Comedy: Kee-Yoon - Jaune Bonbon

 Hello!

 Sometimes things just seem to fall into place, and that was the case for me with a certain stand-up show.

 A while after my mother and grandmother left Avignon, I was wondering through town and decided to visit the tourist office. There, I picked up a programme for the Chêne Noir (Black Oak) Theatre, which we Erasmus students happened to have visited as part of our photo-rally.

 I opened the programme and the first thing I saw was a show by comic Kee-Yoon that was to take place that very night.

 Now, the thing is, several days earlier I had been leaving Uni and, as usual, the gate was flanked by people trying to shove flyers into my hands. One time they gave me the French Constitution, which is actually quite a useful and interesting thing to have a copy of. This time, it was an ad for Kee-Yoon's show.

 I don't like to encourage people who bother me with flyers by actually going to the thing, but this felt like it was somehow meant to be. So, I went to the Chêne Noir and bought a ticket.

 That night I returned to the theatre, which I learnt was once an abbey. The stage was empty but for a pair of very high heels. There was a big crowd and the atmosphere was one of excitement.

 The lights went down and music played. I watched the stage to see how Kee-Yoon would appear, but was pleasantly surprised by her entering the room through one of the side doors and climbing up through the audience, saying hello to everyone. 

 When she arrived on stage I expected her to move the shoes, which I had assumed were just a placeholder, but she slipped them on! The heels looked lethal.

 And so she began. Kee-Yoon trained as a lawyer, but switched to comedy. This was all I had really known before seeing her in person. She turned out to be bubbly, bouncy and sweet, and her humour tended to go down well, though at times it went pretty dark and would not be for everyone.

 I did feel that the little girl act she sometimes put on didn't work; it was clear to me that it was some sort of reflex to moments where she felt unsure. If she told a joke and people seemed slow in getting it, she would often do a girly pose and giggle, and I don't think it was really necessary.

 Race also seemed to be a topic she would fall back on for a quick laugh: "My favourite colour is pink - and yellow, for obvious reasons." It was just awkward. Finding humour in her culture as a Korean is fine, but making jokes about being yellow feels outdated now.

 The show seemed quite long for a one-woman show - about an hour, without any kind of break, and it incorporated music and dancing, which impressed me. Overall, it was a positive experience, and made me keen to see more stand-up comedy in France.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x