François Guédon - Le Procès Guédon

Welcoming Le Procès Guédon to Espace Gerson

At Espace Gerson, we are delighted to open our stage to François Guédon with Le Procès Guédon, a theatrical stand-up experience perfectly attuned to our intimate venue in the heart of Lyon. From the moment the lights rise, the premise is deliciously clear: the comedian places himself on the stand, and the audience, styled as a jury, weighs the case built from stories, contradictions, and brilliantly skewed logic. Our room, famed for placing audience and artist in close, responsive proximity, becomes the ideal courtroom for his sharp writing, character work, and quicksilver improvisation. Without relying on props or gimmicks, the show turns language itself into evidence—definitions are twisted, testimonies are lampooned, and the presumption of innocence is tested by the irresistible urge to laugh. For our patrons, this is exactly the kind of encounter we love to foster: a living conversation between a daring performer and spectators ready to play along, where every aside, objection, and punchline lands a little differently because of the chemistry unique to Espace Gerson.

François Guédon’s momentum and the art behind the case

François Guédon arrives in Lyon with enviable momentum, touring Le Procès Guédon across France while steadily honing new angles and accents in front of live audiences. He thrives in the current renaissance of francophone stand-up, where the appetite for crafted, conversational comedy has been stoked by vibrant showcases and broadcasts. While our stage is about presence in the room, we know many of you also keep an eye on the broader comedy landscape, from the electrifying routines seen at Montreux Comedy Festival to the springboard energy of Jamel Comedy Club and the televised Paname Comedy Club, as well as gala formats like Le Point Virgule fait l’Olympia. In that energetic context, Guédon’s proposition stands apart: he welds courtroom satire to everyday absurdities, toggling between the rhetoric of trials and the small verdicts we pass on ourselves in daily life. Expect him to pivot between tightly built arguments and sudden improvisations that exploit each audience reaction, a balance that he has refined show after show and that finds a natural home in our room’s precise acoustics and intimate sightlines.

As hosts at Espace Gerson, we take special care to present artists whose material rewards attention to detail, and Le Procès Guédon is a perfect example. The evening reads like a case file assembled out of modern life—our collective fascination with judgment, the speed of social media tribunals, and the contradictions that arise when principles meet the mess of reality. Guédon’s timing is meticulous: he plants a premise early, circles back with unexpected “exhibits,” and then invites the audience to deliberate with him in real time. Because our venue keeps performers within arm’s reach of the front row, you will feel every nuance: the understated callbacks, the sudden switch into character, the sly grin that signals another objection is on the way. And as the comedian continues to update Le Procès Guédon with fresh observations and topical jabs, you can count on the Lyon performance to feature material sharpened by recent dates and lively crowd exchanges. We are proud to welcome a show that treats the audience not just as spectators but as active participants—an evening where laughter is the final ruling, and the verdict belongs to Espace Gerson’s devoted comedy lovers.