James Corden Stops Traffic in Paris for Musical, the French Are Not Impressed

For last week’s The Late Late Show, Corden recorded a skit that actually required him and his band to travel to Paris. On the EuroStar train, no less, because not all artists can afford to live large.

As Corden sees it, France gave the world only one musical, Les Miserables. He took that and turned it into something else, Crosswalk the Musical, which saw him and his band perform on an actual crosswalk, with the Arc de Triomphe serving as backdrop.

Not having an actual permit to shut down the highly circulated street, Corden had to make do with the short interval of green light to deliver his artistry but, as you can see in the footage available below, he did more than ok. Sure, that meant cutting off just when the song was nearing climax to run away from the path of oncoming vehicles, but what doesn’t he do for the sake of art?

To prepare for the musical number, James had his band perform while running to and fro, dodging pastry, and wave random flags. Then, while on the actual crosswalk, they had to get in position with all the props, perform for as long as they could and then flee back to the sidewalk, to safety.

Of course, loads more preparing went into the making of the skit, but let’s just pretend it was as easy as Corden made it look. It’s more fun this way.

And, while the result is hilarious, the very people who did not appreciate it were the people it was created for: throughout the video, the French look on at Corden & Co. singing their heart out (off-tune) in the middle of traffic, and they can barely crack a smile.

One driver takes exception to Corden getting on the hood of his car to wave the red flag, while another dude on a scooter almost runs him over when he takes too long to say his goodbye at the end of the musical. Clearly, with all their sophistication, the French don’t have an eye for real art.

Here’s Corden’s version of performance street art, enjoy!