Sugar Sammy gave his fans a bilingual double dose of his biting humour last night. His French show, appropriately at the Parc de la Francophonie outdoor stage, was a best-of selection of his bits from the en francis svp! show that has been running for the last 4 years. After a short break, (and a quick jog down to the Petit Champlain Theatre) he was back at it for the “Illegal English Edition” running late into the night.

The French show in the outdoor setting gave us Sammy at his usual high energy level and very studied pace. He had brought along his usual DJ introduction and Stephane Poirier, his tour mate and opening act. Poirier delivers with a style and substance similar to Sammy, combining physical presence and well-rehearsed bits to good effect. The crowd was unfortunately light and remained – unexpectedly – sitting for the entire show. Given that Sammy uses his wit and gift for banter to great effect while interacting with fans for his indoor shows, the thin crowd and low energy meant that some of the comedic effect of his performance was lost.

The lets-call-it-illegal English show had the same lineup, with the addition of Massimo, who you might remember him from Ces gars-là. Massimo acted as an MC and used his Italian heritage to be the butt of his own jokes. Sammy was able to work the sold-out crowd of the Petit Champlain Theatre to much greater effect than what he achieved at the Parc Franco. The intimate setting meant that the back-and-forth banter was more intimate and the crowd loved it. Whereas his interactions with the public during the French show were to find his favorite ethnic group triggers for his bits (Latinos, Haitians, Africans, Indians), the English show started out with him figuring out if there were really such a thing as born and raised English speakers in Quebec city. It should not surprise anyone reading this that there were a few in the small theatre that were able to answer “of course!”.

His incisive humour is never truly mean or derisive, precisely because his observations go beyond the first glance. Perhaps his greatest achievement is pleasing the diverse crowd and showing, through his banter, that no single individual is entirely described by the usual stereotypes associated with their ethnic, cultural, or language background.

The “Illegal English Edition” is shown again tonight at 22:30 at the Petit Champlain. Admission is open with the ComediHa pass.