Paul Taylor (comedian)
 |
| Paul Taylor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 11 October 1986 Chelmsford, England |
| Medium | Stand up, television |
| Children | 1 |
| Relative(s) |
|
| Website | paultaylorcomedy |
Paul Taylor (born 11 October 1986) is an English comedian.[1] He moved to Paris in 2009[2] and started doing stand-up comedy in 2013. Taylor is known in France for his TV series on Canal+, What the Fuck France, What's Up France? and Stereotrip, but he got his onstage debut with his show #Franglais (2016–2019). He played his second show, So British (ou presque), from 2019 to June 2022. His third show, Bisoubye x, is scheduled to debut January 2023.[3]
Biography
[edit]Taylor was born in Chelmsford,[4] England. His father is English and his mother is Irish,[5] but Paul grew up in Switzerland (from 2 to 4 years old) and in France,[6] until he was 9 years old. Because of his upbringing, he speaks French with no discernible foreign accent.[citation needed] Taylor then moved back to England after his parents separated.[citation needed]
Taylor studied languages at university in London – he is fluent English, French and Spanish.[citation needed] After his studies, he got a job at Apple. Three years after being hired, he became a trainer for Apple employees abroad.[citation needed] He moved to Paris when he was 23,[7] and then decided to "get up on stage and make people laugh."[8] As he recalled in his show #Franglais, he quit Apple without any unemployment benefits, which is unusual in France.[citation needed]
Media debut
[edit]While at university, Taylor was an extra in The Oxford Murders.[9] What made him known to a larger audience was the online video La Bise (referring to the cheek kisses used as a greeting in France).[10] The video, which was made to promote a night of English language humour in Paris,[11] was uploaded on 1 January 2016, and has now more than 3 million views. Filmed in a sequence shot, La Bise mocked this French tradition, and served as a model for Taylor's show What the Fuck France? episodes.
Television
[edit]Thanks to the success of La Bise, watched over a million times in a few days[12] on YouTube, Canal+ contacted Paul Taylor the week following its release, offering him to develop a regular short program[13] along the same format. What the Fuck France? was then broadcast on Canal+. The three-minute short comedy show debuted in September 2016, and ran for 34 episodes[14] in which Taylor humorously dissects the peculiarities of French life, as seen through an expat's eyes. What the Fuck France? was one of the first shows broadcast in English on a French network.
A second program, also broadcast on Canal+, was released in 2017 in a similar format: What's Up France? This time, Taylor dissected and analyzed the French news in 14 episodes.[15]
Finally, a third show was created in 2018 with Canal+. Stereotrip (a contraction of stereotype and roadtrip) reviews the clichés and stereotypes associated with Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, Germany, and England in six 45-minute episodes.[16]
Stand-up shows
[edit]Taylor defines himself primarily as a stand-up comedian. After a few attempts in England at amateur stand-up, he made his debut in Paris in 2013. He became successful quite quickly,[17] particularly thanks to his online videos and his projects with Canal+.
#Franglais
[edit]His first stand-up show, #Franglais,[18] 50% in French, 50% en anglais, was performed in different Parisian theatres such as Le Sentier des Halles, La Nouvelle Eve, and L'Européen, and then on tour in France, Europe and Canada,[19] for almost three years. The entire show was filmed at La Nouvelle Eve in March 2018, and broadcast on Canal+.[20] The final three shows took place at the Casino de Paris in front of 1,400 spectators.[21]
In #Franglais, Paul Taylor talked about his woes with the French language, which he hasn't mastered yet, even after many years of studying and despite his flawless accent.
So British (ou presque)
[edit]On 18 October 2019, Taylor debuted his second show, So British (ou presque), after a break-in period of a few weeks in August 2018 at the Point Virgule. The new show was almost called Rebecoming British, but the title was rejected as the verb to rebecome was a neologism coined by Taylor.
On 22 June 2020 he participated in a special show at L'Européen, Retour vers la Culture, to celebrate the end of the Coronavirus lockdown and a return to normalcy in France. A dozen artists performed that night, such as Bun Hay Mean and Fills Monkey.
Bisoubye x
[edit]Paul Taylor's work in progress for his first show started on 3 November 2022[22] at la Scala, in Paris. The new show is scheduled to start on 4 January 2023 at La Cigale in Paris.
Bisoubye x unveils the people and things Paul Taylor has had to say goodbye to in order to make way for a new chapter in his life.
Inspiration
[edit]Comedians Lee Evans, Ricky Gervais and Louis C.K[23] are credited as influences of Taylor.
Personal life
[edit]Taylor married his wife Adeline on 3 June 2017. Their daughter, Louise, was born in France on June 28, 2019.[24]
Taylor has a half-brother, Kyle Taylor, who plays professional football as a midfielder for Exeter City in the English Football League.[25]
Taylor is left-handed, and plays the guitar.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^ "Paul Taylor Comedy". paultaylorcomedy.com (in French).
- ^ Michalet, Thibaud (14 October 2016). "Qui se cache derrière What The Fuck France?". Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- ^ "Tickets". PaulTaylorComedy.com. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- ^ Taylor, Paul. "So British (ou presque)". YouTube. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- ^ Michalet, Thibaud (14 October 2016). "Qui se cache derrière What The Fuck France?". Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- ^ "Paul Taylor, un "Englishman" à Paris". Le Temps. 29 November 2017. ISSN 1423-3967.
- ^ "Paul Taylor un anglais qui se moque de nous". www.ouest-france.fr/. 29 November 2017.
- ^ Le Garrec, Pascale (9 January 2017). "Paul Taylor, un Anglais qui se moque de nous !". ouest-france.fr. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- ^ Taylor, Paul. "Paul Taylor's Happy Hour (Live) 12/6/20". YouTube. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- ^ "La Bise". www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Paul Taylor, un "Englishman" à Paris". Le Temps. 29 November 2017.
- ^ "Paul Taylor: un english man à Paris". www.influenth.com. 13 December 2016.
- ^ "Paul Taylor : J'aime la France comme ma femme | We Love comedy Magazine" (in French). 7 March 2017.
- ^ "What The Fuck France". Paul Taylor (in French).
- ^ "What's Up France". Paul Taylor (in French).
- ^ "Paul Taylor, le rosbif qui taille un costard aux Européens dans Stéréotrip" (in French). 15 October 2018.
- ^ "Paul Taylor ou le succès du French Bashing". www.lemonde.fr/. 7 December 2017.
- ^ "#Franglais". Paul Taylor (in French).
- ^ "Paul Taylor, l'Anglais qui taquine les francophones, s'invite au Canada". ici.radio-canada.ca. 20 October 2018.
- ^ "Paul Taylor #Franglais". www.canalplus.com.
- ^ "It's Over | Vlog #101". www.youtube.com. 19 February 2019.
- ^ "Paul Taylor en rodage". Programmation La Scala. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- ^ "Ces rois du stand-up qui ont inspiré Paul Taylor". www.canalplus.com.
- ^ "Paul Taylor". www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Fiche Joueur". www.lequipe.fr.
