One of France's favorite humorists, Pierre Desproges was gifted with a sharp sense of humor and an incredible capacity for prose. In the show Le Petit Rapporteur, he made TV history with some provocative footage, and the following La Minute Nécessaire de Monsieur Cyclopède was one of the most absurd daily TV programs. In 1986, he wrote his infamous Chroniques de la Haine Ordinaire (Chronicles of Common Hatred), and he produced two instant-classic shows with dark and provocative jokes about Shoah, God, politics, people he hated, cancer, and even his own death. He was ultimately taken by that same cancer he had the nerve to joke about. ~ Olivier Duboc