Rachid Badouri is a Quebecois comedian who has accomplished something in his career that fellow comics like Andre-Phillipe Gagnon, Mike Ward and Sugar Sammy have done to a great degree of success: perform stand-up comedy in both French and English.
Since his English language debut at the Just For Laughs Ethnic Show back in 2015, Rachid has successfully made his name in the English-speaking comedy scene. He has performed at the Netflix is A Joke Festival in Los Angeles and at the legendary Comedy Store club; he returned to Just For Laughs in 2023 as part of the Ronny Chieng Gala; and last year launched his first English solo show. Currently, he has a new solo English show at the L’ Olympia on January 30 (and due to popular demand, a second show will take place there this summer), as well as an appearance at the Just For Laughs Vancouver Festival on February 16, followed by another English show in Laval four days later.
Over the past 17 years, Rachid has become a major star in the French-language comedy circuit, with his first three solo shows selling over a million tickets worldwide, and he has garnered more than four million followers across his social media platforms. He also appears in the Crave TV series Double Jeu, and his stand-up special Les Fleurs du Tapis is available on Netflix (with English subtitles).
However, Rachid’s major aim was to break out in the world of English-language comedy. “It was always my dream to make it as a comedian. In fact, I was hoping to start out in English first,” he said during a recent phone interview. “(Former Just For Laughs CEO) Bruce Hills gave me the chance in 2015 to be part of the Ethnic Show lineup. After that, I decided to go to France and gain more exposure in the French comedy world. I got a second chance to break into the English comedy scene in 2023, when I was invited to perform at the Just For Laughs Gala that was hosted by Ronny Chieng. I told myself that if everything goes well at that gala, I would keep up the effort to do more English stand-up.”
The name of his new show is “The Tale of the Syrian Dragon”. Now, before one gets the image of Rachid going onstage dressed in armour and brandishing a sword and shield in the style of Game of Thrones, the title is a reference to a difficult time in his life, when he was about to be indoctrinated into a religious cult. “It was a dangerous cult, and I even called off my wedding for three days, so that I could go through with their indoctrination,” he said. “That time nearly ruined me financially, but I later used comedy to recount that experience; it’s quite a unique story. In fact, Ronny (Chieng) insisted that I talk about my cult experience as part of my comedy set. He said that if I didn’t tell it, ‘I will beat your ass!'”
A fan of such American stand-up comedians as Eddie Murphy, Sebastian Maniscalco, Nate Bargatze and Dave Chappelle (“I love his mind and the way he thinks.”), Rachid started out using the British/French style of stand-up comedy, which relies solely on lengthy storytelling. He has made the transition to the American style of doing rapid-fire jokes and one-liners, but has realized the art of comedy storytelling has also crept into American stand-up.
“Ten years ago, I would have hesitated to make the switch, because it was so hard to go from one subject to another. When I started to do warm-up appearances at comedy clubs in New York, I realized that comedians don’t have the time to tell their stories, and that they had about only 20 seconds to get laughs from the audience quickly,” he said. “Then all of a sudden, storytelling started to become trendy with American comics, especially Bill Burr, who is a huge storyteller.”
Reflecting on his successful transition as an English-language comedian over the past 11 years, Rachid thinks back to something his father told him —loosely translated from French—”you have to do the work before there is success.”
“When I was performing only in French, things were easy. I would appear at the Juste pour rire festival, get a solo show, do a lot of commercials, get movie roles and then go to France and perform there. When I started to perform in English, there was a lot of work involved offstage and as well as onstage,” he said. “I did a lot of promotion for my shows and did what I needed to do not only to ensure a successful show, but also to finish that dream. It may be time-consuming, but it’s an investment for me. There are no magic tricks to make things easier. Now I see what my dad meant. It may be a difficult process, but I am proud of it.”
by Stuart Nulman
lead photo by Joseph El-Hage
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