Paul Cabannes: The French comedian that took Brazil by storm

0:13Hello and welcome to the Monaco Weekly. I'm Fernando Augusto Pacheco, and on today's show, I speak with a French comedian that charmed Brazil with his funny and warm monologues about cultural differences between both countries and a witty, insightful look at Brazilian life. Paul Caban was in London for a sold-out gig at the Leicester Square Theatre, and it was a pleasure to welcome him to our studio.

0:43Pocabon, welcome to Monaco Radio. I am a big fan, I have to say, so very happy to see you. Thank you so much. This is the first time in my life that I give an interview in English. And I feel this is so chic, you know, so elegant. It's like I feel like a Brazilian person saying like a French word, something sometimes, you know, and they feel very, very chic. Like, you know, somebody has a shirt with a French word or something. So I feel very, very elegant. I'm very, very happy. I'm very happy. Like your country. But, Paul, I know, first of all, you're huge in Brazil. It's incredible. I think we need to explain this to people.

1:20But tell us more about yourself. You grew up in France, right? Yeah, I grew up in France. I got married in 2012 with a Brazilian woman. I went to Brazil on holidays, you know. My English is not perfect. I'm sorry for this. And my accent is very French, of course. We like a French accent and a Brazilian accent as well. Yeah, I know. I know the English love the French people. And then I went to Brazil. I spent one month in Brazil. I loved it. And I said to her, like, I would like to live here. Because in France, I didn't have a great perspective. You know, I was a waiter and I used to do small jobs.

1:55I mean, jobs that wouldn't make me dream. And then I said to her, we could go there and live there for at least two years and have an experience. It would be great for me to discover new culture and stuff. So this is what we did. And I love Brazil. I started in a city in the south, which is called Maringá. And I started teaching French, you know, to people. A few years later, I started a YouTube channel. And then it grew very much, very much beyond my expectations. And then I said, you know, I love stand-up. I could do humor like as a hobby for like 20 people. And this is what I started doing.

2:30I did that like a hundred times at least. But actually it went very far, very farther, very much farther than what I thought initially. And this is awesome. So now I'm doing a show for Brazilian people in London, which is crazy because I'm French. Both Brazilian people and English people hate French, but I'm here to change the reputation of us. and you reach like a level as well that you're even doing shows for the Brazilian community outside Brazil you know that's remarkable it's not just London I think you're going to Paris there's Dublin as well there's other cities as well right yeah I pay people to come to my shows no no I'm kidding yeah I got your payment thank you so much you get it yes I will do in the past I've already done shows in Paris in some cities in Portugal it was great and now for the first time I will do shows in in London today and in Dublin tomorrow, which is amazing because those are cities that, you know, are legendaries, of course.

3:33And I went to London like 20 years ago with my mom, coming here to work. And, you know, it's amazing. The only thing I shouldn't say I was working here at the immigration because it's complicated when you work, then when you're just a tourist. So next time I have to do something which is called lying. You can tell them a joke as well, maybe. Does it work? Yeah, but the guy at the immigration told me, like, what's your profession? I said, I'm a comedian. I was pretty sure. He said, oh, really? And then I was, like, you know, a little bit proud of myself. You know, I thought he was going to say, this is awesome.

4:04You're a comedian. He's a stand-up comedian, guys. He's so funny. He's a star. And then it was worse. He said, like, so you're working? I was, yeah, I'm working here. Yeah, I'll do a show for people. And then it was, like, so what about the letter from the theater to justify your working? And I didn't have this letter. So I was in trouble. and I almost have to cancel my show. But eventually I could do it and I'm here. And I'm so glad you're here. But first of all, Paul, tell us something culturally about Brazilians as well. You know, I think Brazilians, they love to see what a foreigner perhaps thinks of the country.

4:36I think if you manage, I think maybe we love hearing about ourselves in a way. What do you think about that? Yeah, what I think is, first of all, most of your people who are hearing us are British, aren't they? They are. They are British. There are a lot of Americans as well, even Japanese. That's amazing. Even Japanese. I wonder what's a Japanese destiny to be hearing on Friday a French person speaking in English about Brazil. I love that. Yeah, I love that too. Well, the thing is, I think we all are fascinated to hear about ourselves. You know that book, How to Make Friends and Be Successful in Life, like Dale Carnegie, I was talking about this book today.

5:24And well, what they say is like, if you want to seduce somebody, you have to talk about the person to that person. So I think we all like to hear about ourselves. And when you do that about the whole culture, you gain an extra attention for that. and the second thing is that I think people when they live fully in their own country they don't see sometimes the small peculiarities the small specificities about that culture and then when you come from very far away you see things that are very strange for you and you say about that, you talk about that and if you do that in a humorous way people usually want to hear about that and especially when they live abroad like for example the Brazilian culture the Brazilian community in Dublin in Lisbon, in London, in Paris, they have what you guys call saudade, which is a kind of nostalgia.

6:18And then they love to hear about Brazil. So it's always a good experience, yeah. Absolutely. And there's so amazing insight. Like, for example, when you offer something to a Brazilian, of course the Brazilian will say no, but then you have to do it three times. You're a bit of an expert on that, right? Yeah, you start noticing small habits, like this one, for example. Yeah, the Brazilian person who has a piece of food in his hand will offer it to you politely with the expectation that you refuse. And then you have to refuse. So he doesn't really want to give you this piece of food, but he will offer it to you.

6:52And you won't accept it, but you have to refuse it. So it's like, but apparently this is the way you guys feel good. So, okay. But sometimes he actually wants you to accept it, but you have to refuse it. And then, yeah, he will try a second time. You will refuse it. And then you will give it a third time. He will give you a third time. And then you can accept it. But there's many things. Like at the parties, for example, you can't leave a Brazilian party. I noticed this. And then people would say like, it's very soon. And then they started inventing excuses like, yeah, but this is the birthday.

7:31We didn't blow the candle. And then you stay. but whose birthday is this? And they will invite something. My cat is doing like seven years old today. And then you can't. It's like a kind of... It's like a trap. How do you say sequestro in English? A kidnapping. It's a kidnapping, yeah. And when I noticed this, I started thinking, so if I can't leave other people's parties, I will do my own parties. Then it's worse because people wouldn't leave your house. And then you would have to throw like, you know, signs. Like you start brushing your teeth, but it's very rude to say you want people to leave.

8:08You don't do that in Brazil. It's a very informal culture. So you would show signs like you brush your teeth and they would say like, but do you want us to leave? And you have to say like, no, no, no, please. Of course not. Of course not. Then you take a pillow and you put it in the front of people in your own room, in your own living room. And you act like you just start sleeping. And then people will even say like, yeah, yeah, do you want me to leave? and you still have to say, no, no, of course, stay here, stay here. All those habits are funny, are really funny, especially when you come from a culture that is very different, the French culture.

8:42More direct, right? It's much more direct. In that sense. What are the similarities actually between Brazil and France that you notice? I know there are a lot of differences. Well, first of all, there are many words that are in common. You say intelligência, intelligence, you know, all those Latin words. well there's that the thing about the religion you know basically there are Christian religions Christian cultures apart from that there's not a lot of similarities you know Brazil used to have a lot of French influence in the 60s and before now they're more influenced by the United States but there are many differences for example we say no in a direct way very direct way I had the luck to, I was very honored to be invited to have dinner with the French president and the Brazilian president in Paris.

9:41I was going to ask about that, tell me. It was Palais de l 'Elysée, which is the residence of Emmanuel Macron, our president. And at the end of the dinner, I asked politely to a guard. I said, like, do you mind if we maybe go to the garden to see a little bit? He just say, no. And then he turned around and left. This is something you would never see in Brazil. They would say, Brazilian people don't say no. They just add vowels. You say, like, is this neighborhood safe? They would say, safe, seguro. You would never hear the word no. You know, people want to be polite. They don't want to displease you.

10:20It's very Brazilian. It's very kind, actually. It's pleasant to live in Brazil because people are kind. Sometimes it's just hard to understand if they want to say no or yes because it's hard. But it's the premium level, you know, when you understand the culture. And you're a very kind comedian as well. I think a lot of Brazilians can see how much you love and appreciate Brazil, except for the fact that we eat field croissants. I think that's a little bit of a crime, right? Even I have to say that. Yeah, I mean, this is criminal, yeah. I would pardon many things, but this is not pardonable. But, I mean, yeah, this is actually a joke I started making a couple of years ago about the croissant.

10:58The croissant, because you would eat it with, like, I don't know, like cream cheese and pickles and all those kind of things. Ham or whatever. Yeah, ham, ketchup and everything. And then I would start making videos. Like, I noticed I was gaining a lot of followers every time I do those videos. So now I'm trapped in my own joke. I have to, every time I see a video of croissant or something, I have to make another video acting like I'm very upset in a very French way. You know, oh la la, ce n 'est pas possible. I think in France, nobody has ever said oh la la in 50 years. But I say it. It's good for my career, you know.

11:40It's cute in a way if you think about it. But listen, Paul, you're here in Europe as well doing international tour. But I look at your list of shows in Brazil. It's incredible. You're literally all over the country. It's not just in the big cities, Sao Paulo, Rio. You go for smaller towns in the northeast. You're famous. This is what the Bible calls the greed, you know. You're a missionary. I'm a missionary. I'm joking. I'm a missionary making money. Being in tour is amazing when you have the possibility. So I would never deny it, you know. I would never say no to that. So my production offered me to do many shows every month, like 10 shows per month in the whole Brazil.

12:21So it's amazing for me. It's actually, yeah, pretty profitable too. But it's also great to visit the country, you know, because the thing in Brazil, different than France or England, for example, is that it's so huge that you go to Manaus or you go to Florianópolis in the south, and it's like two different countries. So going to those places is amazing because you really feel how the country is different. That said, there's also a negative side of making tour like this is you see your family less, you know. I see my kids a little less. And at first I was like, I don't want to tour. I want to see my kids.

12:58And then they would say, but you will be very well paid. I said, how much? They said like, I said, yeah, I will tour. I will forget my kid's name. yeah no I could I could tour more actually I don't tour like some people do 15 or 20 shows per month because they want to enjoy it they want to take advantage of it like as much as they can but I want to see my family I want to see my girlfriend I want to see people so you know I mean I want to enjoy people too so I can't work a lot I can't work too much where is home in Brazil for you which city São Paulo São Paulo yeah Paulista yeah yeah I'm a Paulistan.

13:38Are you a Paulistan too? I'm a Paulistan. Oh yeah, really? Yeah. Oh, that's great. From the city? From the city, from the capital. Do we have a good sense of humor? Or Carioca, that's better? Do Paulistanos? We can be funny sometimes. Well, you know, two places where people have a great sense of humor. Rio de Janeiro. Pero so de Seara. Fortaleza. A lot of great Brazilian comedians are from Seara, actually. And A Terra do Humor, which is the land of humor. And when you do a show there, there's always a moment that they're more funny. than you. If you ask a question to a person in the crowd, they will probably say something funnier than you, which is great.

14:14You don't really have to be competent. You go there, they pay you to make the show themselves. So it's great. Would you do stand-up in French? Yes, I would. I did that 10 years ago. Oh, really? Okay. Yeah, I didn't do a whole show because this is plenty of work. But I did some participation, you know, 10 minutes, 8 minutes in clubs. And it was great. You know, there's something you do for money and some things you do just because it's great to do them. Like, for example, in the case of this interview today, I'm doing it for money. I don't want to be here. Actually, I'm kidding. Come on, we have nice cute, cozy studios.

14:49No, no, yeah, of course. No, no, for example, this is the case of the interview, for example. I do it because it's amazing. Of course, it's also a great opportunity to promote the show, but it's just great. It's the first time in my life I'm doing an interview in English. And it's the same for the show in French, you know. I did that because I wanted to prove myself I could be funny in my own language. And this was just great. This was just amazing. I had a dream a long time ago, which was doing shows in many languages, like in Spanish, in Italian. I think I will eventually do that, maybe. It would be great.

15:20Japanese next. In Japanese. Do you speak Japanese? No, I don't speak. Unfortunately not. Neither do I. It's a good reason to not do it. Obrigado and merci, Paul. Make sure to check out his Instagram handle, Pocaban underscore, or go to Pocaban.com to check out his upcoming gigs. I'm Fernando Gusto Pacheco. The show was edited by Elliot Greenfield. Thank you for listening.