Wahid Bouzidi

Wahid Bouzidi (Arabic: وحيد بوزيدي), born July 9, 1978 in Villepinte (France) and died August 20, 2023 in Marrakech (Morocco), is a Franco-Algerian comedian and actor. From 2006 to 2008, he was a member of the Jamel Comedy Club before launching his own one-man show. The youngest of ten children, Wahid Bouzidi grew up in Bobigny. He lost his mother then his father two months apart when he was only 15 years old.

Subsequently, he lived in Noisy-le-Sec with his older brother Ahmed who became his legal guardian. The sudden loss of his parents plunges Wahid Bouzidi into a period of silence. It was within a Gagny theater troupe, named Les Guez Guez, that he found an outlet for his grief and revealed a talent for the performing arts. Wahid Bouzidi was revealed in 2004, at the age of 26, by the director Guy Jacques who gave him a first role in the cinema in the feature film Ze Film.

From there, Wahid took theater classes in Bondy in the Guezguez troupe for 2 years. In 2005, Kader Aoun, who was looking for young talents to join the Canal+ show Jamel Comedy Club (produced and presented by Jamel Debbouze), contacted Wahid Bouzidi who refused. Invited to attend the rehearsals of the first troupe of the Jamel Comedy Club, he wrote his first text: Le Gitan the same evening.

The next day, he presented his text to Kader Aoun then twenty minutes later, he went on stage with the troupe. It was there that he discovered stand-up and presented his own shows including Wahid Se Lache and Graisse Anatomie. In the cinema, he mainly plays in comedies such as Case Départ, Beur Sur La Ville, Mohamed Dubois, Alad'2 and BDE. He appears in particular in two films directed by Philippe Lacheau.

On television, in 2009, he was one of the protagonists of the comedy series Tongs et paréo on M6, alongside David Salles, Claudia Tagbo, Delphine McCarty and Gil Alma, among others. He appears in an episode of the hit series Captain Marleau in 2017. Between 2019 and 2022, he regularly participates in the show Friday, everything is permitted with Arthur on TF1.

In 2015, he played in the play La Grande Évasion, created and directed by Youssef Bouchikhi, alongside actors Paul Séré and Booder. He is credited on the poster under the sole first name of Wahid. In 2017 and 2018, he participated in Marrakech Du Rire hosted by Jamel Debbouze. For his latest show entitled "Wahid… Il Se Relève”, performed from January to June 2023, Wahid Bouzidi draws inspiration from his health problems that occurred from 20214, evoking loneliness and mistreatment in the hospital.

The show revolves around his experience in the hospital where he felt disappointed towards some of those around him. However, he highlights the unconditional support of his wife and his friend Booder. He talks about “white visiting rooms”, in reference to relatives who had promised to come see him, but who never did. The production, directed by Papy, begins with Bouzidi in a wheelchair, before he gradually gets up.

On August 16, 2023, Wahid Bouzidi suffered a new stroke while on vacation in Marrakech, which plunged him into a coma. He died on August 20, 20238.9 He was buried in Algeria near Tolga.