PRESS

Sugar Sammy kicks local shows into high gear before move to Paris

by Mike Cohen
2015-12-02

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about stand-up comedian Sugar Sammy is the fact he truly has not allowed success to change him. Now rocketing to international stardom, with plans to take his act next fall to Paris, France for an extended period of time, he remembers where he came from.

“To be doing all of this is still very surreal for me,” the man who grew up in Hampstead as Samir Khullar told The Suburban in a recent interview. “I am thankful for what I have every day. I take nothing for granted.”

In three years Sugar Sammy has sold more than 330,000 tickets to his shows in Canada and India, including over 125,000 to his groundbreaking English-French bilingual show You're Gonna Rire. His tour dates have won him the ranking as one of the 30th highest grossing tours in North America according to Pollstar Magazine. Billboard named him the top-selling Canadian tour for the 12 months ending April 2014.

Sugar Sammy is booked solid with live shows until the beginning of July. Pending renewal, he will then begin filming the fourth season of his hit French comedy Ces gars-là (Those Guys, in English) on V-Télé about two close friends and the absurd experiences they share.

“At the start I was hoping we'd get one season,” he said. “To be working on season three is beyond my expectations.”

Next September Sugar Sammy will head to France with his manager Martin Langlois.

“It is all about trying to build a new market for my career,” he says. “Representatives from different companies actually came to Montreal from France to see me perform. So I went there recently to see what the audience response would be to my routine and it was insanely better than I expected. I will basically be starting from scratch there, but it will be a good experience. I cannot do these Quebec-only shows forever.”

When Sugar Sammy concludes the first part of his Paris run, he will return home and perform mainly corporate shows for which he remains very much in demand. He will soon be headlining the annual ORT Gala. This past September he knocked the audience dead at Delmar International's 50th anniversary gala. “Those shows are so much fun,” he says. “I love them.”

One true-life fact that Sugar Sammy has made very much part of his act is that he remained at home with his parents and only recently, at 39, finally move into his own place in NDG.

“I am only a five minute car ride away,” said the comic, who is in a serious relationship with his girlfriend Natassia. “I am very close with my family. We always look out for each other. Those are the kind of values I want to pass on to my kids.”

Working in four languages affords Sugar Sammy the opportunity to travel the world to perform for his fans. He has actually clocked over 1,000 shows in 30 countries in addition to Canada and the United States.

A huge hockey fan, Sugar Sammy recently joined forces with the Canadiens to launch a new initiative for the team tied to its Club 1909 membership program. The campaign encouraged fans to take a photo of themselves with the Canadiens logo wherever they are in the world and to then upload the photo to Club1909.com as well as their own social media. In the advertising spots, Sugar Sammy, the chief flag bearer, along with his assistant Youppi, recruited several Canadiens players to help recruit flag bearers around the world, assigning their missions based on their birthplaces or profiles.

Sugar Sammy continues his En français s.v.p. tour across Quebec, as well as his You're Gonna Rire shows in Montreal at the Olympia Theatre. Tickets can be purchased via sugarsammy.com or by phone at 1-877-790-1245.