Booder

Booder — Biography

Morocco is where Booder, the French comedian and actor whose real name is Mohammed Benyamna, was born. He took his stage name from his favourite footballer, the Moroccan Aziz Bouderbala. Rising through one-man shows, he reached a wide audience with Neuilly sa mère! in 2009 and went on to appear regularly in French comedy films. One of his recent projects was The Marsupilami (Uzun Kuyruk Marsupilami in Turkey), alongside Jean Reno, Gérard Jugnot and Didier Bourdon.

He settled in France in 1979 and grew up in Paris's 10th arrondissement. He discovered comedy in his high school's theatre club and, after a baccalauréat in accounting, chose the stage instead. He first formed a trio with two other comedians and, when it did not catch on, carried on alone. From 2004 he performed his own shows in Paris theatres; after the producer Rachid Ould-Ali noticed him, he opened Mouss Diouf's show. His first screen appearance was in Corps à corps in 2003. His first major role came in 2011 with Beur sur la ville, written and directed by Djamel Bensalah; Halal police d'État followed the same year and A Moroccan in Paris a year later. In 2018 he returned in the sequel Neuilly sa mère, sa mère !.

In later years he branched out into books and radio: he published the autobiography Un bout d'air in 2020 and joined Laurent Ruquier's radio show Les Grosses Têtes in 2022. He also took the lead in his first film as a director, Le Grand Cirque, made with Gaëlle Falzerana and released in February 2023.