Les Imitatueurs

Espace Gerson welcomes Les Imitatueurs

At Espace Gerson, we are thrilled to host Les Imitatueurs, a high-precision celebration of voice, character, and contemporary culture crafted for an intimate room like ours. From the front row to the back banquette, audiences in our Lyonnais home will feel the electric closeness that this genre demands: the quicksilver shift from one persona to the next, the snap of a well-placed punchline, the musicality of mimicry perfectly caught by our warm acoustics. This season, the artists behind Les Imitatueurs arrive with a refreshed slate shaped by the latest headlines and pop-cultural obsessions, tightening timing and layering harmonies to turn impressions into fully staged moments. As a venue devoted to live comedy and the art of the one-(or multi-)person show, we take pride in offering the conditions that let such micro-details shine—clean sound, nuanced lighting, and the easy proximity that encourages playful, in-the-moment exchanges with the crowd.

Les Imitatueurs is rooted in the tradition of French parody yet resolutely current, absorbing the formats and rhythms that dominate our screens. The new material winks at the talk-show carousel and media crossfire, channelling the brisk energy of Quotidien, the convivial tone of C à vous, and the combustible panel chaos of Touche pas à mon poste !, while also flirting with the late-night absurdity of Le Late avec Alain Chabat and the masked-pageantry madness of Mask Singer. The performers flip between political figures, cinema icons, and viral personalities with a musician’s ear—voices tuned, breaths placed, even the micro-pauses calibrated for laugh-aftershocks. Their recent sketches lean into the language of platforms too: the snappy cadence of short-form bits, the suspenseful “wait-for-it” beat, and the audience’s appetite for callbacks that escalate. Expect the evening to braid set-pieces with improvisations, inviting Espace Gerson’s audience to steer the tempo—shouting a name, proposing a situation, or nudging a sketch into unexpected territory. Above all, it’s the precision of the craft—not just audacity—that makes these imitations ring with the warm shock of recognition.

What to expect at Espace Gerson

Our room was built for shows like this: compact enough to catch the micro-expression that sells a character, yet technically equipped to support brisk transitions, sound bites, and musical drops that punctuate a sequence. Les Imitatueurs thrives on that agility. One minute, a razor-edged press conference debrief; the next, a breathy crooner pastiche; then an overcaffeinated sports-desk meltdown that edges into gleeful chaos. The team’s current run folds in fresh figures from recent cultural cycles and media obsessions, letting the set evolve as the news does. We invite you to arrive early, get comfortable, and lean into the give-and-take that our cabaret-style seating encourages. Our technical crew will keep the mix crisp so every timbre lands, and the lighting will carve the stage into distinct little worlds—perfect for the snap-cut effect these artists love. Whether you come curious about how a single consonant can transform a voice, or eager to see the year’s media circus lovingly skewered, Les Imitatueurs at Espace Gerson promises an evening where craft meets momentum, and where the laughter builds not only from what is said, but from how uncannily it is embodied before your eyes.