Bilingual British comedian Paul Taylor is best known in France for his TV series What the Fuck France, What's Up France? and Stereotrip, but he recently cast his beret aside to focus on his first English-only show at the Edinburgh Fringe.
He spoke to The Connexion about cultural differences, why he still feels “80% British” and his cult following in the expat community…
How did your Edinburgh run go?
Good! I think the most stressful thing in a festival like this is always getting people in the room. Until now, it's been a really niche thing because [my shows have] been bilingual.
The main reason I went to the Fringe was to expand on what I've already done and make it more accessible to non-French speakers.
I’m retelling my story to people who have never seen me before. They don’t know that I live in France, that I struggle with the language sometimes.
They don’t know that I’m half famous [as he puts it in his show: “Famous enough to be a question on Questions pour un Champion, not famous enough for the contestant to know the answer”].
Is this a permanent move from bilingual comedy to target an English-only audience?
I don’t really have any set plan; for now, it’s English only. At some point I think I’ll do a French-only tour for all the French people who couldn’t come to see the bilingual stuff because they were worried they would only understand half the show.
Do French and British audiences laugh at the same things?
If you’re a political comedian, and you make jokes about politics, they can’t be translated, right? Or if there are lots of cultural references.
If you’ve got a British comedian talking specifically about life in Britain: “I went to Tesco and I did whatever, went to Boots and whatever…”, French people aren’t going to know what that life is.
I think that’s where American comedians have an advantage over everyone because we all know what American daily life is, because we’ve seen it in all of their TV shows like Friends. Whereas UK local life or French everyday life isn’t in films or TV shows.
Read more: Why you need to unlock the puzzle of French humour
So beyond cultural humour, is there a universal quality to comedy?
Yeah, for sure. If you’re exploring just human stories and human emotions, it can speak to everyone. Being awkward, feeling embarrassed, feeling over-confident, not fitting in, not knowing where you come from…
Obviously, not everyone can relate to “where are you from?” material because they’re born in one place, their parents were born there, they’ve lived their entire time in the same place.
But when I was a teenager I was a bit of a geek. I was into video games because I didn’t have many friends. I think a lot of people have had that experience as well, even if they’ve grown up and lived in the same place, because they’re a bit different, you know?
Everything I’ve done up until now has been about not fitting into French culture. Even coming back to the UK – I haven’t been back for 15 years – I’m realising I’m kind of an outsider here as well now.
On the surface people might think: “Oh, it’s just an English guy living in France, how would I find that relatable?” But somehow it ends up being relatable.
Read more: Funny you should say that – the language of French laughter
Do you feel more British or French?
I’d probably say 80% British, 20% French. I just don’t have enough cultural references in France for somebody my age. Everyone my age in France would be talking about a certain TV show back in the day and I don’t fit into any of that.
Anything from TV or film from basically before 2000. If I’m trying to watch a legendary French film from the 1980s or 90s, it doesn’t speak to me at all because I didn’t grow up with it. A lot of French people my age are like, “Le père Noël est une ordure is amazing”.
Yeah, but you watched it as a kid, and now you have that nostalgia about it. If you’re watching it for the first time in 2024, it doesn’t…
But it’s the same in the UK, right? If I were to show Fawlty Towers to a French person, they’d be like, “What the hell is this?” But because I grew up watching Fawlty Towers I have that nostalgia about it. I think nostalgia is a powerful human emotion.
You have a bit of a cult following amongst the expat community. Why?
Even somebody who’s never lived in another country can relate to my awkwardness, but expats relate to it even more because it’s their life as well.
But also when French people move abroad, and their friends and colleagues make fun of them, they say: “You need to watch this guy because he makes fun of us better.”
Multicultural comedy can be a real form of social commentary. How do you feel about the genre as someone who is quite pioneering in that area?
Your life experiences mean your style of comedy gets chosen for you, rather than you deciding. One of the criticisms of culture clash comedy is that it’s easy or basic.
It’s like that stupid joke people tell: “Why did the Frenchman only put one egg in his omelette? Because one egg is un oeuf!” You know, the first person to come up with that, it’s like “Ah, that’s a good joke!”. But it can be lazy, I try to make it not.
After your time in Edinburgh this summer, who do you think is weirder, the Scots or the French?
They’re similar in that neither takes any bulls**t, which I like. They’re very frank. For example, English people queue up and don’t say anything out loud when people jump in line. We just get annoyed inside, and we keep it inside.
Whereas the French will let people know, like: “You’re in the queue, get out of the f***ing queue.” The Scots do the same thing.
What were you looking to get out of your Fringe run?
Part of it was the atmosphere – it’s amazing. I don’t think you get it anywhere else. I’ve never been to Avignon for the festival, but I imagine it’s similar. And also, the chance to chat to other comedians and build the show. It was great to be able to do 12 in a row. That’s rare.
But you haven’t abandoned France completely?
Not at all! I’ve just abandoned French! For a little while. And who knows, maybe in two years, I’ll just do a French-only tour, with a French-only show, where I’ll go to little tiny villages in France that I wasn’t able to do for the bilingual stuff.
Find out more at paultaylorcomedy.com
