Paul Taylor's FRANGLAIS - the Bilingual Culture Clash we have all been waiting for

A few weeks ago I was sat in my flat searching for a different kind of inspiration. This time around it wasn’t for my blog, nor for my novel, but for my general sanity. Let me explain…

After almost three years of regular date nights with my other half, I had started to feel like Paris was running out of things to offer us. Do you have any idea how many date nights you have in three years? I’ll tell you. 152.

152 DATES!!! That’s 152 different date ideas, ideally. If you want to keep the romance alive that is. Piece of cake, right? Err…

Anyway, when it was once again my turn to choose our 153rd date night, I was praying for a miracle. As luck would have it, I got one – I stumbled across the comedy scene in Paris whilst researching an article. I had already been to French Fried Comedy Night at La Paname (click here to read my article on it), but was fairly unaware of other shows going on in the city.

When I spotted Paul Taylor’s poster my first thought was “Hey!! It’s the guy from La Bise video!!” If you haven’t seen it yet (i.e. if you live in a hole and never use any form of social media), La Bise is a YouTube video which mocks the traditional French greeting of kissing. It’s absolutely hilarious and spread like wildfire through social media back in January of this year. As a result of its popularity, it has now amassed almost 2 million views since January and continues to make Expats roar with laughter whilst poking fun at the French. When I saw that the same guy had started his own one-man show I JUMPED AT THE CHANCE! Best of all, the show would be 50% in English and 50% French, the perfect compromise for a date between a Frog and a Brit.

So how was it you ask?

The show was absolutely fantastic and I couldn’t recommend it enough. Its sidesplittingly funny and will have you laughing for days. We found ourselves retelling parts of the sketches to friends, laughing all over again at the pure genius behind the comedy sketch Paul created. We haven’t stopped recommended it since and were delighted to discover something new and totally unique in the city we thought we knew so well.

After the show I had a chat with Paul about himself and Franglais and he kindly agreed to answer some questions so you, my readers, could get to know him a little better. Here’s what he said (in his lovely British accent of course):

1. Franglais is such a unique show. How did you come up with the idea for it?

I have a friend called Sebastian Marx who used to do one show in English and then the same show in French. I thought about following his route, but then I thought about doing a bilingual show, where I speak both. Some people told me it was unique and would attract a good audience, others said that not enough French people understand English so I would struggle. I figured the only way to see if it could work was to actually do it. So I did 🙂

2. How long have you been doing comedy for?

Officially since January 2013. I did a couple of open-mics in London in 2009 before moving to Paris, but they were just to see if I liked being on stage

3. When did you first discover your love for comedy?

I always loved to laugh and make people laugh. Growing up all over the place and moving house every 3 years meant that I was always the new kid at school, so I think I used humour to make friends. I started binge-watching stand-up in 2008/2009.

4. What’s your favourite thing about Paris?

Les terrasses. The fact that no matter what the weather is, you can sit outside and drink a beer.

5. What’s your least favourite thing about Paris?

The price of beer.

6. Describe your show in three words.

Bilingual Culture Clash

7. You quit your job at Apple to follow your dreams, what advice would you give to someone wanting to do the same thing?

Do it. You only live once and you may as well enjoy it. You don’t want to get to 60 years old and regret not having tried it. What’s the worst that could happen? It doesn’t work and you have to go back to your boring office job? At least you tried! And if at an interview they ask you about the gap in your CV and you say you tried to follow your dreams and they think that’s not a good thing to have done, that’s not the company you want to work for.

So if YOU want a chance to see Paul, he will be performing FRANGLAIS in Paris on June 3rd, 10th, 19th, 21st and 28th. He also performs every Thursday in Paris with Luke Thompson in their joint show “Sorry, we’re English.” For more information check out his website www.paultaylorcomedy.com and just a tip – don’t forget to book your tickets in advance because the show is often full!

Enjoy the show and get ready to laugh your socks off!