At 16 years old, Elmaleh left Morocco and travelled to Montreal to study political science. While in Montreal he worked in radio and performed humorous stories he wrote in nightclubs. Eventually moving to Paris, he studied some theatrical training and penned two one man shows- 'Décalages' and 'La Vie Normale', both staged by Isabelle Nanty. In Jan of 2007 he was elected "the funniest personality of France".