Q&A: Marcel Lucont

Local promoters Bristol Punchline welcome this suave Gallic comic – a debonair Parisian bon viveur now based in London, whose slick stand-up mixes deliciously wicked poetry, diary entries, songs and many a play on words (or jeu d’esprit, if we may) – as well as plenty of nicely withering insights about British life.
Lucont, named Best Sketch, Character or Improv Act in the 2015 Chortle Awards, plays at a special pop-up venue, Le Petit Cafe de France, on Friday, May 15.

Bonjour, Marcel. So what brought you to Britain, and what do you make of life among us Brits? 
A seemingly endless wealth of comedic material. You can find the first volume of my observations, “What We French Think of You British… And Where You Are Going Wrong” in all bookshops that dare to stock it.

What do you love about life here, and what do you miss about home?
Well personally my life here is exceptional – I mock the British in exchange for their money. Also I now have my dealers when it comes to wine and cheese. It is a shame the British still have such an underdeveloped sense of flirtation, however. Often in Britain I find a woman will refuse to accept a compliment no matter how often you make one and no matter where you touch her, it is crazy.

Have you taken well to the English sense of humour?
I must say, this has been something of a one-way street. While the English have taken to my humour expectedly well, I fear it has not yet seasoned theirs enough. While the “double entendre” is a much-used tool (please don’t…) in the English language, our humour long surpassed this, even though we invented the word for you. You are welcome.

If you could change one thing about Britain, what would it be?
The past.

Where would you rather live – Bristol, with its street art and cider culture – or its twin town Bordeaux with its fine wine and beautiful architecture? 
So, my choices: A city whose residents feel the need to paint over their own buildings and whose chief alcoholic export takes mere weeks to ferment, or one whose deep reds take months, often years to perfect, in surroundings of grand elegance. I feel you knew the answer to this before you had finished asking it.

You’ve already written an autobiography, the splendidly-titled ‘Moi’. Do you think you have lived enough, already, to write your own autobiography?
I have lived so much that my history needs to be recorded before the memories are replaced or eroded. As I am not the kind of human who feels the need to share electronically every yoghurt I have ever eaten, every building I have ever set foot in, the only preservation of my experience can be from my own pen. 

One 2014 review mentioned a film you showed that “demonstrates a divide between the French and the British that would seem unbridgeable”. Tell us more?
Ah yes, I shall certainly include this in the show. I know you are attending already, but this is just one more reason to do so

Marcel Lucont plays Le Petit Cafe de France, 50 St Paul’s Rd, Bristol on Friday, May 15. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.bristolticketshop.co.uk/eventdetails.aspx?e=9212