Apparently, you can't be funny in English in Quebec.

Sugar Sammy's You're Gonna Rire wasn't the most popular comedy show in Quebec last year in terms of numbers of shows or tickets sold.

But it was the most important one.

What began as a daring experiment — a one-night standup comedy show in English and French in Montreal at a time when linguistic divisions were re-emerging — became a sensation, extending to 45 shows and 54,000 tickets sold by the end of 2012.

And it became a social and political phenomenon, with the significance of its success at the box office and its young, linguistically mixed audience talked about, analyzed and commented upon beyond the entertainment pages.

Sugar Sammy brought together an audience of young Montrealers, Englishspeaking as well as Frenchspeaking, confident enough of their ability to understand the other language to buy tickets to a bilingual show.

That audience, I wrote after one of the first shows, provided “a glimpse of a possible brighter future in Quebec.”

This week, the nominations for Quebec's Olivier awards for humour in 2012 were announced, and Sugar Sammy received three, including one for the Olivier of the year.

His other two nominations were for best writing and best show — but they weren't for You're Gonna Rire.

Rather, they were for his other show, En français SVP!

This latter show sold fewer tickets for 2012 (19,000, plus about 40,000 more so far for this year), was more conventional and lacked the significance of You're Gonna Rire.

But as its name implies, En français SVP! was in French only. It consisted of essentially the same material as the bilingual Montreal show, with the English translated into French for a tour of the French-speaking regions of the province.

The far more successful and significant bilingual show wasn't eligible for the Oliviers under the rules of the Quebec humour industry professionals' association, APIH,  precisely because it was bilingual.

Or rather, You're Gonna Rire was ineligible because it was in English in addition to French.

Had the show been in gibberish, sign language or mime as well as French, there would have been no problem.

Olivier Rule 5.21 restricts eligibility to “products funded and created in Canada and having been presented in the French language or in a language that is invented or consists of visual effects including no words, or very few.”

So, at least as far as the humour professionals are concerned, you can't be funny in English in Quebec.

The rule isn't necessary to protect Quebecers against competition from a big-time touring standup comic such as Chris Rock or Louis C.K.; Rule 5.20 restricts eligibility to Canadian citizens or residents, although they don't have to live in Quebec.

And other entertainment awards recognize that there can be such a thing as Quebec culture in English.

For example, the recording industry association, ADISQ, gives one of its Félix awards for the English-language album of the year.

Sugar Sammy's nomination for the Olivier of the year may be tacit recognition of the significance of You're Gonna Rire.

The humour association's board of directors also has the discretionary power to award him an “exceptional Olivier.”

But that award has been given out only twice in the 15-year-old history of the Oliviers, to mark the 30th year of touring for the stage comedy Broue and the 20th anniversary of the école nationale de l'humour.

(Yes, we have a publicly funded comedy college. No, Sugar Sammy isn't a graduate.)

“So, maybe, in 15 years, we can take a look,” laughed Francine Dubois, the director general of the association. “But (right now) it's a bit premature.”

Funny, that's what some people said about a bilingual standup comedy show in Montreal in 2012.

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dmacpherson@montrealgazette.com

Twitter: @MacphersonGaz