“There was a need and a demand”

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Meet Valentine Mabille, it’s entering a world made of good humor, of laughs, but above all, without fuss. A colorful character, the young woman arrives by bike in front of the former Arvor cinema, rue d’Antrain, north of downtown Rennes, with a huge, infectious smile, leopard overalls and a yellow raincoat. “You will not go inside, because I don’t even have the keys yet,” she laughs. Everyone got excited about this information, even though the sales agreement has not even been signed. » Indeed, the transfer of the old Arvor cinema was voted during the municipal council meeting on October 14 for 500,000 euros. It remains to deal with the administration. Thus, the producer of shows and artists gets excited of the response this news had, but temperate on the details of the project which are still to be decided. Before the Comedy Club takes shape, Valentine outlines for us the contours of its journey and what will be, in a few months, this room soon reserved for humor.

Actu : At the very beginning, you weren’t interested in working in stand-up?

Valentine Mabille: First of all, I grew up in the Cévennes. I went to Paris for my studies. I did a literary prep, then a business school, not really where I should have been found as an obese and left-wing person (laughs).

Stand-up was pure chance. 15 years ago, the humor landscape as we know it today had nothing to do with it. That was pretty much the beginning of the Jamel Comedy Club.

Did it all happen in Paris?

VM: In fact, I met people who did humor. They suggested that I go to the Bordel Club in Paris. I enjoyed it too much. I started bringing one, two, three, fifteen friends. Stand-up was on Monday evening, we had nothing better to do. And comedians who were just starting out at the time, like Kheiron and Kyan Khojandi, started asking me questions, saying, “Who’s that girl (sic) filling the room.”

I started organizing comedy galas within an association at my school and it took off like that.

Then, you created your own production company.

VM: Yes, I called it Fourchette Suisse productions, the feminine of the Swiss army knife, because, already, it’s a profession in which we do a little bit of everything, but above all, I’m fed up with the world being gendered as masculine .

At the end of the years, I took over the management of a Comedy Club in Paris: the Barbes Comedy Club. Among others, we are launching Shirley Souagnon.

How did you arrive in Rennes?

VM: We wanted to move away from Paris with my partner. Brittany made us want it. We have friends here and I have always known Rennes, which is a city close to Paris nonetheless.

When I told people from Rennes about my career, they immediately told me that it would be great to open a Comedy Club in Rennes. The first time, we laugh about it, but when it happens again, we start to think about it. We realized that there was a need and a demand. That people really wanted it. With the Les Bavardes collective, we also launched stand-up evenings in Rennes.

When did you say to yourself that this project could be done in the old Arvor cinema?

VM: I started talking about it, meeting the public authorities, who made me understand that there was a very good community life. I told them, “Okay, that’s it.” afterwards, I saw that the old Arvor was for sale and that it could be interesting. The town hall wanted it to remain a place of culture, so we brought our project to the municipality.

Exactly, where exactly is this Comedy Club project?

VM: We are at the sales agreement. So, theoretically, it’s done. Even if we’re waiting for the bank’s approval, there’s no reason for it to go wrong.

What is your definition of stand-up and Comedy Club?

VM: The first is an art. The second is the place of this art. It is a form of humorous expression, like a one-man show, with the abolition of the 4th wall, allowing interaction with the public.

What will it be called?

VM: It’s still too early to know precisely.

What will this Comedy Club look like?

VM: It will be a theater with two rooms, which will be able to accommodate two shows, a bar area and an apartment on the second floor to accommodate the artists. It will be a place open to all. The idea, beyond stand-up, is to bring together the associative fabric around our place, particularly during the day.

We want it to be a lively and inclusive place. For example, for people with reduced mobility, it’s not easy to come to this kind of place. Well, we will do everything we can to make it just normal, it’s even our duty. Also, we are in the process of developing the translation of the shows into sign language.

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