Jerry Seinfeld Performs His First Show in Paris Club

Despite a confession early on that “I only speak un peu” of French, Jerry Seinfeld wowed a Paris crowd on Sunday night with an intimate performance at small cabaret club La Nouvelle Eve.

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French comedian Gad Elmaleh introduced Seinfeld to thunderous applause before “the king of comedy,” as Elmaleh referred to him, took to the stage to talk about topics ranging from the weather to coffee to twittering to marriage and fatherhood. While French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn was a hot topic on Sunday night, Seinfeld shied away from any political jokes and stuck to his everyday observational comedy.

“This has been such an exciting experience. I didn’t know I had so many fans in Paris,” Seinfeld said after the show of his first time performing live stand-up in the French capital.

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He began by thanking the crowd for coming out to support him on the rainy Sunday night, and said: “The reason we go out is to convince ourselves that our lives don’t suck,” but added some self-effacing humor: “Your life sucks, my life sucks too – well, perhaps not as much.”

The small venue near the city’s famed Moulin Rouge was packed with fans, which featured a mostly French crowd of media industry heavyweights and talents including French funnyman Ramzy Bedia, pop star Sinclair, actor Arie Elmaleh and actress Virginie Ledoyen, plus Legende producer Alain Goldman and Marrakesh Film Festival topper Melita Toscan du Plantier.

Seinfeld’s wife Jessica was also in the audience after her husband surprised her with a birthday trip to Paris a few days earlier. While the couple enjoyed their time in the culinary capital of the world, the comedian himself admitted that he had grown tired of people telling him about all of the “great” restaurants to try while in town. “I don’t even like great food. You know what kind of restaurant I like? Not bad,” he said.

He then introduced the French to the stuffed-crust pizza concept, telling them: “They’re now building a wall of cheese to protect the cheese.

Seinfeld’s universal humor managed to get laughs from the Parisian crowd at all of the right moments, including his definition of a man – “A man is really nothing more than an extremely advanced dog.” – and feelings on obesity – “I don’t see that it’s a problem, that is until everyone is touching everyone.”

After saying au revoir to a standing ovation, Seinfeld returned to the stage for an impromptu Q&A with the audience after his hour-long performance. When asked about any upcoming projects, Seinfeld said: “The truth of the matter is, I’m old, I’m rich and I’m tired.”