Max Boublil has made his image as a big kid his signature. Before having his own solo show in 2007, he became known to the general public on the successful show “Le Grand Journal” on Canal Plus. At the time, he was a young comedian who did everything to entertain the audience. Although his sketches on Michel Denisot’s set often hit the mark, he remembers a moment of great loneliness.
One day, Michel Denisot was hosting Vanessa Paradis on his show. Max Boublil then started a humorous song routine. This was one of his specialties, as the comedian also found success through comedic songs like “Tonight, you’re going to get lucky,” released in 2007. Armed with his guitar, Max Boublil began singing a song on the set of the “Grand Journal.” However, Vanessa Paradis was not amused at all by this proposal, as she did not realize it was a joke.
Max Boublil experiences a moment of great loneliness in front of Vanessa Paradis
Appearing on Thomas Isle’s show on Europe 1, on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, Max Boublil recalled a “very tough moment.” At the time, the show “was getting really good ratings.” The feeling of not being able to entertain his guests was very painful: “The biggest guest at the time is Vanessa Paradis, and I do the song and it doesn’t really work, and she thinks I’m a struggling singer,” he revealed.
Taking pity on him, Vanessa Paradis made a reassuring comment, but it further plunged Max Boublil after “his failure”: “I still wanted to say that it’s very brave for young artists to come and perform songs like that.” Max Boublil received the confirmation that “it didn’t really work out.” Fortunately, this did not discourage him from pursuing his comedy dreams: “I always have a bit of unconsciousness about things, things kind of slide off me. You get over it.”
Why did Max Boublil leave the “Grand Journal”?
Max Boublil stayed a few more months on the “Grand Journal,” despite this comedic failure in front of Vanessa Paradis. The comedian persevered. However, after some time, he felt that the show would not really give him what he wanted. He preferred to leave television and focus on his first solo show titled “Max takes..”. He performed this one-man show for two years in Paris and across France. He quickly found success, despite leaving the show broadcast on Canal Plus. “After that, they offered a segment on Le Grand Journal that also didn’t do very well. At one point, we said, ‘Okay, let’s take a step back, let’s just go do shows,'” he recalled. Later on, his songs also found success, confirming that following his intuition was a good decision.
