Sipping coffee at a café in Paris, Sugar Sammy taught me the basics of the French sneer.
鈥淎 modified duck face鈥�, he demonstrates, 鈥渨ith one eyebrow raised.鈥�
Then he jokingly indulges in what he calls the favourite pastime in France鈥檚 quaint streetside cafes: judging passersby.
鈥淪ee, there is a man who just walked by with a purse.鈥�
Mocking Parisians is his day job these days. Finally getting paid, he quips, for something he has done for years. The Quebec comedian is taking on the French market after becoming a household name in his home province.
The French are just one of the victims of his edgy humour. Sugar Sammy has built a brand mocking the quirks of culture.
One of his favourite targets, Quebec separatists. That is how he first attracted my attention.
鈥淎re you happy with where you are sitting, or do you want to separate from the rest of the audience and create your own section?鈥� he asks during one of Montreal shows. Even the separatists join the laughter.
Sugar Sammy was born Samir Khullar to parents who immigrated from northern India.
Quebec鈥檚 bill 101 protecting the province鈥檚 official language forced him into a French school.
鈥淚 actually feel very fortunate that I went to a French school, because I don鈥檛 think I would have learned French in the same way that I did in my developmental years. I mean it was鈥攊t was good to have it early on,鈥� he says.
A surprise, perhaps, to critics who have called him a francophobe, a dangerous federalist. He has even received threats for advertising stunts flaunting the province鈥檚 language laws.
But he says he is pushing the boundaries of standup comedy. He studies cultures like an anthropologist, and holds up a magnifying glass to the quirks he observes.
After making Quebec comedy history with a run of wildly successful bilingual shows, Sugar Sammy decided to start from scratch in Europe.
It was both a business and a creative decision. In France, he could push boundaries even further. If it didn鈥檛 work, he could simply pack up and go home to Montreal.
And the one-liners have been biting.
鈥淔rance, I love France,鈥� he tells his Parisian audience. 鈥淵ou are my favourite Arab country.鈥�
French critics have responded with applause, saying his outsider status fuels extra laughs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 funnier鈥�, says humour writer Rossana Di Vincenzo. 鈥淚 think he brings it to another level. 鈥�
Off stage, I discovered a not so brash or harsh Sammy as his on-stage persona. He chats amicably about politics, his life in Paris, and the restaurants he likes. He is business-savy, and mindful of his image.
But it all seems to be working.
Walking through both the Montreal neighbourhood where he grew up and the Parisian arrondissement he adopted, fans just keep on stopping him for selfies.
Watch our documentary 'The Outsider' on CTV, Saturday at 7 p.m.
