Paul de Saint Sernin Live 2027 in Dubai

Paul de Saint Sernin Live brings one of France’s quickest wits to Dubai on Sunday 10 January 2027, with his stand-up show at the Emirates Theatre in Jumeirah. Best known as the irreverent voice in the audience of Léa Salamé’s France 2 talk show Quelle époque!, he performs entirely in French, in a show that critics have called as funny as it is tender.

Who is Paul de Saint Sernin?

Born in Paris and raised in Chaville, just outside the city, as the eldest of six children, Paul de Saint Sernin took an unusual route to comedy. After a scientific baccalauréat at 16 and a spell at an engineering school he did not enjoy, he switched to journalism and joined the Canal+ group at 19, starting out on World Cup coverage. Sport became his first beat: he worked as a correspondent for Infosport+, read sports news on iTélé and later worked for RFI and L’Équipe 21.

Around the age of 25 he began trying stand-up at Paris comedy clubs, including Paname Art Café, the Jamel Comedy Club, Le Fridge and Le Joke. His television career kept growing alongside it:

• A column on Le Petit Journal during the 2017 French presidential election, followed by Canal+ shows including La Case en + and Clique
• Téléfoot from 2020, where his cheeky on-air exchanges with Kylian Mbappé and top football coaches went viral
• Prime Video coverage of Roland-Garros from 2021, and big Ligue 1 matches for DAZN from 2024
• Quelle époque! on France 2 from September 2022, the role that made him a household name
• Summer 2024’s Quels jeux!, a daily spin-off covering the Paris Olympics

He has also stood in on France Inter radio, taken part in Fort Boyard and appeared in Albert Dupontel’s 2023 film Second Tour. In 2025, GQ France named him its Man of the Year.

The show: personal stories, guard down

On television he is the master of the quick comeback. On stage, he does something different. His solo show, co-written with Grégoire Dey, was first tried out in 2023 and then ran at the Théâtre du Marais in Paris until the end of 2024. In it he lowers his guard and turns his own life into material, and he is happy to be the butt of the joke.

Stories on the menu include the time a girl humiliated him in front of his whole high school, the eight hours he once spent hiding in a bush to avoid a beating, a revelation in April 2023, and the day a therapist told him he was incapable of love. Childhood, football and his own neurodivergence all feed into the material. He says he got into stand-up for one simple reason, to make people laugh, and rejects the idea that everyone on stage has a void to fill.

What the critics said

• “A clever and endearing one-man show”, Le Parisien
• “Sharp yet good-natured humour”, Paris Match
• “Stand-up that is as funny as it is tender”, Télérama
• “Hilarious”, Elle

GQ described it as a show where he sets his weapons aside and reveals himself fully on stage.

Influences

Libération once called him a “roitelet de la repartie”, a little king of the comeback, which sums up his television persona. He cites the broadcaster Laurent Baffie and the comedian Julien Cazarre as influences, and admires the stand-ups Roman Frayssinet and Jason Brokerss. Comedy also runs in the family: his brother Guillaume performs stand-up too. If you know only the quick-fire television version of him, the slower, more confessional rhythm of the stage show may come as a pleasant surprise.

Language and age

The show is performed entirely in French, at the conversational speed of Paris comedy clubs, so it is best for fluent speakers who can follow quick asides and the odd bit of slang. It is recommended for ages 16 and above.

At the Emirates Theatre

The Emirates Theatre is the auditorium of Emirates International School on Al Thanya Street in Jumeirah, a regular venue for international comedy in Dubai. Doors open at 6:30pm and the show starts at 7:30pm. Seats are sold on a best-available basis, and if you cannot make it, the ticket page offers a fan-to-fan exchange.

To get there by car, head south-east on Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, continue onto Al Safa Street and turn right onto Al Thanya Street, where the school is on your right. Taxis can reach the venue from anywhere in the city.

Who it suits

This is a night for Dubai’s French-speaking community, Quelle époque! viewers and football fans who remember his Téléfoot interviews, and anyone who likes stand-up built on honest, self-mocking storytelling. The Sunday evening slot makes it a relaxed way to end the weekend.

For more laughs, see our comedy shows in Dubai guide, browse things to do in Dubai, and plan ahead with things to do in January and new to the UAE.