This July 17, in the Saint-Roch church in Paris, the final tribute paid to Thierry Ardisson had the appearance of careful staging. Disappeared three days earlier, on July 14, at the age of 76, the iconic host, nicknamed “The man in black”, was entitled to a farewell to his image: stylized, spicy, moving. A ceremony thought as a last show, orchestrated with meticulousness by his partner Audrey Crespo-Mara. From the entrance, the journalist welcomed each guest, one by one, with rare attention. Hand handle, sincere look, soft word or kiss, this moment for has not escaped witnesses on the spot.
Laurent Baffie speaks after the funeral of Thierry Ardisson
Among the relatives who came to greet the host one last time: Michel Drucker, Brigitte Macron, Florent Pagny, Gabriel Attal, Marc Lavoine, Léa Salamé and obviously Laurent Baffie, to name a few. All dressed in black, dark glasses on their noses, “Dress code Ardisson” Scrupulously respected, in the blink of an eye to the one who had made this shade an emblem. Following the ceremony, his ex-acolyte Laurent Baffie revealed what he said to his coffin before he was carried away.
Long -standing accomplice of “The man in black”with whom he shared the antenna in Everyone talks about it Then Hi Terrans!the humorist spoke via a video posted on his Instagram feed, alongside DJ Philippe Corti, another used to Ardisson plateaus. Laurent Baffie then returned to this morning of homage. “”It was a beautiful ceremony, we paid a beautiful tribute to Thierry, his wife, his children, the family, it was wonderful and it was moving, it was overwhelming … “, he first confided.
A last stake for the road!
But faithful to his inimitable humor, Laurent Baffie did not resist the desire to make a final joke in memory of his friend. A nod to their TV years, slipped close to the coffin: “I told Thierry in the coffin, so now we don’t move during the jingle!”. A cult replica, which remained in the annals of French television. This sentence, “We don’t move during the jingle!”is emblematic of the universe of Thierry Ardisson. She resonated every week in Everyone talks about itFrance 2-shared program between 1998 and 2006. With each musical cut, on the leading rhythm of Groove is in the Heart From the Deee-Lite group, Thierry Ardisson ordered his guests to remain perfectly motionless. An absurd game, which has become a signature, and whose echo still resonated this July 17, in the mouth of one of its most faithful stage companions.
Scripted funeral
And speaking of music, even the soundtrack had been chosen with the host, from the hospital, with his children for his funeral. At the opening, Lazarus by David Bowie, a reference for those who admired those capable of scripting their own disappearance. Then pieces of the Beatles, before concluding on Here it is, it’s over by Jean-Louis Aubert, like an end credits. At the gallery, Audrey Crespo-Mara delivered a poignant, funny and lucid tribute. “My love, we loved so much”, before she said, before evoking with humor the choice of the date of her departure: “As for the choice, my love, to leave on July 14, you, the monarchist, low hat. You were born on January 6, the day of the festival of kings, and you said Fuck on the day of the revolution. With the children, it made us laugh”.
Then, with emotion, she shared the last instructions left by her husband: “You said to me: ‘pity, in church, with the children, with the priests, do not boring’. So promised, we won’t be boring”. She continued as follows: “Courageous, undoubtedly you have been! Courageous, every moment in the face of the disease and every day of your life. You are the right, without filter, frank, it did not do you only friends but you did not care”. After this ceremony in his image, Thierry Ardisson left Saint-Roch to join his last home in Vaucluse, “In strict family intimacy”according to The Parisian.
