“For certain jokes, I said to myself: “Oh yeah, I don’t know, am I okay with laughing at this violence she experienced?!” “, says Javiera, perplexed. She has just attended the stand-up evening “We can no longer say anything”, by the Metoo Lyon and Filactions collective, as part of events organized to fight against violence against women, in Villeurbanne.
After inviting Tahnee, Camille Giry and Mamari for the first edition, the two associations welcomed this year the comedians Amélie Coispel and Noam Sinseau to show that it was possible to laugh at experienced discrimination.
How do you differentiate yourself from really problematic jokes?
Jokes about gender, bisexuality, homosexuality, racism… In the packed 490-seat room, spectators alternate between laughter and “recognition” applause. “It’s a bit like Hannah Gatsby (known for her show Nanette), you cry and you laugh at the same time,” summarizes Laura, after the evening. Next to her, Rita adds: “It’s not necessarily easy to laugh because these are complex themes but, as a person from a minority, it’s as if we’re making fun of the norm and that we were reversing the stigma. »
This is exactly what the two artists advocated that evening. After their visit, they participated in a round table and explained in particular how not to be “problematic”, as some comedians can still be with truly sexist and racist jokes.
“With Tahnee, Mahaut and Lou (other queer and committed comedians), who are my best friends and my close circle in stand-up, we pass our jokes among ourselves to confirm them and ensure that we do not hurt any community with what we say, explains Noam Sinseau. You should not be afraid to communicate, to ask if this or that joke is problematic. Which some people don’t do. Because even if we are conscious people, who pay attention, we are constantly in the process of deconstruction. »
For Amélie Coispel, it is by continuing to inform ourselves about what is happening around us that we avoid these discriminatory and oppressive biases. “I even think it’s intellectual laziness to make jokes about girls in the kitchen or the fact that they can’t drive. These standards are already very outdated,” she adds.
A “caring” setting where you feel “safe to laugh”
In addition to inviting committed artists, the two associations also wanted to ensure they offered a “benevolent setting”, where “everyone feels good, comedians and audience”. Because as one of the spectators, Raphaël, points out, “it is difficult to know the limits of each person in the subject of violence, even when making a joke very well”.
So, for this evening, the organization had planned a listening device, with trained volunteers, who made it possible to leave the room at any time and have a moment of rest in a place safe.
“This evening is an opportunity for us to offer a lighter moment in these weeks of intense struggles while continuing to raise awareness of the cause,” explains Charlène, volunteer for Metoo Lyon. We see this evening as a bubble. It was therefore important for us to bring together the right conditions. »
Laura, also a volunteer in the collective, adds: “We wanted to create a framework where we can say to ourselves: ‘Because it’s well done, because these are the people concerned who are talking about it, who are playing on self-deprecation, we also feel safe to laugh about it.” »
The importance of humor as a tool for activism
That evening, Amélie Coispel and Noam Sinseau played in front of an audience “aware and convinced” of the need to fight against violence against minorities. But the comedians stressed the importance of not erasing their committed side in front of people “less informed” on these subjects.
“When I started doing stand-up, I wanted to conform to do more scenes and succeed,” explains Noam Sinseau. But I quickly realized that by pushing who I was on stage as much as possible, I could also insert little seeds into the heads of homophobes so that these people would question themselves later. And from there I started saying I was queer on stage and I never stopped. »
Our file on humor
“By asserting our activist identity in front of all audiences, we also allow our stories to exist in our environments other than those where people are “already acquired,” explains Amélie Coispel. With our shows and laughter, we can share and transmit ideas in a more particular way than in other contexts because we do not arouse the same emotions. And that’s a strength. » She explains that her “dream” is to be able to create a show that is both funny and educational, that we want to “take someone to a show to make them understand who we are, in the same way as we would send a song to say what we feel.”
“And then, by fully assuming our identities, people in the audience can see that there are people like them on stage, who are experiencing the same thing as them, that they are not alone and that they can succeed. And that’s what I missed when I was a teenager,” concludes Noam Sinseau.
