In Paris, Le Point Virgule in the Marais opened in 1978 and has run Le Trempoint, its stage for new comics, for more than 40 years; the Jamel Comedy Club, born of Jamel Debbouze's 2006 television show, opened on the Grands Boulevards two years later and is where Fabrice Éboué, Blanche Gardin, Inès Reg and Paul Mirabel were first seen.
The Paname Art Café near République, a cellar of about 70 seats, puts on up to 30 line-ups a week, and in Montmartre the Choumi Comedy Club, reopened in 2025 by Gad Elmaleh with the Paname team, has a Sunday show in English. For English stand-up comedy in Paris, Blast Off Comedy runs open mics and showcases in bars. Beyond Paris, Le Complexe in Lyon and the Marseille Comedy Club on rue de Rome run comedy-club line-ups from Tuesday into the weekend, and Le Spotlight in Lille puts four comics on its Tuesday Comedy Club.
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The short answer
For stand-up comedy in France, D.O.C. lists 8 rooms and nights in 4 cities — Paris (5), Lyon, Marseille and Lille — each with a dated show coming up as of 11 October 2026. The festivals ahead: Drôlement Bien, Thursday 14 January to Sunday 24 January 2027 and Les Fous Rires de Bordeaux, Wednesday 17 March to Saturday 20 March 2027. Below: each room's nights, its open mic and how comics get on, tickets and the age rule; the festivals; and the 2 comedians SUCDb holds who came up in France.
D.O.C.'s France page: the comedy clubs and nights in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Lille, in French and in English, the festivals in Lyon, Bordeaux and Paris, and the open stages where new comics get on, with show times straight from the rooms themselves.
Stand-up comedy in Paris
Paris's comedy clubs run from the Marais to Montmartre: Le Point Virgule by the Hôtel de Ville, the Jamel Comedy Club on boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle, the Paname Art Café near République and the Choumi Comedy Club on rue des Martyrs, with stand-up in French most nights of the week. For English stand-up comedy in Paris, Blast Off Comedy runs The Open Mic Express on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and showcases on alternate Saturdays, and the Choumi puts on Choumi Comedy Club in English on Sunday evenings. New comics get on at the Jamel Comedy Club's DebJam on Tuesdays and at Le Point Virgule's Trempoint at weekends.
ShowsLe Comedy Club on the Grands Boulevards, open from Tuesday to Sunday: La Troupe du Jamel Comedy Club, the comics picked by Jamel Debbouze, from Thursday to Sunday at 6pm, 8pm and 10pm; La Random Family with Guiguipop, Marie de Brauer and Etienne Lautrette on Wednesdays at 8pm; and La DebJam, its new-talent stage, on Tuesdays at 8pm. source ↗
ListedLa DebJam, the club's new-talent stage, presented by a member of La Troupe — Tuesday 13 October 2026, 8pm, on its calendar as of 11 October 2026 source ↗
Open micLa DebJam, its new-talent stage since 2013, on Tuesdays: young comics play to the club's audience, those applauded enough come back through the season, and Jamel Debbouze picks from them for La Troupe at the season's end; Alban Ivanov, Malik Bentalha, Inès Reg, Fary and Paul Mirabel came through it. source ↗
Getting bookedComics apply for La DebJam through the form on its DebJam page, with a short introduction and a link to a video of themselves on stage. source ↗
TicketsLa DebJam from €12.50; doors at 7pm for the 8pm start, and entry may be refused more than 20 minutes after the show begins. source ↗
AgeSome shows are not recommended for under-16s, though not forbidden; minors come with a responsible adult, and babies and toddlers are not admitted. source ↗
AlsoBorn of the Jamel Comedy Club programme Jamel Debbouze created with Canal+ in 2006, the club opened on the Grands Boulevards two years later; Fabrice Éboué, Nawell Madani, Thomas Ngijol, Blanche Gardin, Inès Reg and Paul Mirabel are among the comics first seen there. source ↗
ShowsA small theatre in the Marais, opened in 1978, that welcomes comics on its stage each day and runs Le Trempoint, its stage for new comics; Jean-Marie Bigard, Laurent Ruquier, Florence Foresti and Olivier de Benoist are among those who made their start on its stage. source ↗
ListedLe Trempoint, the theatre's stage for new comics — Monday 12 October 2026, 9.15pm, on its calendar as of 11 October 2026 source ↗
Open micNot advertised on its site
Getting bookedIts site publishes no submission route; ask the venue in person.
Tickets€15 full price for Le Trempoint, an hour long, plus €1 a seat bought online; the queue forms outside. source ↗
AlsoLe Trempoint has been the theatre's discovery stage for more than 40 years, mixing new comics with established ones — Matthieu Madénian, Anne Roumanoff, Fary and Panayotis Pascot have played it — and is on its listings at 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays through December 2026. source ↗
ShowsA café by day that becomes a stage at night, known, in its own words, as the temple of French stand-up: the Paname Comedy Club, an hour of stand-up with the comics of the moment, several times a day, alongside dinner-and-comedy evenings. source ↗
ListedPaname Comedy Club: an hour of stand-up, six shows from 3pm to 11.15pm — Monday 12 October 2026, on its calendar as of 11 October 2026 source ↗
Open micNot advertised on its site
Getting bookedIts site publishes no submission route; ask the club in person.
Tickets€10 with a €5 drink included for the afternoon shows, and €15 with a drink for the 11pm show, except on Fridays, weekends, public holidays and the Paris school holidays, when the price shown at booking applies. source ↗
AgeShows are not recommended for under-14s; youth groups are welcome at the weekday 4.15pm and 5.30pm shows. source ↗
AlsoOpened at the end of the 2000s and soon nicknamed the home base of French stand-up: a cellar of barely 70 seats with up to 30 line-ups a week, where Mathieu Madénian, Paul Mirabel, Nawell Madani, Fary and Haroun found their feet. source ↗
ShowsA comedy club in a velvet-and-gilt Montmartre cabaret, the room of the Michou years, taken over at the end of 2024 by Gad Elmaleh with the Paname Art Café team, who programme it, and reopened in spring 2025 as a springboard where new comics play beside established ones; shows from Monday to Sunday, with a drink during the show. source ↗
ListedChoumi Comedy Club — Monday 12 October 2026, 8pm, on its calendar as of 11 October 2026 source ↗
Open micNot advertised on its site
Getting bookedIts site publishes no submission route; ask the club in person.
Tickets€20 full price for the Choumi Comedy Club, with reduced prices on some nights; Choumi Comedy Club in English €15, or €20 with a drink. source ↗
AlsoChoumi Comedy Club in English: live stand-up in English on Sunday evenings at 8.30pm, next on its calendar on Sunday 25 October 2026. source ↗
ShowsEnglish-language comedy shows in Paris: The Open Mic Express on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7pm — Paris's shortest comedy show, eight comics in 40 minutes, no talking to the audience, only jokes — and, on alternate Saturdays, the Improvised PowerPoint Comedy Show and Blast Off All Stars. source ↗
ListedThe Open Mic Express: eight comics in 40 minutes, in English — Tuesday 13 October 2026, 7pm, on its calendar as of 11 October 2026 source ↗
Open micThe Open Mic Express is an open mic: anyone is free to sign up, and the audience gets in for the price of a drink and pays what it can after the show. source ↗
Getting bookedComics sign in on its Perform page and mark their availability for upcoming shows; Blast Off puts the line-ups together and emails the performers it picks. source ↗
TicketsFree with a drink at the bar and pay what you want after the show; €12 suggested for the Improvised PowerPoint Comedy Show. source ↗
AlsoThe Improvised PowerPoint Comedy Show, billed as Paris's only PowerPoint comedy show in English, has comics present slides they have never seen: at La Pomme d'Eve, 1 rue Laplace, on alternate Saturdays at 7.30pm, next on Saturday 17 October 2026. source ↗
Lyon's stand-up centres on Le Complexe on rue des Capucins, by the Hôtel de Ville métro on the Presqu'île: a comedy-club room and a café-théâtre side by side, with a plateau of stand-up comics from Tuesday to Saturday and an open mic twice a month. In January 2027 the Drôlement Bien festival comes to Lyon for the first time.
ShowsLyon's temple of humour, in its own words: two rooms, a comedy club and a café-théâtre, each with a tapas bar that opens an hour before the show, for stand-up, comedies and solo shows; Le Complexe Comedy Club, a plateau of stand-up comics, plays from Tuesday to Saturday. source ↗
ListedLe Complexe Comedy Club: a plateau of stand-up comics — Wednesday 14 October 2026, 8.30pm, on its calendar as of 11 October 2026 source ↗
Open micL'Open Mic du Complexe on the first and last Monday of the month at 8.30pm: ten comics, seasoned or starting out, with five to seven minutes of stand-up each; free entry on booking, with a drink to buy and a hat passed round at the end; next on Monday 26 October 2026. source ↗
Getting bookedIts site publishes no submission route; ask the club in person.
AlsoSeating is unreserved; doors open at 7.30pm on weekdays and 7pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and at 9.40pm for the 10pm shows. source ↗
Marseille's stand-up home is the Marseille Comedy Club at 59 rue de Rome, a short walk from the Vieux-Port and the Canebière: three rooms over three floors, a weekend plateau of five comics, long sets on Thursdays and a Wednesday open mic where the running order is drawn from a hat.
ShowsStand-up, humour and tapas over three floors in the heart of rue de Rome: three rooms and shows from Tuesday to Sunday — the comedy club on Friday and Saturday nights, Les Jeudis with three comics doing 20 minutes each, and Le Plateau d'Actu, seven comics on the news, on the last Sunday of the month. source ↗
ListedThe weekend plateau: five comics, an hour of stand-up — Friday 16 October 2026, 7.30pm, on its calendar as of 11 October 2026 source ↗
Open micThe Wednesday open mic, the only stage in Marseille with no line-up set in advance, by its own description: doors at 7pm, the show at 9pm, and each comic has three minutes; next on Wednesday 14 October 2026. source ↗
Getting bookedFor the open mic, comics sign up at the club on the night; at 8.30pm ten names are drawn from those signed up, and the order of the draw is the running order. source ↗
AlsoDoors open at 7pm with the bar and tapas; seating is unreserved, so arrive about 30 minutes early; tram T2/T3 Rome Davso and métro Notre-Dame-du-Mont are a minute's walk away. source ↗
In Lille, Le Spotlight on rue Léon Gambetta has been a stage for comedy since 2010: a bar and café-théâtre with solo shows through the week and Le Spotlight Comedy Club, four comics in an hour, on Tuesdays.
ShowsLille's comedy club, bar and café-théâtre, where since 2010 audiences have come to find tomorrow's comics and to see established favourites in one-person shows and comedies, with a bar for before and after the show. source ↗
ListedLe Spotlight Comedy Club: four comics, 15 minutes each — Tuesday 13 October 2026, 7pm, on its calendar as of 11 October 2026 source ↗
Open micNot advertised on its site
Getting bookedIts site publishes no submission route; ask the club in person.
AlsoLe Spotlight Comedy Club: an hour with four comics on stage, 15 minutes each, and a new line-up each week; on its listings on Tuesdays 13, 20 and 27 October and 3 November 2026. source ↗
A January comedy festival of shows, films and activities with its roots in Besançon, which comes to Lyon for the first time in 2027: Lyon from Thursday 14 to Sunday 17 January, at the Palais de la Mutualité and the Halle Tony Garnier, with Kino, Marc-Antoine Le Bret and Olivier de Benoist on its programme, then Besançon from Thursday 21 to Sunday 24 January. Its tremplins for new comics come to Lyon for a first edition. source ↗
Bordeaux's spring comedy festival, on since 2017: four days of stand-up, absurd comedy, one-person shows and new talent. Its 11th edition, from Wednesday 17 to Saturday 20 March 2027, has Thomas VDB, Marc-Antoine Le Bret, Tania Dutel, Alexis Le Rossignol, D'Jal, Giedre and Tristan Pierre on its programme, with La Nuit des Fous Rires to close. source ↗
Paris's comedy festival at Bobino, the FUP, marked its tenth anniversary in June 2026 with Elie Semoun & Guest, the Nouvelle Génération FUP showcase, a stand-up night and a closing gala. source ↗
For comics: getting on stage in France
The routes into stand-up comedy in France that the rooms and festivals publish themselves.
The club's new-talent stage on Tuesdays since 2013: apply through the form on its page with a short introduction and a link to a video on stage. Comics the audience applauds come back through the season, and Jamel Debbouze picks from them for La Troupe. source ↗
The theatre's discovery stage for new comics for more than 40 years, mixing new names with established ones, at 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays on its autumn 2026 listings. source ↗
Comics mark their availability for upcoming shows on its Perform page; Blast Off builds the line-ups for The Open Mic Express and its showcases and emails the performers it picks. source ↗
Ten comics, seasoned or starting out, with five to seven minutes each, on the first and last Monday of the month at 8.30pm; next on Monday 26 October 2026. source ↗
Sign up at the club on the night; at 8.30pm ten names are drawn, the draw sets the running order, and each comic has three minutes to test material. source ↗
The festival's evenings for new comics from across France, who present their work to the festival audience and a jury of professionals; details of the 2027 Tremplins are to follow on its site. source ↗
The festival's tremplins come to Lyon for a first edition, a chance to show your style to the public and to live-performance professionals; registrations were announced for the autumn. source ↗
Each room's line above says whether it runs an open mic and how it books. At home in the United States,
Stage Time has open mics by night and the Gig Board has calls for comics.
French comedians in SUCDb
The comedians SUCDb holds who came up in France, each with their record — and their next date when the Comedy Calendar has one.
French-Moroccan stand-up and actor with a French-language and international career; his eighth solo show, Lui-même, came out in 2026, and Netflix released his English-language special American Dream.
French stand-up and writer from Paris who started out in Birmingham in 2017 and was named Chortle's Best Newcomer in 2022.
Questions about stand-up comedy in France
Where can I see stand-up comedy in France?
In Paris, Jamel Comedy Club, Le Point Virgule, Paname Art Café, Choumi Comedy Club and Blast Off Comedy; in Lyon, Le Complexe; in Marseille, Marseille Comedy Club; in Lille, Le Spotlight. Each had a dated show coming up as of 11 October 2026; its line above has the address, the nights and the age rule.
Where can I see English stand-up comedy in Paris?
Blast Off Comedy runs The Open Mic Express in English on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7pm at Le Kibélé, 12 rue de l'Échiquier: eight comics in 40 minutes, free with a drink and pay what you want after the show. On alternate Saturdays it has the Improvised PowerPoint Comedy Show at La Pomme d'Eve and Blast Off All Stars. In Montmartre, the Choumi Comedy Club at 80 rue des Martyrs puts on Choumi Comedy Club in English on Sunday evenings at 8.30pm for €15, next on Sunday 25 October 2026.
What are the best comedy clubs in Paris?
D.O.C. lists four Paris comedy clubs with dated shows ahead on their own listings: the Jamel Comedy Club at 42 boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, with La Troupe from Thursday to Sunday and La DebJam on Tuesdays; Le Point Virgule in the Marais, open since 1978; the Paname Art Café at 14 rue de la Fontaine au Roi, with an hour of stand-up several times a day; and the Choumi Comedy Club in Montmartre, reopened in 2025 by Gad Elmaleh with the Paname team.
Where are the open mics in Paris?
The Jamel Comedy Club's DebJam, its new-talent stage, on Tuesdays at 8pm, which comics apply for through its DebJam page with a video; Le Point Virgule's Trempoint, its stage for new comics, at 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays; and, in English, Blast Off Comedy's Open Mic Express on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, where anyone is free to sign up.
Where can I see stand-up comedy in Lyon and Marseille?
In Lyon, Le Complexe at 7 rue des Capucins runs Le Complexe Comedy Club, a plateau of stand-up comics, from Tuesday to Saturday, and an open mic on the first and last Monday of the month. In Marseille, the Marseille Comedy Club at 59 rue de Rome has its weekend plateau of five comics on Friday and Saturday nights, long sets on Thursdays and an open mic on Wednesdays.
When is the next comedy festival in France?
Drôlement Bien comes to Lyon from Thursday 14 to Sunday 17 January 2027 and Besançon from Thursday 21 to Sunday 24 January 2027; then Les Fous Rires de Bordeaux runs from Wednesday 17 to Saturday 20 March 2027, with Thomas VDB, Tania Dutel and Alexis Le Rossignol on its programme.
What age do you need to be for comedy clubs in France?
Each room sets its own rule: Jamel Comedy Club: some shows are not recommended for under-16s, though not forbidden; minors come with a responsible adult, and babies and toddlers are not admitted; Paname Art Café: shows are not recommended for under-14s; youth groups are welcome at the weekday 4.15pm and 5.30pm shows.
How do new comedians get into stand-up comedy in France?
La DebJam at the Jamel Comedy Club, Paris — The club's new-talent stage on Tuesdays since 2013: apply through the form on its page with a short introduction and a link to a video on stage. Comics the audience applauds come back through the season, and Jamel Debbouze picks from them for La Troupe.
Le Trempoint at Le Point Virgule, Paris — The theatre's discovery stage for new comics for more than 40 years, mixing new names with established ones, at 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays on its autumn 2026 listings.
Blast Off Comedy: perform in English in Paris — Comics mark their availability for upcoming shows on its Perform page; Blast Off builds the line-ups for The Open Mic Express and its showcases and emails the performers it picks.
L'Open Mic du Complexe, Lyon — Ten comics, seasoned or starting out, with five to seven minutes each, on the first and last Monday of the month at 8.30pm; next on Monday 26 October 2026.
The Wednesday open mic at the Marseille Comedy Club — Sign up at the club on the night; at 8.30pm ten names are drawn, the draw sets the running order, and each comic has three minutes to test material.
Les Tremplins des Fous Rires de Bordeaux — The festival's evenings for new comics from across France, who present their work to the festival audience and a jury of professionals; details of the 2027 Tremplins are to follow on its site.
Les tremplins Drôlement Bien, Lyon — The festival's tremplins come to Lyon for a first edition, a chance to show your style to the public and to live-performance professionals; registrations were announced for the autumn.
Which French comedians are in SUCDb?
Gad Elmaleh and Celya AB — each with a record of their career and its sources.
Sources
The facts on this page come from the rooms', festivals' and awards' own websites, as of 11 October 2026; the
comedians' lines are from their SUCDb records, which carry their own sources. 13 sites, 35 pages:
