Great interview | Independence according to Sugar Sammy

At the start of 2020, Sugar Sammy was preparing for his big comeback in Quebec. I had heard it in New York curl American ears at the Carolinas on Broadway. As comfortable telling them their four truths as in Paris, where I had seen him in 2016 in the small room at Point Virgule, when he was completely unknown to the French public. Barely a year after the 2015 attacks, he had dared to say to them: “France is my favorite Arab country”, and it’s crazy how people laughed.

Heating up his audience is his trademark, no matter where he performs, always playing on limits and taboo subjects. In New York, he told me that his neighbor show in Quebec would go further than its previous one, which had been a huge success.

Then the pandemic arrived and put everything on ice, but he kept his promise: you’re gonna laugh 2, his new bilingual show, shoots at everything that moves and will be presented everywhere in Quebec because “this is where we are”, he believes, as sincerely as François Legault when he says: “In Quebec, that’s how we live. Note that this bilingual show will also be presented from coast to coast in Canada.

I saw this show and I laughed from beginning to end with a unilingual French speaker (I did it on purpose to invite one), who understood the jokes at 90%.

While concerns have never been greater about the future of French in Quebec, it could be suicidal for a career in the province. But it’s quite the opposite that happens for Sugar Sammy. All 72,000 tickets to his show were sold out before he even gave any media interviews, and there will be more as long as he likes. One can read on an advertising poster: “To those who told me to return to my country: here I am. And too bad for those who wake up at night to hate him.

Nevertheless, does he understand this concern about the fate of our language? “Yes, and I find that the French language must be protected. I don’t think the threat comes from English or immigration. Do you want people from other backgrounds to be interested in French? Make sure that people like me can be more present in Quebec culture, speaking it. But hidden behind the subject of language, we want these people to be “more Quebecois”. So here’s a charter, here’s Bill 21… It’s not the language, it’s the Quebec culture of yesteryear that we want to preserve. And I think culture changes all the time. »

For Sugar Sammy, humor should be like politics: we laugh at everyone as we take care of them, that is to say equally.

Humor is a counter-power

There is nothing more important to Sugar Sammy than being free on stage and he has always managed to protect his independence.

He has no scriptwriter, no director, he does everything himself by being an author, comedian and producer. He learned on the job, without going through the School of Humor. “It’s a handicap that I don’t have,” he laughs. There was no question for him of returning to Quebec seven years later without having completely renewed his techniques and his writing, because he considers himself an eternal student. This is why he wanted to start over in France. “When you’re new somewhere, you have nothing to lose,” he says. That’s what I want to keep. The most important thing is to do show as honest as possible and the rest will follow. French comedians tell me they couldn’t do what I do on stage. So much the better, it will do less who will steal my jokes! »

For Sugar Sammy, the art of stand up is a counter-power. He does not want to hold back for fear of closing doors in a milieu. “Why waste your career wanting to do Quebec TV? “, says the one who does not care that we do not want him at Radio-Canada or TVA. And he takes malicious pleasure, in his new show, in scratching the Quebec star system, which is rather funny with an audience bringing together the two solitudes. “I educate the Anglos in our star-system to tell them that they haven’t missed anything and, for the Canadian star-system, I tell the French that the Anglos don’t know it either. »

Tribute to Mike Ward

Sugar Sammy never did comedy to be liked or accepted. If he tested his jokes in around thirty countries, it was to exercise his great adaptability, but also to have the assurance that he could always practice his profession no matter where.

“People trust me, they know that I’m going to get out of it and that it’s never going to turn into a big problem. I am able to bounce back very quickly and I have the weapons to fight back,” he continues.

When I write about humor, there are only two comedians who earn me angry emails: Mike Ward and Sugar Sammy. “I’m in super good company, it’s an honor,” he said. Mike is the kind of comedian society needs. He will mark Quebec history, and he will be celebrated like Yvon Deschamps, Richard Pryor or Lenny Bruce who suffered the same things as him. »

Sugar Sammy is highly critical of those who engage in humor “just to get a pat on the back.” “In English, we call it not funny. The public does not want subjects to be avoided, they want it done well. I want to take the risk to go there all in, without filter. This show is my best work, I’m on fire, I’ve never had so much fun on stage. The one before was just a warm up. »