Ahmed Kadri (Krikèche)

Biography

Ahmed Kadri, known by the stage name "Krikèche", is an Algerian actor, humorist and author. Although he was born on December 18, 1934 in La Casbah of Algiers, he spent his childhood in Tizi-Ouzou, where his parents and grandparents were from. Ahmed "Krikèche" Kadri initially worked in several professions, selling cigarettes on the street, cafe owner, administrative officer at the Algiers prefecture, nurse in a hospital, etc. Making people laugh is in his blood. Even when he worked in the hospital, as a nurse, he couldn't help but play pranks, even in the morgue, pretending to be a dead man wrapped in his shroud. In 1957 young Ahmed, then only 22 years old, was a nurse in a hospital. despite the need for nursing staff, the colonial authorities did not want Algerian staff. When he was notified of his dismissal, he entered the artistic world at the Algiers Conservatory. His introduction to comedy will be with the best masters of Algerian theater of the time, starting with Mahieddine Bachtarzi then Djelloul Bachdjerrah, Mustapha Kazdarli, Allel El Mouhoub and Mohamed Touri. Ahmed "Krikèche" Kadri quickly understands that he must combine form and substance, he perseveres in his studies and learning. In 1959, he created his first troupe, Nedjmet Es-Sabah, which brought together around forty performers. His first sketch, Docteur Krikeche, was broadcast on television in 1960; in 1962, he traveled across southern Algeria with his character "Krikèche". For the Nedjmet Es-Sabah troupe, Krikèche wrote, until 1967, 26 plays lasting from twenty minutes to two hours, including tragedies like "El Mal Iferreq" or "El Ikhwane". After Algeria's independence in 1962, "Krikèche" was prolific, both in sketches for children and in cinema and theater, in extroverted and funny roles. In 1968, it was the meeting with the artist Kaci Tizi Ouzou with whom they formed an explosive duo in theater and on television "Kaci et Krikeche", inspired by the American cinema duo Laurel and Hardy and the Egyptian Ismail Yassine and Abdessalem Alnaboulssi. In 2015, the Mouloud-Mammeri cultural center in Tizi Ouzou, as part of the “Lire En Fête” cultural festival, paid tribute to him in his presence and that of numerous guests, directors, friends, etc. with whom Ahmed "Krikèche" Kadri collaborated during his long artistic career.