing, we keep hope.
Secondly, isn’t it, time, for Africans or Afro-descendants, to also write their scripts to offer themselves the roles they think to be more faithful to their ideal, because in the end they are indeed films produced by others? and written by others, and necessarily the black actor must unfortunately play a role according to the perception of those who write these scripts?
An Ivorian philosopher, Yacouba Konaté, wrote one day, "very miserable is the one who leaves to others the care to tell its own story". It is obvious that if we do not impose our vision of our reality, we will remain prisoners of the imagination of others. In addition, in terms of professional opportunities, it is up to African or Afro-descendant authors to create the roles that will provide work for comedians and actresses in the community.