Laurent Ruquier

Laurent Hugues Emmanuel Ruquier (born 24 February 1963) is a French television presenter, radio host and comedian. He is also a lyricist, writer, columnist and impresario; he has been co-owner and general manager of Théâtre Antoine-Simone Berriau in Paris since 2011. He is best known for hosting the On n'est pas couché show on France 2 every Saturday evening from 2006 to 2020.

Ruquier grew up in a large family of modest means, the second of five siblings. His father, Roger Ruquier, now deceased, was a boilermaker at construction sites in Le Havre and his mother, Raymonde Ruquier (1924-September 2015), was a housewife.

In high school, Laurent entertained his friends by publishing his first satires in the school newspaper. At first he studied accounting (he obtained a DEUG in Economic and Social Administration (AES) at the Le Havre site of the University of Rouen and a Diploma from the Institute of Technology (DUT) in Business Management and Training administration (GEA).

He also attended a course in Constitutional Law given by Patrice Gélard. Upon the advice of the latter, he finally turned to humour. In 1986, he did 21 months of military service as a conscientious objector at the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs.

His mentor was Pierre Doris, whose black humour he was particularly fond of.

Between 1983 and 1986, he made his debut on the local radio stations in Le Havre: Radio Force 7, Ocean Gate Radio, and Radio FMR in Rouen. At first, he mainly presented the show "The Little Heads", using the concept of the show "The Big Heads" on RTL with local comedians and other entertainers from the station.

In 1987, encouraged by his aunt, he contacted the radio presenter and journalist Jacques Mailhot, then host of Ear in the Area broadcast on France Inter, who was captivated by his texts. Thanks to Mailhot, Laurent Ruquier had his first experience of television on the show "Paris Kiosk" that Jacques Mailhot presented for three months on FR3 Île-de-France, and he was offered the opportunity to perform in Paris in a scene of the show "Vault of the Republic", a golden opportunity for the humourist to make himself known beyond the limits of his native region.

Soon after, in 1988, and for two years he wrote irreverent stories for Jean Amadou and Maryse, as part of their daily morning show on Europe 1.

In 1989, he proposed his candidacy to Jacques Martin who had put forward an idea for a program in the style of the "Newshound", a satirical news show that ran from 1975 to 1976 on TF1. Jacques Martin accepted and took him on as a writer on "So do, do, do ..." which was released in 1989 on France 2.