Paul Taylor, one last joke and then goes on other paths

Arriving in France in 2009, comedian Paul Taylor has been making the French laugh for ten years by making fun of them. The joke began with a video in which he films himself with a friend in a bar to make fun of the systematic and repetitive hugs of the French. Published in 2016, the sketch enjoyed immense success and caught the eye of programmers. Why not turn the concept of the Englishman who discovers France into a television series? It will be What the fuck France, then Stéréotrip, in 2018, on Canal. This visibility opens the doors to theaters for his first bilingual show.

The concept appeals. His second show So British or almost was performed from 2019 to 2020, with two evenings at the Grand Rex in 2021, then at the Théâtre de l'Européen in 2022. With his third show, BisouByeX, Paul Taylor changes register. He talks about his life as a father, about his cessation of alcohol after the death of the Queen of England... All accompanied by countless “fucks”, which need no translation. True to himself, the comedian takes the opportunity to once again point out the trickery of the French language, especially when he teaches it to his daughter, who speaks Franglais as her first language.

In BisouByeX, moments of life compete with humor. Paul Taylor assumes the risk of not making people laugh throughout the show. “It’s the spectacle of maturity,” he said. After several minutes, during which I recount moments of my life, I always end with a strong joke.

If his sketches mix the language of Molière and that of Shakespeare, the 37-year-old man assures that “you don't have to be bilingual” to come see him. With experience on stage, Paul Taylor has learned to adapt to his audience, each different evening. When the room reacts well to English jokes, everything goes well. “But if I feel that the public is not fluent, I come back to French,” he explains. The exercise sometimes turns out to be “very frustrating”. “Some jokes would be super funny in English, but cannot be understood by all French people,” he regrets.

After years of cross-Channel humor, Paul Taylor believes he has reached the end of a cycle. “I have reached the limit” of bilingual shows, he admits. His next projects? “A show entirely in French and another in English, to perform it internationally,” he imagines, even if nothing has yet been decided. One thing is certain, however: he wants to continue on stage. In the meantime, Paul Taylor remains “focused” on the present. On January 6, he will be on stage at the Zénith de Paris for the first time. And it’s complete, he announced in his greeting message on January 1.