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Sugar Sammy @ L'Olympia
After over 40 sold out shows earlier in the summer of his bilingual, would only work in Montreal show, Sugar Sammy's You're Gonna Rire has not run out of steam. I suspect that it is due to the fact that the show is different each night he does it. Of course, there is the framework of a show in his mind, but the night's best moments often came courtesy of the Hampstead resident's repartee with audience members. In his own quick-witted way, Sugar Sammy was able to discuss various subjects like dating, work, and ethnicity with several members of the audience. These unscripted moments were great as they were genuine, human and hilarious.
Sugar Sammy (Samir Khullar) is the perfect example of Bill 101. He is the son of Indian parents and went to school until CEGEP in French. His command of both languages is perfect and that is essential for a show like this. He is able to slip from one to the other flawlessly. The product of being brought up in Montreal he is used to seeing the world as a messy multicultural wonder. This is a multicultural city and Sugar Sammy sees this as beautiful, but full is silliness. Even if you are not perfect in either language as a Montrealer you will definitely get what he is talking about because it is so quintessentially Montreal.
The show that Sugar Sammy has been doing for a few months now is completely bilingual and is like a verbal collage of what it means to be a Montrealer. Much of the humour was of the type that only a Montreal resident would appreciate. Much of the Montreal content had to do with the differences between the French and Anglo/Allophone populations in the city. Put the way he did the differences really are quite funny. With the recent provincial election happening and the Parti Quebecois being elected in as a minority government all this is very topical. In the wrong hands poking fun at either side could go horribly wrong, but Sugar Sammy is a professional. That is not to say that he didn't go far with his stereotypes. Hey, this is comedy and not a history lesson. For those who might be offended my advice is to stay home because he is not delicate. An example of one of the political jokes he told was “There are two kinds of Quebecers. There are educated, cultivated, well-raised Quebecers, then there are the ones who voted Yes.” He does not tread lightly.
Kudos goes out to the only woman in the crowd who admitted to being a separatist. Brave lady. Sugar Sammy is upfront about the fact that he is a federalist and really poked some serious holes in the other side's point of view. He doesn't avoid any controversial subjects and plenty of risks are taken by the comedian. They are calculated risks because he did test out the material and knows that in all likelihood the people coming to his shows are open minded folks. He sheds light on the complex and unique nature of what it means to be a Montrealer in a humourous way and I say it is about time someone did it. What he ends up accomplishing is uniting both sides in laughter rather than keeping them at arm's length as most others do.
If you are in anyway sensitive about language or culture or the relations between the sexes then stay at home. He doesn't avoid any sticky situations rather he dives head first into them covering the topics that are important to most Montrealers like the Montreal Canadiens, sex, culture, language, politics, and dating. It works because of the way he plunges in and that he makes fun of everyone, including himself. The section of his set about how he still at the age of 30-something still lives with his parents and how he sees it as his retirement investment was very funny and clever.