Fürsy von Colmar was designated, by “Le Petit Futé”, “personality of the year”. When we reached her by telephone on Tuesday, she was preparing to receive this award during an evening organized in the Alsatian vineyard, “with all the elite of the city”. “I was asked to do a little thing, so I will sing a song and I will specify before the plaque that they give me, I will put it on my tombstone,” she jokes. Or rather he, because it is in reality with Geoffroy Peverelli, the actor and author who plays Fürsy on stage, that we are discussing.
From Saturday, he will play this character on the stage of the Parisian cabaret Madame Arthur, in the 18th arrondissement. The show, scheduled every Saturday at 8 p.m.s, is entitled Fatal Knack. It begins in 1940 when, at the height of his glory, Fürsy choked on a sausage. She falls into a coma and only comes out of it today. Horror, she discovers that she is accused of having consorted with a Nazi. The Alsatian star will then do everything to restore his honor. This show, generously delirious, gives pride of place to absurd humor and parodic or original songs. And he reveals to as many people as possible an irresistible character.
Who is Fürsy von Colmar?
I am, I think, the greatest voice singer in Alsace, that’s for sure. Firstly, there are no others, so it’s much simpler. Fürsy von Colmar is also obviously the greatest Alsatian drag queen and, above all, she loves cooking and devouring fermented cabbage from morning to night!
And who is Geoffroy Peverelli?
He is the one who created, like Frankenstein, a “monster”. He is an actor, a singer, who, at one point, tried to find an avatar who could set him free on stage.
Are you from Colmar?
I was born at the Pasteur hospital, like all the people in Colmar. I spent my middle school and part of my high school in the city. In final year, I went to Paris, obviously to live the high life and get some gonorrhea (laughs).
What was the trigger for creating the character of Fürsy?
I played in musicals and then wanted to write my own songs, for me, Geoffroy, and it was extremely bad. It seemed like a sort of somewhat cheesy first-class literary assignment. And then the Alsatian accent arrived like that, with all the regional folklore, and I had the idea of writing a regionalist song. The female character, the words, came naturally. This Alsatian figure allowed me freedom in writing songs and in the words I say. I put together a team around my project, and we made a music videopictures…
What year was Fürsy born?
I can’t say when she was born because she is ageless. On the other hand, she appeared in the world three and a half years ago. I had the chance to host a Wedding Fair. It was very funny and it allowed me to get started because I saw that I was capable of it and that my flow of words and stupidities could make people laugh.
What differentiates an Alsatian drag queen from a Parisian drag queen?
Non-class, perhaps? (laughs) Freedom. In Paris, everyone is a bit “chichi, prout prout”, in Alsace, and elsewhere in the provinces, we know why we do this job: to entertain people. In Paris, sometimes, I have the impression that it’s more of a personal thing, but no, who pays us? It’s the people! So we need to entertainer [« divertir »] as the Amerloques say.
How did the show come about?
It was born from a common desire with Agathe Jolivet [autrice et metteure en scène] to write a show together. This character was the easiest subject for us because he allowed us total freedom. We created all this in the parents’ garage, we spent two weeks writing the text, playing it, with a small oil heater. I think we almost died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The show begins during the Occupation. When you are an Alsatian drag queen, is this period always more or less consciously in the back of your mind?
Yes and, above all, there is this subject of “despite ourselves”. The French inside, as they say, may have believed that the Alsatians enlisted in the German army were all traitors. Well, not at all. When Germany invaded Alsace and Moselle, it wasn’t so much an invasion. They were our neighbors. They were there and, suddenly, they said “We are going to close the borders and you are going to be conscripted and, what’s more, we are going to send you to the Eastern Front.” One of my great uncles died in Stalingrad (now Volgograd, Russia). Others managed to escape to the French side just in time. It’s a pretty complex story. When we do a show that evokes that period, there is something that the Alsatians immediately understand, which is connected to us.
Have you set yourself limits in writing?
None ! The limit is bad taste. We try not to go there and respect all sensitivities while titillating them, obviously. My biggest fear was playing in Alsace for the first time. If they didn’t accept this madness here… But, in fact, they love it. We like to make fun of ourselves. I also make the Alsatians proud because I highlight our photos, and that makes me happy.
You begin a residency with Madame Arthur on Saturday. How do you approach this?
I have no apprehensions because I have been playing it regularly for two years. What’s nice is that I’ll be performing in the historic cabaret hall. The Ladybugs, the Bambis… have passed through these walls, played there. You really feel carried by the old ones. Madame Arthur was created in the 1940s, so it’s perfect for the show. I tell myself that, if it turns out, the valves that I am making there were made 84 years ago…
In what artistic heritage do you find yourself?
I am not in the wake of transformism where it is about imitating personalities. But in that of transvestite art where men change into women and women into men. In Alsace, there is this tradition of comedians inventing characters of the opposite sex with quite grotesque features, where humor flirts with drama.
Are any programmers wary of your show?
Sometimes there are words that are misheard or misunderstood. The word drag queen or transvestite has been transformed into something sexual. Some spectators have semiology problems. They imagine that it’s going to be something a bit dirty, whereas if we’re scheduled in these places, it’s because it’s a play where the character is played by an actor disguised as a woman.
Will you then perform elsewhere in France?
We will go to La Rochelle [17 mai]in Biarritz [les 24 et 25 mai]In Nantes [du 31 mai au 9 juin] and we will return to Alsace in September [le 28]. It will be at the Grange Burckleé, in Masevaux, a magnificent place. We will also go to Gouvy, in Moselle, on the border, and probably to ArtRhena, on the German border and that is very pleasant. I was apprehensive about the idea of playing in the provinces. I was afraid that Alsatian culture, which is only implicitly present here, might be off-putting. The show is called Knack Fatale and the word “knack” can be obscure, maybe I should have said “Mortal Sausage”. In reality, it’s not an obstacle at all, people are curious and we’re happy to bring fermented cabbage right under their noses.