Thirty years ago, Maria Kempinska founded the most successful chain of comedy clubs in Britain. Some believe Jongleurs is responsible for giving a leg up to many of today’s most famous comedians. But, despite it’s popularity, the franchise has recently been pulled back from the brink by the very woman who founded it. And she can only see the franchise getting bigger and better.
Maria Kempinska, the daughter of Polish immigrants, opened the first Jongleurs club in Battersea in 1983. Having attended the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, she was inspired to create a place to showcase emerging comedians.
She said, “I was interested in new talent for the public at large and knew that there were few openings. I also wanted a comfortable and supportive ambience that would encourage new and experienced acts.”
Soon after the Battersea venue, other Jongleurs sprang up and by 2000 there were eight clubs across the country.
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the franchise. The venues were bought up by the Regent Inns pubs chain, which went into administration not long afterwards and many were sold off or closed. But Maria and her business partner Jonathon Davy had retained the rights to the brand and set about rebuilding the brand from the ground up. Soon after Regent Inns went bust, new Jongleurs clubs opened up in Hammersmith, Notting Hill and Bournemouth. The franchise faced legal trouble when Lee Evans sued the chain for using his image without consent back in 2010. But apart from the odd hiccup, Jongleurs has had an almost meteoric rise to success.
Now there are 14 venues up and down the country, from Portsmouth to Glasgow. But Maria isn’t planning on stopping there:
“Jongleurs will develop even further with more clubs and larger shows. UK standup may go down the ‘pay to play’ route in the smaller clubs unless we can maintain a standard of comedy that is worth paying for.”
She believes British standup has altered a lot in the last 30 years, with more focus on televised comedy:
“The style of acts has become homogenised and their content is becoming less radical. There are far more smaller clubs where comedians can practice their new material and there is more interest from television, as it is an inexpensive method of producing programmes.”
Jongleurs itself has been the staging area for several programmes dedicated to the acts that have performed there, with shows such as Cabaret at the Jongleurs, Live at Jongleurs and Jongleurs Unleashed. With so many years of history and hundreds of comedians having stepped onto a jongleurs stage, Maria is too polite to single out one comedian to call her favourite:
“There are seriously too many acts to pick out one individual but no one has beaten the wierd sketch group, The Greatest Show on Legs to date. I love Jerry Sadovitz and many anarchic comedians. But I also love Micky Flannagan, Tom Stade, Eddie Izzard, Rory Bremner and other interesting acts.
My favourite Jongleurs moment has to be Arthur Smith telling a joke in French which a member of the au dience had to translate line by line.”
Audience interaction often plays a big part in many comedians’ acts. But what is the Jongleurs stance on the often anti-social practice of heckling?
“No one is barred for good heckling. If someone adds to the night then it all becomes part of the show. People are thrown out if they are racist, disruptive or violent. Stupidity cannot be censored.”
The same goes for the comedians performing at the clubs. In the past, acts have been asked to cut material that could be seen as too racist, misogynistic or homophobic. Apart from that, almost anyone has the chance to perform there:
“Most acts that perform at Jongleurs are unknown. They must be funny and be able to to sustain their act for 20 minutes that’s all the credentials they need.”
Maria herself will be trying her hand at standup comedy for the charity Soldiering On, which raises funds for injured servicemen and women, and admits she is more than a little nervous.
“I’ve been told often enough women are not funny so have a very big hurdle to get over, so let’s see what happens. And yes I am totally petrified!”
It seems the only way is up for Jongleurs. With hopes to go global, the future of the franchise looks promising.
As for the future of British standup, she believes the industry depends on maintaining a high standard of comedy that is worth paying for:
“In Los Angeles comedians are paid $15 per slot even for the famous names. I hope we don’t get to that point or the best comedians could choose to go into a new profession.”
Maria will be performing her standup for the Soldiering On Through Life Trust at the Covent Garden Jongleurs on May 9th.
For more information visit www.jongleurs.com