The Festival des Irrépressibles will hold its tenth edition in Riom from May 30 to June 4. An unmissable event to discover the funniest contemporary clown and other burlesque shows of the moment.
That’s all well and good, but what is a contemporary clown? As the editorial staff does not shy away from any sacrifice, it commissioned a reporter to ask the question of the instigator of an event that lacks neither fantasy nor humor.
Profile of the contemporary clown
Sophie Contal, president of the Abattoirs in Riom, organizing structure and nerve center of the festival, defines what the contemporary clown is: “We leave the popular imagery of the clown with his big tatanes and his flower in his buttonhole. It’s another design. The clown is our mirror. It reflects our faults, our weaknesses, everything that we generally try to hide. He will embody all that on stage by pushing it to the extreme until the absurd. The clown only exists because there is an audience. There is no fourth wall like in the traditional theater where the actors put on their show without necessarily addressing the public. The clown is just the opposite. He is constantly interacting with the spectators, he speaks to them all the time. This is what makes it characteristic.
And burlesque?
Burlesque is a bit the same with, in addition, the permanent search for the gag. The clown can draw inspiration from his environment, but always maintain a positive attitude. “He is there to repair, to help. He is not necessarily there to criticize. Granted, he’s not very smart, but he’s still cool. He has a naive side, a very childish side. He draws his inspiration from a kindergarten playground. He is 4 ½ years old in his head. We all have a clown buried deep inside us, it’s the kid we were and that we are no longer or that we refuse to show. The contemporary clown and burlesque infiltrate all artistic disciplines, from cinema to theater via music and the programming of Les Irrépressibles attests to this.
Clowns in all forms
Since the first edition of Les Irrépressibles, the festival has welcomed around fifty companies for around sixty shows. On the bill this year, in addition to theater and circus, there is also music and cinema. “We stay on topic. The film we are screening this year, Rubber by Quentin Dupieux, is burlesque. This is the story of a killer, telepathic tire. Dupieux is a contemporary director who surfs the wave of burlesque clowning. For the music, we find Fernan sings Fernan, an intermunicipal singer-songwriter as he introduces himself and the now famous Jacquard Brothers who mix music, humor, vocal performances and extravagance in a burlesque show entitled C’est L ‘Still Lovin’ Ze South.
Group Theater
Among the shows on display this year, we will discover En roue libre played by the Théâtre Group’ company, renowned for its famous Jurassienne de Réparation (one of the most beautiful street performances in the world), on Thursday June 2, outdoors at the Cultural Gardens. “It is a new creation of the company. It revolves once again around cars and mechanics, a fad at the Théâtre Group’. They came in residence to Les Abattoirs to work on this show. The volunteer team of Les Irrépressibles has once again concocted a nice program at persuasive prices for an audience that has retained its child’s soul. As with each edition of the festival, the laughter control commission provides big slices of fun; because yes, clowning has unsuspected secondary therapeutic effects and when you see what you see, when you hear what you hear, you have good reason to want to laugh.
https://www.lesabattoirsriom.fr/
