Its publication is no coincidence. While the stand-up scene in turn experienced its Me too in January, a charter of good conduct saw the light of day at the end of April at the initiative of Jessie Varin, artistic director and associate of La Nouvelle Scène, a barge moored at the foot of Notre-Dame de Paris. 20 Minutes met him to talk about the creation of this charter and the last months of Me Too du Stand up.
Where did the initiative for this charter come from?
I believe that I had been thinking about this charter for several months already. With several women in the industry and the comedy world, we often talked about our shared experiences of sexism and one observation emerged: Comedy was run by a lot of men. At the same time, lots of women also came to see me saying: “Here, we need to work and we need to test our jokes for our new show. But for that, we need a place where we feel safe.” From this reflection on a humor environment without sexism, I thought of a charter to mark out our environment as we do for the world of work in general. The industry remains quite young and in fact not sufficiently regulated.
This charter arrived four months after the arrival of stand-up Me too. Were the two events linked?
The Me too of Stand up obviously accelerated things. I was aware that an investigation was going to come out on Mediapart and I said to myself that it was a shame not to show that our community is mobilized and wants to change things. The idea was to prevent all this violence from happening again. We had to react and show artists, the public and comedy professionals that we are already looking to the future. The charter had to be seen, heard and asked: “Can’t we think collectively about being careful about what we say, what we think, what we do? “.
What do we find in the broad outlines of this charter?
Everything we wrote was based on the words we collected. There were two things. Firstly, the fight against discrimination. On stage, artists have total freedom of thought, of writing, of saying what they do within the limits of non-discrimination. It was thinking about respect and living together, rebutting and re-examining the slightly easy jokes which would slide into homophobic, sexist and racist comments.
There is also the question of security and the desire to make comedy clubs a safe space. What we would like to avoid is that women find themselves alone in a dressing room with fifteen men. In many of the testimonies we receive, there was indeed this behind closed doors and boy’s club side which is, I think, very intimidating and impressive for a woman.
How was the charter received when it was published?
There was everything. Today, there are 240 signatories, around 150 professionals and nearly 70 establishments which offer comedy clubs and comedian sets. In absolute terms, I think everyone knows that this is a very positive approach and one that will only bring good. We received a lot of support and support from the artists. On the other hand, I don’t yet have certain signatories that I would like.
According to the latest investigations and testimonies collected, numerous attacks took place within the establishments themselves with, we imagine, witnesses around. Have solutions been considered in this charter for these scenarios?
Yes, as an audience, as an artist or as a venue manager, if you display this charter, there is also an article which says that if you are a victim witness, there is an association to which you can to write, Behind the curtain, with whom we have set up a partnership. We are in the process of setting up a team with psychologists, trainers and specialists who will be able to collect speech. It’s a relief because when faced with situations like this, we can be a little lost.
Critics believe that parity is not a solution to solving the problems in the area. What would you answer?
The idea is not to impose parity. I know we’re going into a bit of a rebellious mode, but once again, we’re thinking about things collectively. I fundamentally believe that parity brings something else, a new perspective, a different energy. I know that there is still some reluctance, particularly on the side: “If you are funny, you are funny whatever your gender” and I agree. Humor does not have to be gendered, yet affirmative action can have a positive effect.
Others will criticize the fact that a piece of paper will not change sexist and sexual violence…
I hear that it’s not a piece of paper that’s going to stop them, it’s not a sticker with the logo displayed that’s going to change things. I am firmly convinced that we are planting little seeds everywhere. It’s going to take time. I don’t want to impose anything for the moment, but I can already see the little things changing. I see this charter very gently.
During the last General Assembly of Humor, at the beginning of February in Lille, members of the Academy of Humor regretted the lack of training on sexist and sexual violence in the industry for theater managers. Do you share this observation?
Yes, if so many things happened in certain comedy clubs, it is perhaps because we did not have the weapons. Today, business leaders are required to be trained in gender-based and sexual violence (SGBV). These training courses are also mandatory to set up festivals and structures in order to obtain a subsidy. It is necessary today to support structures that have no legal framework and to better structure these places, because I think that once we have access to this training, there is a small seed that is planted and our view arises differently.
For many years, women have been invisible in humor. A preconceived idea kept coming back: Women would be less funny than men and would always talk about the same subject. Is that still the case, do you think?
For years, we listened to men speaking to us only through their prism. And there, we are a little relieved to hear women speaking. To say that women always talk about the same subject is a total lack of empathy, sensitivity and clearly a lack of education on what the condition of women is today in the world. It is unfortunately still common for male artists to present female artists by describing her as “the charming asset of the evening”. This is not the charm asset, but the comic asset of the evening.
There is also this redundant phrase of “eh oh it’s okay it’s humor”…
Don’t worry, we haven’t lost our sense of humor. We’re not going to piss you off and we’re not going to pull out the censorship card. But just listen if I tell you that I’m fed up that as soon as I get on set, people talk to me about my physique.
I would like us not to lose control of this dialogue and for men not to close themselves like shells because they try things in a slightly clumsy way and they are afraid of what we are going to say. . With everything that happened with Me too Stand up, men are really afraid of what women can feel and what women can make them understand about a form of feminist activism. We must not forget that humor is precise. Humor is truly a full-time job. Everything can take on a different meaning from the way you say it. The idea is not to teach lessons, it is to re-examine our environment.
For several months, you have become one of the figures of this Me too of Stand up, while many remain shy on these subjects. What would you like to say to this community?
Indeed, it is a huge emotional and mental burden. But my role in this industry allows me to speak freely because I am independent because I own this room. Above all, I would like to say to the victims that I deeply admire them for their courage. It is an industry that is very demanding. So, continue to have this requirement. We will do the job so that your message is heard as much as possible. Let’s continue to communicate, to defend ourselves, from each other.