The comedian present on France Inter and Quotidien will be alongside Tania Dutel, Alexis le Rossignol, Charles Nouveau, Alex Fredo and Philippine Delaire at the Château de Flaugergues on July 2 and 3 for La Route des Vannes. Excluded from journalism, she chose to rush towards the stage. She looks back on her time spent in Montpellier, in the editorial office of Midi Libre.
You are used to sharing the stage by participating in Charline Vanhoenacker’s “Grand Dimanche Soir” on France Inter. But is the Route des Vannes a little different?
I’m going to find out, but I was in the Boy Scouts when I was little. It’s one of my personality blind spots. I’ve shared pit toilets and clean-up towels and food bowls before, so it’ll be fine. I know a few of the troop members and it’s all made in vineyards, so I feel like it’s a magic recipe for a festival.
The principle of La route des vannes is actually to play in wine estates. You give yourself a reputation as a party girl to excess. Do you like wine?
(Laughs) It would be super funny if that was my coming out: “No, I don’t like wine”. I betrayed myself. Mahaut will take up arms against French wine heritage. So yes, I really like wine but only white. But to be honest I don’t drink strong alcohol. Wine is a refuge that is both sweet and festive, but you shouldn’t exaggerate.
Your exploration of endless nights is the subject of a book you are writing. We will learn that partying saved you?
Yes. Largely. It’s funny, because before you, I was doing another interview for the documentary that I play for Quotidien on the body without complexes, and the journalist asked me for a moment of liberation. It was both about reclaiming my body through sketches and at the same time, the discovery of the party. But I would specify the queer, benevolent party, in spaces called safe places, which Pascal Praud calls “hell places” but which are in reality places where we love each other without necessarily sexualizing the other and where all kinds of beauty are admitted and celebrated.
You are unique in the world of stand-up by bringing queer, lgbtqi + themes, questions about the body and its appropriation. France Inter, Quotidien, plus the stage, is it important for you to have this audience?
At a time when we are in an unprecedented political crisis in the country, I think it is very important to maintain spaces where progressives can express themselves freely. Before, I had the chance to know Radio Nova. These are places to preserve. At Quotidien, I am delighted that a space of freedom of expression continues where who I am is not seen as a fault but a quality.
Last April, you suffered a wave of harassment from the far right after participating in a Mediapart conference on How to fight against the far right? Did this episode force you to distance yourself, or do you still have a free say on these issues?
I would keep my speech free in the face of these questions. If I am in danger of death, I think that the general intelligence services will warn me. In any case, I have received many death threats. For the moment, I find that it is my responsibility as a citizen to continue to perpetuate this free speech.
You simultaneously studied journalism and your first experiences as a stand-up artist. What was decisive?
I have always been passionate about comedy. So in parallel with my studies – before journalism I studied History and Political Science at the Sorbonne – I tried to find free activities that allowed me to be on stage like eloquence competitions or conservatories district. And it was the fact of being systematically refused in these places that I told myself that stand-up was a democratic art, without the need to be part of a company or to pay for studies. It takes time. I think I became funny after four years. But on the other hand, I didn’t want to give up my studies, because they nourished my brain. I said to myself, if I’m not an actress, a journalist, it’s the best job I could do. There is a connection to writing, to others, a curiosity about the world, etc. But what made my decision was that I was fired from all my journalistic jobs. It was journalism that made the choice. I had gone far anyway, being the third on the LCI Patrick Bourrat scholarship. But I was the only one not to be renewed as a freelancer because I had too strong a personality. One of my best experiences as a journalist was at Midi Libre. I did an internship for a month, a month and a half, in the summer of 2018, in your Montpellier editorial team. I loved this moment with love.
But it ended.
The idea after this internship was that I could come back and do freelance work and I was called back to be told no. While for me, it went very well. But it has been very recurrent in my experience as a journalist. It was difficult at the time. But failure can be prolific. And then, I am in love with Montpellier.
Ah good ?
If I didn’t live in Paris, I would live in Montpellier. It’s thanks to this internship. When I was sent to report every day, I walked the streets, I met the residents. I loved what I encountered. There is both culture and nature, we are close to the sea, I find the people super nice. I was supposed to play at the Kawa Theater recently, but I got injured. I couldn’t go there. It hurt me too much.
If you had played at Kawa, what would you have done in Montpellier?
My show (laughs). Maybe I would have celebrated. I’m busy. I never stay more than one night per city, but here, I took two nights. I was to discover the Red Line with Camille Tissot the next day (Comedy Club de Montpellier, Editor’s note). Too bad, that’ll be for next time.
