You're Gonna Rire

Last night hubby and I went to see Sugar Sammy (a.k.a. Samir Khullar), an Indo-Canadian comedian who hails from Montreal. This particular show, You're Gonna Rire, is something of a love letter to Montreal and the province of Quebec. It's a bilingual comedy show and it takes aim at all the stereotypes and quirks (okay let's face it--just plain crazy shit) that comes with living in Quebec. 

I loved it.

The first act, Nile Séguin, was completely in French. I consider myself bilingual but when the pure laine Québecois get to talking fast, it takes a lot of my concentration to catch everything. The thing is, he's originally from Ottawa and his English is flawless. Could have fooled me! Talk about perfectly bilingual. Despite the uber concentration I had to use to listen, he was funny! "I'm multi-ethnic. I don't like saying half-black because it's like I'm not quite done yet. That first 50% is tough but don't worry, the rest is a piece of cake!" 

Sugar Sammy was fantastic. To me, he is the epitome of what is great about Montreal. He's quadra-lingual (English, French, Punjabi and Hindi) and he can laugh at all of the good, the bad and the ugly of Quebec, rather than taking it too seriously. He switches from French to English, from English to French with the greatest of ease. He can be on talk-radio in French and in English with no problem. He can appreciate Quebec culture but he can also appreciate the bigger picture (i.e. the reality outside the bubble of Quebec).

A word of caution: this show is designed for people who understand both French and English very well. Although English is probably the dominant language in Sammy's act, French is still very much needed. Some poor guy from Michigan was in the audience and he admitted he only understood about half. "What the f**k are you doing here???" Sugar Sammy asked incredulously. Turns out he was with his Lebanese friend, Joe. "This is why the Lebanese are better than the other Arab people. They take their hostages out for a good time" joked Sammy.

Anyhow, thanks, Sugar Sammy, for giving a great show (albeit starting 20 minutes late! What is up with that?? This is why hubby and I don't go out very often. People drive us crazy. There were some people showing up at 9 and the show was supposed to start at 8! At least Sugar Sammy gave them crap. "Why are you guys so late? [...] Parking?? What, so everyone else flew here. C'mon!"). It was a lot of fun and even worth sitting in such close proximity to complete strangers.