Gilles Magnard

Gilles Magnard, known as Sellig, born on 29 June 1969 in Lyon, is a French humorist and author. His pseudonym is the anacyclic of his first name Gilles. Active since the beginning of the 1990s, he became known for observational humour centred on everyday life, claiming to avoid political, sexual or religious themes. His shows, presented in the form of episodes, are regularly toured in France and the French-speaking world. A student more interested in entertaining his classmates than in the content of his lessons, he followed a professional course, with a CAP then a BEP in cooking at the lycee hotelier Rabelais. He worked in this field from 1988 in the Bouchons lyonnais, then in a retirement home in Lyon where he was appointed second of cuisine, before choosing after a few years to change profession.

In 1992, under the name Sellig, he launched into comedy, notably thanks to the association La rencontre des arts, which allows new talents to present sketches. In 2000, during the program Graines de star, he met Anne Roumanoff, a member of the jury, who offered to produce him for three years, allowing him to devote himself fully to his new work. His tour with his first show, Episode 1, passed notably through the Bataclan in Paris, and he also occupied the stage of the theatre de Dix heures for twenty-one months, a record. He has been produced since 2008 by Audrey Guilhaume Production. Well known to listeners of the radio Rire et Chansons, which regularly broadcasts his sketches, he appears relatively little on television and performs more than 100 shows a year across France.

He took part in various television programs: a contestant on Graines de star, which he won twice, a columnist from 2005 in Douce France alongside Christine Bravo, and a guest on Le Plus Grand Cabaret du monde, Les Grands du rire by Yves Lecoq, C'est la crise ! with Anne Roumanoff or Les annees bonheur by Patrick Sebastien. He obtained one of the five main roles in the first feature film by Bernard Werber, Nos amis les Terriens, in 2007. The following year he released his first book, Pour une poignee de koumlaks, prefaced by Bernard Werber; he also released the novels L'Operation R8 in 2016 and Quand le chat est la, les souris dansent on 1 September 2018. The launch of the new show Episode 6 took place at La Penne-sur-Huveaune in the Bouches-du-Rhone on 10 December 2022.