Yvette Guilbert and The Wit of the Staircase

The French call the sharp and witty retort, l'esprit de l'escalier, which means 'the wit of the staircase'. Yvette Guilbert was a past master at this, apparently.

She attended Marguerite Charpentier's salon, frequented by the wealthy and the famous. One of these grand ladies recognized her. According to The Private Lives of the Impressionists by Sue Roe, this grand lady exclaimed: 'My dear...I bet you don't remember me. We used to meet often a long time ago, before you became a star, when you were still a little seamstress.'

'Of course I remember,' replied Guilbert. 'I'll never forget how difficult it was to get you to pay your bills.'

Another French Music-Hall Star

The beautiful Yvette Guilbert was another star of the French music-halls. She led an interesting life - she began by singing risque songs and then she became quite a scholar!

Cafe Chantants

The original cafes chantant (concert cafes) were probably quite enchanting. They consisted of performers (often singers)entertaining audiences in outdoor cafes in France. These first began as long ago as the eighteenth century. Eventually they evolved into famous 'music-halls', such as the Folies Bergere.

The cafes chantant were extremely popular in the Belle Epoque. They had become rather dark, smoky, crowded places by then and the atmosphere was probably a bit rough and unpleasant. They were very popular with the working-classes and aristocratic young men looking for a good time. (The hero of Colette's Cheri comes to mind.) Theodore Child wasn't impressed with the cafes chantant. He found them 'inept and stupid.' He describes the Parisian cafes of 1889 here: Parisian Cafes.

The concert cafes soon became popular in other countries. They began in Italy in the 1890's. Here is a description of the

Cafe Margherita in Naples.

Singers at the cafe chantants included Lina Cavalieri and Yvette Guilbert.

More refined concert cafes became very popular amongst the English aristocracy and the American upper classes during Edwardian times. Often cafe chantants were staged for charity. I would have liked to attend this .
charity evening.