A bad joke for the king of dubious puns and outrageous abuse.
While he was to present his
100% jokes show
Wednesday, September 1 at the socio-cultural center of Trélissac, in Dordogne, Jean-Marie Bigard had to cancel his visit… for lack of seats sold.
And this despite the opening of reservations from June 21 and an expensive advertising campaign.
Read also Jean-Marie Bigard postpones his show in Nice for fear of anti-vax overflows
29 places sold
Organized by the association Le Rêve en musique, the performance was to bring together between 400 and 450 spectators. But to date, only 29 places have been sold.
“I spent 2000 euros on communication.
[…]
Is it because of the bullshit Bigard says? I don't know, but 29 seats sold, I've never seen that, ”
says stunned Anthony Tharaud, president of the association, at
Le Figaro
. The dismay at the lack of enthusiasm of the public is such that he prefers not to wait until August 15 to cancel the one man show. Instead, a lottery is set up in disaster, and 200 places are sold.
That the performing arts community continues to suffer from the health crisis is a fact.
But concerning Jean-Marie Bigard, the situation is quite different.
Very involved in the movement of "yellow vests", to the point of being sensed as a potential spoilsport in the presidential election, then in the anti-ax movement, the comedian has distinguished himself from his peers by virulent outings and threats to veiled sentences against the government and the established order.
To read also "Too sensitive for this job": Jean-Marie Bigard withdraws from the presidential race
But would the anti-system creed start to falter?
“Two weeks ago a lady called about the show.
I told him it was canceled.
She then replied: "So much the better! He's a rude character."
It's crazy, we are planning a play by
Jean-Pierre Castaldi
, to be held in December in Saint-Benoît, near Poitiers.
Without advertising, we have already sold 30 places "
, continues Anthony Tharaud, who adds that
" the same room will welcome
Olivier Villa
on September 4 and 5 for his twenty years of career.
Two days after the opening of reservations, it was almost full. ”
We have a complicated start to the season everywhere, the sanitary pass is a tool that the French do not master well.
David Hardit, producer of Jean-Marie Bigard
On the production side, we put this little enthusiasm to the account of the health situation.
“We have a complicated start to the season everywhere, the pass is a tool that the French do not master well.
They do not really know what it is about
,
"
says David Hardit, the producer of the comedian.
“Anyway, we are losing people with the health pass, and that's general.
The entertainment world has lost 40% of the attendance rate.
We are told that we are not safe from a fourth confinement, how can we reserve tickets for a show under these conditions? "
, he asks, probably forgetting that the lottery evening will be subject to the same restrictions.
Read also Music festival, museum, cinema, theater ... We tested the health pass
The producer concedes, however, that Bigard
"has lost part of the public because he is a little too involved in politics but
[that he]
keeps part of his fans"
.
"People have made the amalgamation between the humorist and the man, so yes, he cut himself off from part of the public, but he still has his base"
, he defends, before pointing a
"bad timing ”
for the performance of Trélissac.
“It was done hard.
We were too short in the deadlines and the communication.
In addition, we have scheduled this show during the back-to-school period.
We made a mistake by positioning it too early. ”
He takes as proof the 1900 spectators who gathered at the arenas of Fréjus in July 2021, where the comedian was performing. Before asserting that
"Jean-Marie Bigard has not lost his audience, or else it would be the same everywhere in France"
and that the performance will be postponed to 2022. On the side of Anthony Tharaud, we are less affirmative:
"J 'apprehends the public reaction. "