The Restaurant du Jura in Bassecourt is preparing to relaunch an old institution on the occasion of the Caranaval du Jura in Bassecourt. The “Festival of Laughter”, a historic evening on Carnival Monday which saw renowned comedians such as Les Vamps, Olivier Lejeune, Jean-Marie Bigard and Pierre Palmade, will make its return 28 years after its disappearance. It is the French comedian Tex, very popular in the 90s and 2000s and former presenter of the game Les Z’amours on France 2, who will host the evening of Monday March 3. An idea born in the nostalgic minds of David Comte and Sophie Eggenschwiler who have launched into organizing dinner shows in recent months.
“Older generations remember the Patadorf Laughter Festival well at the village hall. We want to bring this up to date, it will no longer be a festival, but rather a humorous evening with a single artist scheduled in a room with a maximum of 120 seats,” explains the man who took over the Restaurant du Jura last April. A great fan of café-spectacles during his Parisian trips, David Comte has already brought in singer Herbert Léonard and impersonator Didier Gustin in recent months. While the attendance at the Patadorf Carnival has waned somewhat in recent years, the entrepreneur hopes to help revive interest in this event via this “Jura laugh”.
“Trying to take advantage of this nostalgia that works well”
-“We would like to be the song that we put back in the jukebox and that makes us dance again. Nostalgia for times gone by works well, we see the 80s are very fashionable again, we must try to take advantage of that. Especially since Monday at Carnival, not much happens. And it can also suit those who don’t like carnival,” notes David Comte who managed to find Tex, which was not easy. “It is indeed a financial risk, because we are basing ourselves on an intimate show, we cannot enlarge the room! But in two phone calls, we managed to seduce him. He also remembered that there was something here, because the show La Classe had come to the Bassecourt Laughter Festival, and Tex started there,” recalls David Comte who is also planning other dinners- shows during the year.
The imitator and transformist Sébastien Costic who notably plays the double of Céline Dion will be on display on April 11, the Corsican group Petra Saetta will come on May 10 while the French comedian Smaïn, another icon of 80s humor à 2000 which recently relaunched a show, is announced for December 6. /jpi
