This is a crowd worthy of a major concert or a major sporting event. The “Fair de la Boiserie” organised on the site of the Brienne-le-Château aerodrome in Aube, a former children’s playground for Top Gear Franceattracted tens of thousands of people on the weekend of August 18 and 19.
A record attendance
A free event with numerous activities on the programme and the presence of F1 driver Esteban Ocon, was enough to attract a crowd of curious people: if 30,000 people were expected, between 100,000 and 200,000 spectators would have finally gathered over the two days, estimates an article in L’Est éclair.
“Anything that makes noise”
The success of the event mirrors that of its organiser on YouTube. The “thierry vigneau Boiserie” channel currently has nearly 1.7 million subscribers and 1.4 million on Instagram. The YouTuber Lucien Cupif, or simply “Lulu” to his fans, presents himself as “a big fan of cars and motorbikes, well, anything that makes noise” and thus offers to share “his life and his daily life”.
On this main channel, which has been in existence since January 2013, many videos have exceeded one million views. The trio of stars: a music video “Nous c’est Boiserie”, a parody video “Jte vend mon ///M3 de la capotte de ses mort” and a project to transform a Twingo into a convertible.
We can also add more than 400,000 fans for his secondary channel. “Lulu Strawberry Nut”Released in October 2021, a departure from his usual themes, including a video of a meeting with Tibo InShape, who recently became the number one YouTuber in France ahead of Squeezie.
From a caravan to life in a castle
He, who will celebrate his 30th birthday in September, began, like many others, recording videos in his teenage bedroom near Angers, as can be seen in a portrait dedicated to him by Ouest France last February.
Marked by the death of his father, Thierry Vigneau, which we find in the name of his channel, Lucien Cupif can count on his mother, Nathalie, to support him. A motorcyclist who passed on to me her passion for mechanics and his first camerawoman.
Together, they moved from a caravan on Lucien’s grandparents’ land to a castle in Maine-et-Loire, between Angers and Cholet, a symbol of their success.
The 50-hectare estate can serve as a playground for his videos and his collection of various vehicles, which are not limited to “simple cars”, from tanks to planes, not to mention a helicopter. But it can also allow him to keep a certain distance from a community of fans that can sometimes be a little invasive.
“People come to my house, throw things through the door, shout through the megaphone… I accept it, but my family never asked for all that,” he explains to Ouest France.
40 employees and 15 million in turnover
Behind this image of a YouTuber with a schoolboy sense of humour lies a genuine serial entrepreneur. In total, he explains that he runs a small empire of 12 companies and employs 40 people: motorcycle and airsoft shops, but also an insurance company and a communications company.
However, it is his official online store that makes the most money. There you can find clothes with the #Boiserie logo, stickers and other accessories. Enough to earn him 15 million euros a year, he explains to Ouest France, which presents him as a “formidable businessman” and a “hard worker”.
Building on the success of this latest event organised in Aube this weekend of 17 and 18 August, but aware that all good things must come to an end, Lucien Cupif hopes to enjoy another 10 years of success on YouTube… and to organise other events to bring virtual fans together in the real world.
Source: BFM TV
