Brussels, a net exporter of humour
Brussels is the queen of exporting services: sustainable architecture, , cell apps, AV… and, perhaps more unexpectedly, humour. Because yes, stand-up comedy is a business like any other, and the Region wanted to support it, especially in its conquest of the international stage. And what could be better than the Festival OFF in Avignon for taking your first steps across the border?
In a previous article “The Belgians in Avignon”, we described this project, which gave nine Brussels comedians the opportunity to sell their first international show as part of the Festival OFF in Avignon.
Over the course of a month, André Demarteau, Dena, Gaëtan Delferière, Sacha Ferra, Nikoz, Adel, Lorenzo, Lisa Delmoitiez and Florent Losson made Avignon their new comedic stronghold, under a Provençal heat wave.
The festival programme included three performances per day at the Comédie d’Avignon; each one was an opportunity to prove themselves and charm the public of Avignon (and elsewhere). What did they bring back in their suitcases after a season in Avignon?
Welcome to the Villa de la Vanne
17 July, 10.30 am. Everything seems peaceful at the “Casa de la Vanne” located a few bougainvillaeas from Avignon’s city walls. The atmosphere is studious under the covered terrace. Florent Losson, the oldest member of the group at 32, has his eyes glued to his computer screen. His fingers are tapping on the keyboard, and the crickets are singing, “I have to finish a report for work!“. When he’s not entertaining audiences on the stage of the Kings of Comedy Club, Florent is a coordinator and project manager at Groupe One.
A thunderous “Hello Patriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice-euh” suddenly interrupts the quiet. Sacha, Nikoz and André are up: the party can begin. They tease and challenge each other, wind each other up, all in a joyful summer camp atmosphere.
But don’t be fooled by appearances, as behind the buffoonery, the “enchanté, Michel” in the style of François l’Embrouille, the pancakes “à la André” and the dives “à la Patrice” are nine thoughtful and determined entrepreneurs with very clear objectives.
Unmissable Avignon
The Festival OFF Avignon involves nearly 2 million visitors and 1,500 shows a day, 90% of them first performances (like our gems). It’s an unbelievable spotlight for those who can afford it. “Avignon is a bit like the French version of the Edinburgh Fringe”, explains Dena Vahdani, who has been on the stand-up scene for three years. “It guarantees great visibility but it costs a lot of money for a solo show. With “Les Belges à Avignon“, we have this amazing opportunity to play in a superb venue and gain visibility through posters and media, with a small payment per show as a bonus, while many artists do it at a loss.”
And it was 22-year-old Sacha Ferra who kicked things off, “even if there are not many people in the room, it gives us a unique opportunity to refine our show“. Because each comedian has the opportunity to perform around ten dates in a month. “In Brussels, that’s what we play at the Kings of Comedy Club in a year.”
“In one day, I brought in six people and two of them spoke Spanish”
We soon understood that the crucial factor is giving out flyers and bringing people in, or the art of drumming up business in the street with a piece of paper and a lot of nerve. Without it, there’s no audience. Without an audience, there’s no show. “It’s exhausting,” says Gaëtan Delferrière, a screenwriter by training. “In one day, I brought in six people and two of them spoke Spanish (laughs). “The energy you expend during the day is the energy you lose on stage in the evening.“
Because the rule of stand-up is clear: even in front of just one person, you still perform your show. “There’s so much stuff going on already,” Dena adds. “Floats, people shouting, acting, dancing. The competition is tough! A flyer is just a piece of paper; you have to talk to people and create contact to make them come to your show.”
“The show is not great, but we have air con”
In just a few days, they became masters of the foot-in-the-door technique. “Asking, ‘what are you doing tonight?’ saves you at least 15 seconds, because you can skip the niceties and know where you stand pretty quickly,” says Dena. “Also, pulling people in in the last 15 minutes before your show is a good strategy because you are selling the ticket directly. Giving out flyers ourselves also makes it more human, because not many artists do their own promotion.“
Others, like Nikoz – one of the youngest members of the troupe – put on a real street performance, “I think you have to surprise people in the first two seconds: you dance, you bend, you clown around and let your personality speak, your good vibes, and it works really well.” The stakes are higher for Nikoz, who began his season in Avignon with angina. “That’s when I realised that my voice was my working tool and that I had to take care of it.“
André Demarteau, on the other hand, prefers more of a marketing offensive, “Since my show is called “Salads, Tomatoes, Onions”, I put up my posters up in all the nearby kebab shops and offered a discount if people mentioned “sauce andalouse” at the ticket office.”
A physical and mental performance
The smile never wavers, but fatigue can sometimes be detected behind the mask. ““Psychologically, it’s hard; for example, I had a booking for 12 people that fell through a few hours before my show.” says Sacha. Fortunately, solidarity was the key, “my friends helped me give out flyers and managed to fill my venue. If they hadn’t been there, I would have already gone back to Brussels.”
“Stand-up is 90% emotional,” Dena believes. “It’s a very psychological profession, which allows you to deconstruct your mental blocks. It can get you a long way, but it requires great mental strength.”
This does not stop our companions from keeping their sense of humour: “Enough is enough! We decided to put SOLD OUT on the posters that were stuck above ours. Belgian humour, in particular, hits the nail on the head, “the show is not great, but there is air con … Come on, it will be good.“
And, since Belgian stand-up has its emissaries in France, our comedians have no problem mentioning the names of Alex Vizorek, Guillermo Guiz and Fanny Ruwet as a guarantee of quality, “Alex Vizorek came to see us“, Adel says enthusiastically. “Once, he brought us loads of people: it was really amazing and we were so grateful!“
Stand-up, with no specific status
Freelance, part-time self-employed, RPI contracts: there are as many (precarious) paths to stand-up comedy in Brussels as there are comedians.
Dena, like Gaëtan, went self-employed a few months ago, “It’s more advantageous for me than going through intermediary platforms. The trick is to have fixed, recurring projects to guarantee an income that can sustain you.“
Lorenzo Mancini has been self-employed for ten years… but as an architect. He doesn’t see himself trying to do comedy full time yet, “I’ve worked hard to build up clientele; I’m afraid to give it all up for something that isn’t quite right yet. But I’m working on it.”
“Becoming self-employed is pretty scary, especially from a financial point of view. The part-time option is more reassuring,” says Lisa Delmoitiez, who works part-time in a non-profit organisation and so manages her stand-up performances as part-time self-employed. Same status for André Demarteau and Florent, but the latter for different reasons, “I have the misfortune to love my job too much to switch to stand-up full time“.
Sacha and Nikoz make the most of their self-employed student status. “I am studying almost entirely for the status they give me, as I want to make stand-up my full-time job“, explains Nikoz. They are both fortunate to be able to count on their parents for help with administrative tasks. “My mum is a chartered accountant, which helps!”
Jokes, by registered post
So, can Belgian jokes be exported? Yes, and yes again! “In terms of energy and laughter, we have the same vibe as in Belgium,” says Gaëtan. “We just need to recontextualise a bit. For example, explain who (Princess) Delphine Boël is.”
And the small mistakes made at the beginning adapt as the performances go on, “my sketch about speech therapists was a systematic flop until I realised that there is a different word for it in France”, laughs Nikoz. “The same goes for Ristorante pizzas,” André adds, “here, they rather eat the Buitoni’s.”
There is no lack of audiences in the French-speaking world, as the French, the Swiss, and also the Luxembourgers are fond of Belgian humour. The flight of Belgian talent to France Inter is proof of this…
The ‘Gala des Belges’ in Avignon: operation seduction
The Comédie D’Avignon was sold out on 17 July. In the packed room were schedulers, presenters, festivals and theatre directors, all invited for the Gala des Belges in Avignon. It was an opportunity for our young talents to officially make their debut on the international scene. The guests included big names such as the Montreux Comedy Festival, Olympia Production, the Geneva Comedy Festival and the Lille Spotlight, which has already welcomed onto its stages Manon Lepomme, Guillermo Guiz and Alex Vizorek. “The Avignon Festival is an opportunity to discover the new generation of humour live”, explains its scheduler Isabelle Baert. “Belgian humour obviously appeals in Lille; we’re neighbours, and it’s really important to us to schedule Belgian comedians.“
“I came to discover the gems of Belgian humour because we have already scheduled quite a few Belgian artists here. They include Guillermo Guiz, in his early days”, says Estelle Zweifel, co-founder of the Geneva Comedy Festival and Director of the Bureau de la Joie. She adds, “There is incredible growth in stand-up comedy on the Belgian scene. Tonight, there was a lot of talent. I have rarely seen a set with nine comedians this good. They all have their own style, the level is high and they work hard, there’s a troupe phenomenon that works: well done to them!“
We meet Sacha, who is all smiles, “It’s crazy, we just gained years of networking!“
Success at the end of the tunnel
Tunnel: in stand-up jargon, a moment of solitude, during which the audience is not on board, and which can be shorter or longer.
Humour is not yet recognised as a sector in its own right in the Brussels cultural world. “So what hub.brussels is doing with this project is very welcome. Slowly but surely, things are changing, especially with Vincent Taloche and the Humour Federation,” says Florent Losson. “The political world is beginning to understand that humour is part of the culture and that it also creates jobs. What is a pity is that at the moment, in the entertainment industry, you often have to break through in France to succeed in Belgium. So we can say, “Oh yeah, we have talent, but they now live in Paris“.
“It’s frustrating because we have all the resources here, but it’s always the same faces that you see on stage, when there’s room for everyone,” says Dena. “It’s now up to the Region to put us on the map because, like beer and chocolate, we’re an extraordinary product (laughs).”
And Lisa suggests, at the end of the day, “having a centralised space where you can get financial and legal advice, I think it could help manage the entrepreneurial aspect, which you naturally manage less well than the comedy aspect. If you handle the comedy aspect, fine, but that’s another story (laughs).”
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