Oui, most are gonna rire their derrières off. But Sugar Sammy's much buzzed-about Franglais offering You're Gonna Rire – continuing until at least May 26 at the Olympia – is more than a comedy spectacle. It is also a bold and unique Montreal cultural experience. Make that a Montreal sociological experience as well.

At a time when some might choose to downplay – even deny – the bilingual character of this city, Sammy has chosen to celebrate the richness thereof. Most in the concert business were aghast when he first proposed the concept of meshing anglo and franco shtick in a show. Clearly, the public wasn't paying attention: What began as a one-show experiment mushroomed into 30 – before Sammy had even taken to the stage. And since opening soft last week – the official red-carpet premiere was Wednesday, in conjunction with the comic's ninth leap-year birthday – another five shows have been added. At this rate, Sammy is never going to leave the building.

It's not an accident or simply a public-relations coup that Sammy will be packing the Olympia for months to come – nearly 35,000 tickets have already been sold. Nor are patrons being forced to shell out at gunpoint. His act obviously resonates with an often fickle ticket-buying public, which would appear to be equal parts anglo and franco.

If the unprecedented success of the first large-scale anglo-franco comedy revue in the country leaves some thinking that Sammy is going to be playing it safe on stage, trying to placate both sides of the linguistic divide, they are dead wrong.

The smart money might have him avoiding any kind of political commentary. He doesn't. He has his federalist convictions, and he gets right to the heart of the matter. And to those who take risks in the comedy world, rewards often follow.

Sammy may be occasionally lewd and crude and stoop to stereotypes. But he gets away with it. He is, after all, a Bill 101 poster boy. A child of immigrants, he attended French primary and secondary school, and his mastery of the language of Molière is not questioned. He is equally comfortable performing in French and English, not to mention in Hindi and Punjabi.

Like so many other Montrealers, he sees the world through a multicultural lens. And he loves it. As he points out in his show, this is the only city in the world where you will hear someone utter English, French and Greek in a single sentence.

Switching from French to English and back in the same joke is effortless for him. As it is for his audience. If they don't get all the lingo – particularly when he adds a dash of Creole – they will likely get the gist of it all.

That said, You're Gonna Rire is not for unilingual anglophones or unilingual francophones. It is for those, like Sammy, who have embraced the cultural richness of the city – and its many quirks.

Sammy recalls being in Dallas when Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs. U.S. and Canadian newspaper headlines all heralded the act. Save for Le Journal de MONTRÉAL, says Sammy, which ran the front-page headline “Bravo Véro,” trumpeting the latest feat of vedette Véronique Cloutier in once again winning a Gala Artis award.

Politics, culture, sports: nothing is sacred for Sammy. He is an equal-opportunity insulter, taking playful stabs at anglos, francos and just about every other ethnicity. And he doesn't shy away from taking shots at himself in the process.

His trick: He is so engaging and affable – and rarely smarmy – that not even the blue-haired set would bat an eye listening to his graphic take on the Kama Sutra. He also spends a large part of the evening bantering with the audience, and invariably finds someone who spills more than they should about their background and line of work – to the delight of the howling crowd.

But he does take exception to the way some of the local media have been picking on Habs defenceman P.K. Subban for being “too flashy.” He points out that while blacks and whites dance differently, they skate differently as well, so Subban should be accepted as the “James Brown of hockey.” He then goes on to mention how Subban has become the darling of many fans, but not before they had “to adjust the colour” on their TVs when he arrived here.

Sammy still lives at home with his parents – although at this rate he will be able to put a down payment on Hampstead. But now he yearns to leave, and not because he doesn't love his folks: “I can't get the smell of their food out of my clothes. Dry cleaning doesn't work either. I need an exorcist.”

On the subject of ethnic food, Sammy reminisces about being taken to a cabane à sucre when he was in school. “I didn't know what to do. Was I supposed to smoke that tree or stick my fingers up its trunk? … (Maple syrup) is the only food I know that looks better coming out of your body than going in. And I'm Indian – we've seen some horrible-looking stuff coming out.”

As a “brown-skinned” man, he has some travel advice for others: “Never be caught standing next to another brown-skinned man while going through U.S. immigration at the airport. Especially someone called Rashid Ali Mohammed. Three Muslim names in a row is a finger up the a-- for both of us. You need a three white-woman buffer between the two of you.”

Sammy is also keen on moving out of the house to get married and raise a family. When he spots an attractive woman in the audience, he propositions her: “We can do it Indian style. … My parents will call your parents.”

Old habits die hard, and funny.

Sugar Sammy's You're Gonna Rire runs until May 26 at the Olympia, 1004 Ste. Catherine St. E. Opening acts are Dan Bingham and Nile Séguin. Five new shows have been added: April 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28. All other shows are sold out. Tickets cost $34.99 to $54.99 at evenko.ca,admission.com or sugarsammy.com, or by calling 514-790-1245.

Photograph by: John Kenney/THE GAZETTE