Jongleurs
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Jongleurs is a chain of sixteen comedy clubs in the United Kingdom, established in 1983. Jongleurs Clubs are now owned by Regent Inns plc, the owners of Walkabout, while the Jongleurs brand is still owned by founder Maria Kempinska and her business partner, John Davy. Jongleurs comedy clubs are often twinned with Bar Risa to offer a twin style late leisure destination.
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[edit] Ownership
Young drama teacher Maria Kempinska established the first Jongleurs club in 1983 and was joined by her business partner John Davy in 1985. They sold Jongleurs chain of eight clubs to Regent Inns in 2000 in a deal that valued the company at 30 million. Kempinska and Davy received £8.5 million and stayed on running the creative side of the clubs; as part of the deal they retained rights to the name Jongleurs, but agreed not to open up other comedy clubs in competition for at least five years. They have established Jongleurs Posh (a Christmas party), corporate and theatre divisions.
[edit] Venues
Following the recent closure of the Manchester venue, there are currently 16 Jongleurs clubs around the UK, in Battersea, Birmingham, Bow, London, Bristol, Camden, London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester, Nottingham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, and Watford. A new flagship venue was expected to open in Liverpool during 2007, though this is yet to be competed.
[edit] Television programmes
There have been several television programmes which have featured Jongleurs comedy clubs, including "Cabaret at the Jongleurs" on the BBC and "Live at Jongleurs" on ITV. "Live At Jongleurs" currently features on the Paramount Comedy Channel featuring performances filmed at the Camden venue in the mid 90's. Comedians to have featured on Jongleurs TV shows include: Jo Brand, Rory Bremner, Julian Clary, Phil Cool, Steve Coogan, Jack Dee, Lee Evans, Peter Kay, and Ruby Wax.
