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SOCIAL CLUB Map

01 40 28 05 55; www.myspace.com/parissocialclub; 142 rue Montmartre, 2e; admission free-€20; 11pm-3am Wed & Sun, to 6am Thu-Sat; Grands Boulevards

Known as the Triptyque till the end of 2007, this vast and very popular club is set up in three stonewalled underground rooms and fills somewhat of a gap in inner-city clubbing. Musically it’s on to it, with a serious sound system offering electro, hip-hop and funk, as well as jazz and live acts.

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COMEDY

Surprising to some perhaps, Parisians do like to laugh, and the capital is not short of comedy clubs, where comedians such as Bourvil, Fernandel, Bernard Blier, Louis de Funès, Francis Blanche, Jean Poiret, Michel Serrault, Smaïn and the duo Elie Kakou and Guy Bedos have enjoyed enormous popularity over the years. The ‘one-man show’ (say it with a French accent) is increasingly popular, while English-language comedy is a growing scene.

An outfit called Laughing & Music Matters ( 01 53 19 98 88; www.anythingmatters.com; adult/student €20/15), with no fixed address, presents some of the best English-language laugh-fests in town, with both local and imported talent (last seen: Jools Holland from the UK). It usually puts on shows at La Java but also at Espace Jemmapes (Map; 01 48 03 33 22; www.jemmapes.com, in French; 116 quai de Jemmapes, 10e; République). See the website for details.

POINT VIRGULE Map

01 42 78 67 03; www.lepointvirgule.com, in French; 7 rue Ste-Croix de la Bretonnerie, 4e; 1/2/3 shows adult €17/29/36, per show student except Sat €13; Hôtel de Ville

This tiny and convivial comedy spot in the Marais has been going strong for well over five decades. It offers café-theatre at its best – stand-up comics, performance artists, musical acts. The quality is variable, but it’s great fun and the place has a reputation for discovering new talent. There are three or four shows daily, usually at 7pm, 8pm, 9.15pm and 10.15pm.

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MUSIC

Music thrives in cosmopolitan Paris, a first-class stage for classical music and big-name rock, pop and independent acts, not to mention world-renowned jazz. A musical culture deeply influenced by rich immigration, vibrant subcultures and an open-minded public make it a fervent breeding ground for experimental music: Paris-bred world music, especially from Africa and South America, is renowned. As with the hybrid drinking–clubbing scene, bars Click here are as much a space to revel in these sounds as specific music venues.

Festivals for just about every music genre going ensure that everyone gets to listen in; to check what’s on, Click here and Click here. Street music is a constant in this busker-merry city Click here, summer adding a soul-stirring string of open-air concerts along the Seine and in city parks to the year-round hum of accordion players on the metro and amateur opera singers around the Centre Pompidou.

And should classical music be your love, don’t forget Paris’ beautiful churches – wonderful places to listen to organ music – in addition to the theatres and concert halls listed in this chapter: the magnificent Sunday-afternoon concerts in the Église St-Sulpice are nothing short of earth-shattering.

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ROCK, POP & INDIE

With several venues in and around the city regularly hosting international performers, it can be easier to see big-name Anglophone acts in Paris than in their home countries. Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy (Map; 08 92 39 01 00, 01 40 02 60 60; www.bercy.fr, in French; 8 blvd de Bercy, 12e; Bercy); Stade de France (Map; 08 92 70 09 00; www.stadefrance.com, in French; rue Francis de Pressensé, ZAC du Cornillon Nord, St-Denis La Plaine; St-Denis-Porte de Paris); and Le Zénith (Map; 08 90 71 02 07, 01 55 80 09 38; www.le-zenith.com, in French; 211 av Jean Jaurès, 19e; Porte de Pantin) in Parc de la Villette are the largest (and most impersonal) venues. But it’s is