Chose Promise

Chose Promise
The show's poster shows Patrice Valenton holding a photograph of Rémi.
Written by
CharactersPatrice Valenton
Date premiered2007
Original languageFrench
SubjectPromises, death
Genre
Official site

Chose Promise (French: [ʃoz pʁɔmiz]; Promised Thing) is a one-man show performed by the French comedian Arnaud Tsamere from 2007 to 2014. Written by Tsamere, François Rollin and Arnaud Joyet, it features the character Patrice Valenton, a teacher who is performing a comedy show because of a promise he made to his friend Rémi, who died in a car accident. After explaining this, he attempts ventriloquism, shadow puppetry, a vaudeville play and a song about Rémi. Tsamere then comes out of character and does a routine about bulbs around mirrors in dressing rooms.

The show's title comes from the expression chose promise, chose due ("a promise is a promise") and it deals with the theme of death; the character of a teacher was chosen to depict failure. Chose Promise was released on DVD on 6 March 2013 after being recorded at the Sébastopol Theatre in Lille, and its final performances were at the Olympia in February 2014—it has been broadcast on the television channels Comédie+ and D17. It was well received by critics, who praised Tsamere's performance, particularly in the vaudeville sequence.