Elie Semoun « Cactus »

Elie Semoun presents Cactus at the Zénith de Pau in Pau on March 10, 2027. His eighth show and a deliberate turn: stand-up plays a larger role, without abandoning the gallery of characters that are his trademark. The tone is direct, sometimes biting, and explores our blind spots without detours.

We meet Jean Abdul, who opens the evening, then a son who takes his father to visit a nursing home (EHPAD), Xavier, living with a motor disability, who introduces his wife to his mother, a karate instructor sadly obsessed with clichés, and a father confronting his son’s transition. There are also passages that confront sexual harassment and religion, with that blend of distance and sharpness that allows you to laugh without skirting the core issues.

Cactus moves at a human scale, alternating microphone-driven stories and quick character sketches. More upfront on the stand-up side, yet still nourished by vividly drawn characters, the show draws a clear line: to speak of intolerance, taboos and injustices by playing on tension and release, the smile and the twinge. Tightly written, with scenes that follow one another quickly, and that sense of incongruity that carries the audience along without frills.