Antoine Donneaux, Imitateur Mais Pas Que ! - Tournée

Antoine Donneaux in Lyon with Imitateur… Mais pas que !

We are thrilled to welcome Antoine Donneaux with Imitateur… Mais pas que ! as part of his Tournée at Bourse du Travail Lyon, a date that celebrates a rising voice in contemporary francophone comedy. From our vantage point as the host venue, what stands out first is the precision of his craft: the seamless way he moves from one timbre to another, the rhythm of his narrative bridges, and the musical ear that powers his transformations. This is not a parade of impressions for their own sake; it is a theatrical experience in which mimicry feeds storytelling, and storytelling feeds human connection. Donneaux’s pacing—tight where the satire bites, lingering where emotion needs air—invites the audience to lean in. The show’s architecture favors variety: topical portraits, character micro-scenes, and playful digressions that keep the evening agile. It’s a format that suits our stage: intimate enough for the sly aside, expansive enough for full-voiced crescendos. Above all, it feels present-tense—written for now, and for the people in the room.

A timely, media-savvy set

Antoine Donneaux arrives with fresh material that listens closely to the cultural noise of the moment and answers it with wit. Expect sharp, affectionate nods to the media landscape audiences follow every week: the talk-show tempo and visual cues of Quotidien, the conversational appetite of C à Vous, the bombast and debate cycles of TPMP, the pop flair of Mask Singer, the culinary theatrics of Top Chef, the talent-show tension of The Voice, the satirical spirit seen on Le Grand Cactus, and the intimate interviews and social echoes of Clique. Rather than quoting these programs, he filters their codes through his own comic lens: voices you feel you already know, reframed in mini-scenarios that slyly reveal how television shapes the way we speak, argue, and even dream. The set’s topicality keeps the audience alert; the references are current enough to spark recognition while open-ended enough to invite everyone in. What we notice during rehearsals and sound checks is how carefully the performance balances spontaneity and structure: moments that feel improvised rest on a well-engineered score of cues and transitions, allowing Donneaux to pivot quickly if the room offers a new thread to pull.

Because Imitateur… Mais pas que ! is built for live electricity, the evening in Lyon privileges interaction without sacrificing polish. Donneaux often seeds the room with playful challenges—suggested situations, unexpected pairings of voices, abrupt changes in tempo—and then rides the wave, constructing comic reliefs that reveal how a single inflection can redraw a character. There is a musicality to the whole journey, even in purely spoken passages: phrases rise and break like refrains; callbacks knit disparate scenes into a single, cumulative arc. For audiences, that means a show that breathes—quick-fire sequences of vocal pyrotechnics, quieter tableaux where the joke lands a half-second later, and a handful of panoramic numbers that stack voices into a kind of polyphonic portrait of our times. As a host, we see the craft beneath the ease: meticulous timing, crisp diction, and a dramaturgy that knows when to let laughter ring and when to move. If you follow the same screens and streams that set the pace of the week, you will find the references delightfully fresh; if not, the humanity and humor of the performance will carry you just the same.