“It’s a buzz all day long”: the Higher School of Laughter Arts welcomes its first students

The new Higher School of Laughter Arts, ESAR, has just opened its doors in Avignon, in the city center. Sponsored by comedian Jérémy Ferrari, the school offers two-year diploma training to students from different backgrounds and ages with the ambition of making them the comedians of tomorrow.

35 hours of lessons per week in the first year

In this first week of the school year, the brand new ESAR students discovered their classrooms – in the premises of the La Scala Provence theater, their teachers and what awaits them over the next two years. ” I have been looking for a school like this for a long time, rejoices Kémis, 26, originally from Carpentras. In France, when we say we want to be a comedian, they never take us seriously, they tell us to go through the Youtube box, but I don’t want to be a Youtuber. There, for two years we will be trained, monitored, and graduated at the end!”

On the program: the first year takes place in Avignon with 35 hours of weekly lessons, lessons in gestures, improvisation, humorous writing, classic texts, or even current affairs with a journalist to know how to find and verify a information before using it to write a sketch.

A turnkey show at the end of the second year

The second year takes place in Paris. The students will prepare with their teachers a one-hour show, a “alone on stage“. “At the end of the second year, they will be able to knock on any door, they will all have a show to present“, explains Frédéric Biessy, general director of La Scala Paris and La Scala Provence and general director of the school.

“We are not going to have 50 brilliant comedians who will come out of this promotion, obviously no, like all schools, concedes Frédéric Biessy, but they will all have solid baggage, a bit of experience. If some say they ultimately want to write and become an author, or work in sound, they will be able to continue their training with two years already validated. Universities will be able to take them directly in the third year.”

“Get a real experience”

Students had to audition before being accepted into the school. Noah and Antonin applied without experience, crossing their fingers. “We were together at the University of Aix in cinema option and Antonin told me come on, we’re applying to this Jérémy Ferrari school”, remembers Noah.

And Antonin added: “We didn’t have any experience, we just knew how to make our friends laugh. And finally it happened, it’s crazy. We’re going to discover the stage, get tools, real training, and prepare a show. C “It’s a dream and what’s more it’s in Avignon, in our region;”