Sons en francais Advanced listening practise in French - Comedy sketches Fernand Raynaud Muriel Robin Coluche Chevallier Laspales Anne Roumanoff Guy Bedos

	Humour - Sketches Home Some words on making a transcription of a sketch. It's the best exercise for ear-training I have come across so far. Comedy sketches are little plays that occupy 2-4 minutes. They are interesting - they make us laugh, and they make us want to understand. And they offer an astonishing diversity of forms of spoken French. You need to install the DivX codec to allow your video software to play the clips on this site. Download it here
	Here is Fernand Raynaud, the great comic of the Trente Glorieuses with a sketch called Le fromage hollande Text here
	From the sixties to the present with a sketch called Le Noir from Muriel Robin. One of my favorites. Text here
	Here is a comprehensible Coluche sketch Mon papa est balaise. Text here
	And a real corker from my favourite, Raynaud. Le Douanier Text here
	A classic from Chevallier et Laspalès. British Rail Enquiries isn't like this ... ho no.... Text here
	Cartoon version of Corneille's Le Cid, played by insects, and with addition of a prompter-beetle to guide us through the story. This extract contains some of the most famous lines. Text here
	We've had this excellent sketch from Yanne & Mercey before but this time with the text Text here
	Here is part of one of Anne Roumanoff's excellent Radio Bistrot sketches. A rather drunk lady who shares her wisdom on the world with her audience. The slurring delivery makes this quite a challenge. Text here
	I like this guy, Popeck. An act in the real music hall tradition.La leçon de francais. Text here
	From Elie Kakou, Le professeur. Not a great sketch, frankly, but a real test for the ear. Text here
	This is one of the most celebrated scenes from Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, where we learn to speak the language of the North. I admit I used the French subtitles to help, bringing them into line with the sound-track. See what you can pick up before looking at the text though. It's not too hard to pick up the sense, and the humour. The detail, however, defeats me... Text here
	Here is Dany Boon again with Il faut lire. Text here
	Thierry le Luron is the great imitator of the 70s/80s who specialised in presidents Giscard d'Estaing and Mitterrand at a time when television was becoming more open. Here he celebrates Mitterrand with L'emmerdant c'est la rose. Text here
	A short and very politically incorrect sketch from Franck Dubosc Sandy. We don't joke about folks who are gravitationally challenged, do we?... Text here
	This is a hard one from Guy Bedos, Bonne fête, Paulette. The trouble is that much of it is comprehensible and then he goes hyper with the punch lines. All comedians do this, but this is a very frustrating example. But remember, it's the holes in your transcripts that represent the challenge - not the bits you understand. Text here
	Michel Leeb recited this poem to Molière in the course of a documentary on the great playwright. I've edited it back together again. Can you identify the actors ? Serrault is there... de Funès... Text here
	I don't often manage to see the comedy series on France 4 Plié en quatre, but here is Alex Lutz doing a nice parody of a very upper class lady. It is always very hard for us to reconstruct French names and place names - imaginary or real. Text here
	The great and much lamented Raymond Devos receiving a call from another French celebrity Text here
	Here is the excellent Gad Elmaleh introduced by Michel Leeb Text here
	And a very, very hard sketch from Patrick Timsit, a comic who uses a style of fast patter. Harder than this I put in the (large) folder of sketches to be enjoyed when my ear has improved a bit more. However I just get enough of this to enjoy it. Text here
	And here is the ultimate nightmare for the transcriber of French sketches. Elizabeth Buffet describes her visit to a naturist resort. Picking up the general flow of the narration is not too difficult. But almost very time she comes to a punch line, the voice speeds up, drops, becomes indistinct. We miss the sense, and then the audience laughs. Very frustrating. But that's why this is such a good exercise. Text here
	La visite de Paris A nice thick accent from Roland Magdane in this sketch about a family from the sticks who visit Paris Text here Audio only
	Florence Bunold doing a wonderfully cruel take-off of Ségolène Royale. Text here Audio only
	Raymond Devos and La Gloire post-mortem Devos was the reason I started working on listening to French five years ago. I found a DVD of his show at the Olympia, Paris. It was obvious that it was funny, the audience was in stitches, and I couldn't understand a word. Now I understand three or four words, but there is still a long way to go. But Devos is the great jongleur de mots. He represents the very best of French stand-up comedy for me. So it's worth it... Text here Audio only
	Here is Anne Roumanoff again with a very difficult sketch on the horror of turning forty Text here Audio only
	The great, great impersonator Nicolas Canteloupe, with a trio of political personalities. Text here Audio only her
	Awonderful performance by Pierre Palmade. A very camp recruit to the army explains to his Colonel the two or three things that need to be changed to make life more comfortable for the soldiers Text here Audio only here
	Here are Chevallier et Laspalès in a nice little sketch, Les Femmes Text here Audio only here Francois ?
	A sketch about Ch'ti country from Dany Boon Text here Audio only here
	L'agent de police - Coluche. Way at the top end of hard Text here Audio only here
	A beautifully crafted sketch from Raymond Devos Le narcissisme Text here Audio only here
	Another sketch from my favourite comedy duo Chevallier et Laspalès, La Culture Text here Audio only here Francois
	I love these two. A traditional music-hall act, Shirley and Dino. Here we have the traditional opening where the latecomers are welcomed Text here Audio only here
	Not at all traditional. My all-time favourite Jean Dujardin and the team of Nous C Nous in Ca gave, which I take to be a vicious take off of the French aristocracy and their most faithful sycophant, Stephane Bearn, a few seconds of whom I have stuck at the beginning of this clip Text here Audio only here
	I have just realised that we have not had so far any Florence Foresti. For many weeks a year or so ago she did a spot at the end of Laurent Ruquier's evening chat show. Here is one of the best - where she appears as la Ministre des Affaires problematiques Text here Audio only here
	A cult sketch from Chevallier et Laspalès Un weekend chez des amis. Text here Audio only here Francois
	Another wonderful sketch from Fernand Raynaud, the great classic of French humour. Tonton, pourquoi tu tousses ? Text here Audio only here
	Anne Roumanoff did an excellent opening to one of the Stars du rire series. She speaks very clearly, but the pace and the content make this pretty difficult Text here Audio only here
	Chevallier et Laspales are always good value. Elegant, intelligent, witty sketches. Here a man goes into a baker's shop to buy that most ordinary of items a baguette. But this is no ordinary baker... Text here Audio only here
	Here is Dany Boon, on form, in a take-off of a dating show Tournez menages Text here Audio only here
	Guy Bedos has cornered the market in the portrayal of male chauvinist nerds, and Les filles comme des mouches is a good example. The end of the sketch escaped me completely, I'm afraid. But look, this is why comedy sketches are such good practice. One desperately wants to understand. It's very frustrating. One day perhaps.... Text here Audio only here
	Here is Popeck, traditional music-hall and quite politically incorrect. Wonderful practice for the ear Text here Audio only here
	A young Anne Roumanoff here, I think, with Null en ménage. And I added to my vocabulary when I sussed out Il y a plus de pécu. Essential if you're going to read Proust... Text here Audio only here
	Dany Boon with a short sketch on La Poste. Good practice, but not easy Text here Audio only here
	Sylvie Joly as an insufferable upper crust lady in a very funny sketch. It makes a fascinating exercise, because, despite the crisp accent, she slurs to the point where, almost every sentence, you have to infer what she says rather than hearing the words clearly. And she speaks fast Text here Audio only here
	Jean-Marie Bigard is not, by all accounts, the most sweet-spoken of French comics. He sounds like a blend of Coluche and Billy Connolly. I heard someone comment that Il est allé directement du stade anal au Stade de France. Here he ploughs the familiar furrow of silly things people say. Text here Audio only here
	Gad Elmaleh is one of the most original of the French comics. Born in Morocco of Jewish parents, and strongly influenced by his years in Canada, his humour is a heady mixture of different cultures. Here he celebrates the pleasure of learning to smoke ! Text here Audio only here
	Here is the end of one of the Stars du Rire shows, where French comics tend to appear doing the sketches one has already seen many times. But it's good humoured. Liane Foly closed this show with some impersonations Text here Audio only here
	I don't often have songs on this site, simply because one can always pick the words off the Internet. But Brassens is a poet : we have to have him here. Here is La ronde des jurons and Quand on est con. But I really include this for the wonderful anecdote of Maxime le Forestier. It is this mixture of street and formal French that makes the language so fascinating to the student today Text here Audio only here
	Here is Jérôme Duran, a comic I've only seen once on the television, exploiting the fertile ground of male-female relationships. A long clip of nearly 8 minutes. He's not all that funny, frankly, but the rapid trendy delivery makes it a good, and quite difficult listening exercise Text here Audio only here
	Gad Elmaleh is a great comic, but my goodness, this short sketch Le Blond is hard. It's not the speed of the delivery that brings me to a dead halt, but the bits where he leans on the (I suppose) Moroccan accent. But look, this is a listening exercise. If we follow what he's getting at, and do our best to fill the holes, that helps the ear to improve. Text here Audio only here
	If a better sketch than this exists as a transcription exercise, I don't know it. Franck Dubosc opened the latest Stars du Rire spectacular with this brilliantly written piece. It's a long sketch - eight minutes. The voice is (mostly) clear, but fast. It's exactly what we're aiming at here. Text here Audio only here
	This wonderful song parody number from Gérald Dahan is the subject of our Challenge page, but we'll reference it here as well.
	I have referred to the excellent series hosted by Patrick Sabatier Les stars du rire before. The quality is always excellent. At the end of this edition, Gad Elmaleh introduced a new, young comic, Ary Abittan, who was very funny - and completely comprehensible (perhaps that will disappear as he matures ?) The subject of this sketch - a happily married young man who wants to get divorced to enrich his life, verges on the taboo for the French. Every second comic seems to be about to become a father, and you hear some good-natured booing in this sketch. But it is very, very inventive... Text here Audio only here
	If there were ever a 'cult sketch' it is this, La drague with Guy Bedos and the lovely Sophie Daumier. This is an update replacing the previous version with the full 4 minutes, and my thanks to the contributor Text here Audio only here
	Here is Anne Roumanoff from the last Stars du Rire spectacle. Not only is she very funny, but her voice constantly challenges the ear. Most of it is pretty clear, then there's a passage.... This is a long clip of seven minutes Text here Audio only here
	And another Roumanoff from her stage show, Follement Roumanoff. I quote her a lot - partly because she is on the television a lot, partly because her delivery is mostly clear, enabling us to follow the humour, but with plenty of tantalisingly difficult moments to exercise the ear Text here Audio only here
	This sketch is from a series Palizzi, produced by Jean Dujardin, and has the same format as the Un gars et une fille series - a host of little 3 minute episodes back to back. The comedian is Arsène Mosca, Linguistically it is interesting - apparently the language of the street, but of course, stylized and clearly spoken. Well, mostly. Text here Audio only here
	France 4 screened the Gala Ni Putes Ni Soumises and this was the final piece. It's a sketch delivered by a feminist journalist, and perhaps that is why it is so clear. Isabelle Alonso doesn't have the timing of the professional comic. But it's very well done. I didn't know the word 'sautopaf'... Text here Audio only here
	Another Shirley and Dino sketch from their show at the Marigny Theatre. Very much the old music hall tradition. Fairly easy to follow, but with some difficult moments. Text here Audio only here
	I can't believe we haven't had Laurent Gerra before. Perhaps because this excellent impersonator can be quite difficult to follow. I have a clip of him doingf Celine Dion - but that's for the future when my ear has (hopefully) improved. But here he is opening the Montreux Festival, as Nicolas Sarkozy. Text here Audio only here
	I'm delighted to see Florence Foresti back. She's funny, and her rapid, idiomatic delivery gives the ear a real work-out Text here Audio only here
	Samantha Oups ! is one of a series of quick fire sketches to be found on France 4. Far from sophisticated it depends very often on simple word-play - and for that reason it is interesting for the student of French. Text here Audio only here
	You get neither text nor audio with this one, because the video is already subtitled in French ! Dany Boon did a show called A s'baraque et en ch'ti - presumably in front of an audience in the North of France. I love the sound of this thick accent.
	Here is one of the greatest of the all-time greats, Raymond Devos, with J'ai des doutes. Linguistically he is always interesting, because there is always a thread to Devos' anecdotes which allows us to reconstitute the words he speaks from the general sense - mostly. It doesn't apply to la chute - the punch line. Here, I've guessed that he meant 'Why not my wife, while he's at it?'. Do you think that's right ? Text here Audio only here
	Intending to watch France 2's one o'clock news the other day, I found Drôle de 13 heures, a comedy show on France 3. From which this excellent sketch by Marc Jolivet. The BBC wouldn't broadcast this at one o'clock in the afternoon. Sad, aren't we ? Text here Audio only here
	Another good sketch from Drôle de 13 heures, Anne Roumanoff doing a 21st century Madame Verdurin, delightfully catty, in this very comprehensible sketch from the beau monde. Text here Audio only here
	Not a sketch, this, but an extract from the daily program on Canal+ Les Guignols de l'Info, which continues the great tradition of Spitting Image. Surprisingly comprehensible, perhaps of the need to imitate well-known voices, and synchronise with the puppets. The little sketch at the end features the boss of France Telecom, a company which changed overnight from being a nationalised industry employing civil servants to a ruthless seller of mobile phone systems, with employees corralled in call centres doing the hard sell. And a very high rate of suicides.... Text here Audio only here
	Another Christmas present from Canada. It's a sketch from a theatre show of Daniel Prévost. You will find a sketch by the young Prévost on the listentofrench site. The humour hasn't changed since then - fantastic, inventive. A very great comedian and a wonderful plumber... Text here Audio only here
	Here's Sandrine Alexi, who offers a quickie. (The sketch, I mean) Text here Audio only here
	We haven't had this comedian before, Arthur. The sketch is a bit uneven - one joke passes the audience by entirely. But it warms up at the end. A good exercise, because his diction is clear, but very fast Text here Audio only here
	I have quoted Pierre Dac before, in the distant days when I was doing audio. He was more than a comedian, a humorist of great creativity, who invented the celebrated Schmilblick. A correspondent sent me this clip, so I don't know what programme it is from, but I am glad to quote more from this great man. Text here Audio only here
	Here is a wonderful clip. I don't know what it is from - it was kindly sent from across the Atlantic. It is a stage show of Michel Leeb Qu'est-ce que sexe ? where this great comic actor explores to the full the potential for comic embarrassment of his subject. I nearly fell off my chair laughing. And because of the pedantic manner and formal delivery, it's an easy listen Text here Audio only here
	In a week where there was little to watch other than the Vancouver Games, France 2, bless them, screened Le grand restaurant, a magnificent spectacle dreamed up by Pierre Palmade, which for an hour an a half gave us, I think, every single French comic actor in a series of dining-table sketches. The quality, as so often with the best of French public service TV, is just amazing. Here are Michel Boujenah who has something to tell his old friend Gérard Depardieu Text here Audio only here
	I can't resist another quote from Le grand restaurant. Here we have a wonderful sketch where Nathalie Baye as suburban housewife and mother of two, decides that she will become President of France. The humour is deliciously pointed, and I am sure that millions of French people watching this, must have thought, 'Well perhaps she wouldn't do so badly...' Great humour, this Text here Audio only here
	La chauve-souris is a cult sketch of Jean-Marie Bigard. It's a piece of pure fantasy, rather different from the normal material of this comedian who, let's face it, is never likely to make l'Académie française. The sketch grows on you, though. And Bigard's voice, although brutal, is quite clear Text here Audio only here