Of the comedian Pierre Dac, we especially know his aphorisms:
– “Predictions are difficult, especially when they concern the future”
– And also: “Giving ostentatiously is not very pretty; but not giving anything discreetly is hardly better. »
– Or again: “When the one who laughs last has finished laughing, no one laughs anymore. »
But beyond hundreds of scathing formulas, this genius of the absurd who died in 1975 left such a strong imprint on French culture that the Museum of Art and History of Judaism (MahJ) chose to devote a entire exhibition. A happy initiative which takes the form of a personal tribute and a fluoroscopy of laughter in the XNUMXth century, according to Dac.
From the early 1920s to the mid-1970s, Pierre Dac left a humorous arsenal of a new genre without which Jean Yanne, Coluche, Pierre Desproges, the Guignols and many others would undoubtedly never have existed. About himself, he explains: “Given my Jewish origins, I do not understand why my hometown of Chalons-sur-Marne was not renamed Chalom-sur-Marne. »
Born into a Jewish family of deeply patriotic Alsatian origin, Pierre Dac was mobilized at the start of the First World War, where he was seriously injured. In the immediate post-war period, he did several jobs where he shined, but through his absence... After having been a taxi driver for example (one month), he became a singer in the cabarets of Montmartre. His aphorisms, sketches and reviews soon amused the whole of France.
Founder of the Society of Loufoques of which he proclaimed himself king, he invented new forms of radio and created The Treasure Race, a game which encourages listeners to participate in a hilarious hunt for the most unusual and crazy objects.
Brassaï, Pierre Dac in front of his microphone, Paris, 1935; private collection © Estate Brassaï – RMN-Grand Palais – Photo ©RMN-Grand Palais / Jean-Gilles Berizzi
A patriot and humanist, in 1928 he supported the International League against Anti-Semitism, which foreshadowed LICRA. Founder and editor-in-chief of the weekly L'Os à Marrow, he criticized the rise of fascism then joined Free France in London. At the microphone of the program “The French speak to the French”, he slams the Vichy regime and the Nazi occupiers. After the war, he said: “The souls of the righteous who perished in the crematoria are immortal. The proof, in the sky, I saw yellow stars shining. »
At the beginning of the 1950s, Dac formed a duo with Francis Blanche with whom he created the “Party of laughing”, a parody of a political party, and radio serials with record audiences. In the 1960s, he mocked the cynicism and mediocrity of the politicians of the Fifth Republic. In 1965, he was even a candidate for the presidential election, at the head of the Unified Wave Movement (MOU).
leaning on a military truck, Eastern France, winter 1944-1945, Jacques Pessis Archives
In the presentation of the exhibition, the MahJ recalls that Pierre Dac devoted his last years to writing his Pensées: “He left a considerable body of work – more than 900 songs, twelve novels and essays, five radio serials, several plays , and an innumerable number of articles, in a style indebted as much to the slang of butchers (his father was a butcher) as to Freudian witticism and the nonsense of Jewish humor. In more than one way, Pierre Dac deserves to be considered today as a master of the absurd, in the same way as Samuel Beckett or Eugène Lonesco. »
From April 20 to August 27
▼ Exhibition Pierre Dac, the party to laugh
Museum of Art and History of Judaism (MahJ)
71, Temple Street, 75003 Paris
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 18 p.m.
Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 21 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday from 10 p.m. to 19 a.m.
Closed on Mondays
Tel: +01 53 01 86 53
Pierre Dac in the Revue des loufoques at the cabaret La Lune rousse Paris, Kehren studio, 1936 Jacques Pessis Archives
Text: Katia Barillot
28.04.23
THERE ARE LOTS OF MUSEUMS HERE
Annie Ernaux, the literature of reality at the MEP
The 2022 Nobel Prize-winning writer has been interested in photography for a long time, notably in the text “the use of photography”, a four-handed story published in 2006. At the European House of Photography, on the banks of the Seine , the exhibition Exteriors - Annie Ernaux & Photography flourishes until May 26, 2024.
The Weegee enigma, extreme photographer
American photojournalist from the 1930s and 50s, famous for his black and white photos of nightlife in New York, Weegee takes this nickname as a nod to the spirit board, the Ouija board. Because he proclaims himself a “psychic photographer” with the 3rd eye.
Joann Sfar featured at MAHJ
Who doesn’t know the comic strip “The Rabbi’s Cat”? Its creator, Joann Sfar, was born in Nice in 1971. In this retrospective at the Museum of Art and History of Judaism in the heart of the Marais, the first of its kind, we will see many original plates presented in images by the famous cat .
NOW ON THE MOOD MARSH
The best tattoo parlors in Marais
Tattooing, an age-old practice, has long been the prerogative of convicts, dock workers, the underworld and sailors. Although it has become democratized, now affecting all profiles and concerning one in five French people, including 16% women compared to 10% men, it still remains taboo due to its definitive and transgressive nature.
Juliette Drouet actress, muse and mistress of Victor Hugo
At 14 rue Sainte-Anastase, from 1836 to 45 and at 12 from 1845 to 48, a few hundred meters from Place des Vosges, lived the muse and lover of Victor Hugo, Juliette Drouet née Julienne Gauvain.
Piccola Mia, the pizzas of the Republic
On the Place de la République, a brasserie with Italian accents has just opened, which quickly made people forget the old Pizza Pino. Welcome to Piccola Mia, the fruit of the joyful encounter between Italian chef Denny Imbroisi, pizza chef Julien Serri and mixologist Matthias Giroud who creates a creative cocktail menu.