Hidden in plain sight: an English-language comedy club in Paris

Let me stop you in your tracks, no, an English-language comedy club is not illegal here en France, so that is not exactly why the place is hidden. The venue, rather, is a tiny club you'd never guess to be at the top of a rickety winding staircase whose entrance can be found off to the side of a grander entrance to a large theater below with a posh restaurant sandwiched vertically in between. It's the kind of place you could walk past for years and never realize was there, the kind of place it takes knowing someone who knows to ever discover. Luckily enough, I'm starting to become Parisian enough that this time I knew someone who knows.

The comedy club, Pranzo, is located at 38 boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, 75010. The show, Un New Yorkais à Paris (A New Yorker in Paris) was all too relevant for yours truly. The comedy reaches out to any anglophone living in Paris, from commentary about the recorded voices on the metro to the favorite multi-purpose French expression, ça va, to just how seriously rap can be taken when it's in French (answer: not very). The collection of comedians included a variety of levels of experience and talent, but the host kept things going between the acts. The show runs every Friday at 8pm, and the humor is definitely a cure for a long week as an expat in Paris.