Quebec comedians will have the chance to shine during the Francophonie Summit, which will take place in Paris in October, we have learned The newspaper. It is the Montreux Comedy festival team, through its Exclam Montréal event, which will be responsible for presenting them in a mini-humor festival called Humor at the top.
“We are delighted because humor will be at the heart of the summit and Exclam is the partner who will bring Quebec humor there,” says Grégoire Furrer.
The founder of the Montreux Comedy festival was passing through Montreal these days with his wife and co-producer, Chloée Coqterre Bernier. The newspaper met the couple at the Bordel Comédie Club, which is joining forces for the first time with Exclam, the second edition of which will be back in May [voir détails plus bas].
Thirty years after the last summit it organized, France will be the host country of the 19the Francophonie Summit. The event will take place at the beginning of October at the Château de Villers-Cotterêts, 45 minutes from Paris, as well as in the City of Lights itself.
During this summit, a small humor festival will be held where Quebec comedians will be highlighted. How many local artists will be invited to perform there? Grégoire Furrer cannot yet give all the details. “We are still waiting for answers regarding the budget we will have for the summit,” he said.
My first Montreux
The Swiss producer wants to export Quebec talent so much that he decided to present My first Montreux during the next Exclam Montréal, in May.
In this selection – Furrer refuses to use the term “competition” – French-speaking comedians from across Quebec will try to stand out from their peers to win the ultimate prize: presenting a stand-up act during a gala of the Montreux Comedy Festival in Switzerland, in November.
Interested comedians must first submit their application by sending a short stand-up video in French to exclam.com. The ten finalists will then perform in front of the public and a jury on May 14 at the Bordel Comédie Club.
“With My first Montreuxwe are delivering on a real promise that we made when we arrived, which was that Exclam is a door to the rest of the Francophonie world,” mentions Grégoire Furrer.
Root yourself in the Latin Quarter
As for the second edition of Exclam Montréal, it will take place from May 14 to 18 in the Latin Quarter. “It’s fundamental for us to anchor ourselves in this neighborhood that I discovered 35 years ago and which symbolizes this French-speaking dimension that we want to give to our event,” says Grégoire Furrer. The full program should be revealed in the coming weeks.
The two producers give a positive assessment of the first edition of Exclam, presented last year, among other things in terms of the two original concepts Babel And Boom Bap. “These are new identities that we have created,” says Chloée Coqterre Bernier.
Grégoire Furrer continues to think big for the establishment of his Jokenation group in Montreal. Within 12 to 24 months, he would like to set up an office there which would be the group’s humor research and development center. “We are ready to invest a lot of money to be able to succeed in this bet.”