STAND-UP IN PARIS – Joely Kely triumphs with “Mbola Mijoro”

The show “Mbola Mijoro” by Joely Kely, held in Paris on May 4, was sold out with more than three hundred spectators, addressing the life of Malagasy people abroad.

Humor is serious.” This is the message that Andrianina Rajoelisoa, known as Joely Kely, wanted to convey during her show “Mbola Mijoro” at the Théâtre Traversière in Paris on Saturday. The show was sold out, with nearly three hundred people immersed in an hour and a half of stand-up by Joely Kely, after four months of preparation, two years after his first show in Paris. From 7:30 p.m. in Paris, the show opened with the voice of Fanja Andriamanantena, who presented the artist and highlighted humor as a true art, and stand-up as a living art in its own right.

“Unlike the first show in 2022 which talked a lot about Joely’s old life in Madagascar, his childhood, nostalgia, largely about his mother; this new show seems to slowly turn the page on the episode “Madagascar”, and talks a lot more about his life as a Malagasy abroad. A show where each spectator could identify or sometimes feel targeted. The artist talks about his personal experiences making some comparisons or parallels with life in Madagascar. For example, Joely Kely told in his humorous way the “starter pack” of the Malagasy in France such as the necklace with a pendant in the shape of the Island of Madagascar, the vangovango, and the immaculate white sneakers,” underlines the organizer.

Dedicated stand-upper

The title “Mbola Mijoro” refers to stand-up but also to the fact that comedian Joely Kely is still standing despite all the bad weather of life far from his native land. The stand-upper also underlined on stage that it is thanks to his audience that he is still standing and can flourish in this profession which is also his passion.

“No tour of the French provinces in sight. But the show was recorded on video. We are waiting on which medium or platform Malagasy people around the world will be able to view this unique show,” explains the organizer. Joely Kely is the creator of the Facebook page “C’est du Joely”, with more than four hundred and twenty-nine thousand subscribers and millions of views, with several dozen videos featuring around thirty characters.

“It’s going to be very pretentious but I find that my humor is quite authentic. It’s absurd but true. It is totally offbeat but without a false note. It is sophisticated but simplistic. It is sometimes raw but always tender. And above all, he is always kind. Well, he is sometimes black but always good-natured. And above all, there is me in all my characters, they are all different but what brings them together is me. And I think my subscribers feel it, they feel this me, my values, my principles, my intentions, my commitments, my convictions, in each of my characters, however well embodied and however quirky they may be. And that’s identity,” concludes Joely Kely.

Nicole Rafalimananjara