We've learned that Quebec comedians will have a chance to shine at the Francophonie Summit, which will be held in Paris in October The newspaper. It is the Montreux Comedy Festival team that is responsible for presenting the event “Exclam Montréal” as part of a mini-humor festival called “Comedy”. Humor is the top priority.
“We are very excited because humor will be at the heart of the summit and Exclam is the partner that will bring Quebec humor there,” says Grégoire Furrer.
The founder of the Montreux Comedy Festival recently traveled through Montreal with his wife and co-producer Chloée Coqterre Bernier. The Journal met the couple at the Bordel Comédie club, which is teaming up for the first time with Exclam, whose second edition will take place in May [voir détails plus bas].
Thirty years after the last summit it organized, France will host the 19th Francophonie Summit. The event takes place in early October at the Château de Villers-Cotterêts, 45 minutes from Paris, as well as in the City of Lights itself.
A small humor festival will take place during this summit, highlighting Quebec comedians. How many local artists will be invited to perform there? Grégoire Furrer can't give all the details yet. “We are still waiting for answers regarding the budget we will have for the summit,” he said.
My first Montreux
The Swiss producer is so interested in exporting talent from Quebec that he decided to present Mon Premier Montreux at 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 des Montreux Comedy Festivals 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 audience and jury on May 14th at the Bordel Comédie Club.
“With My first Montreux we are giving a real promise that we made when we arrived, namely that Exclam is a door to the rest of the Francophonie world,” mentions Grégoire Furrer.
Root yourself in the Latin Quarter
The second edition of Exclam Montréal will take place from May 14th to 18th in the Latin Quarter. “It is fundamental for us to anchor ourselves in this neighborhood that I discovered 35 years ago and that symbolizes this French-speaking dimension that we want to give to our event,” says Grégoire Furrer. The full program is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
The two producers draw a positive conclusion from the first edition of Exclam presented last year, including with regard to 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 as he launches his Jokenation group in Montreal. Within 12 to 24 months, he wants to set up an office there that will serve as the group's humor research and development center. “We are prepared to invest a lot of money to make this bet successful.”