Montreal comedian Sugar Sammy: 'Why I'm moving to Paris'

Montreal bilingual comedian Sugar Sammy is packing his valises for the City of Light after Paris took a shine to his comedic stylings, which have largely focused on the linguistic foibles of the various groups in his hometown.

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Sammy, who launched to local fame by lampooning English and French tensions and other local cultural peccadilloes, was unsure if his act would catch on in Paris.

"A lot of producers there were very interested so I went to test the market and it worked really well. So I said 'let's move forward and push to another market and try to conquer France," Sammy told CBC Montreal Daybreak.

Sammy said that an accent modification was required on Paris stages. 

"I'm not able to reproduce their accents yet but if you give them too much of a Québécois accent, it can hinder your comedy there. They might not understand you. I use what I call the accent Radio-Canada," he said. 

Sammy is not committing to swapping Montreal for Paris permanently but he told Daybreak Wednesday that he plans to "spend most of next year there."

He also noted in his month in Paris —he left hours before the Paris attacks began — that the buzzing Parisian stand-up scene no longer considers Jerry Lewis-style slapstick to be the pinnacle of humour. 

The comedians are also committed to helping get Paris back on track after the attacks, he noted. 

"They got up and performed again at the beginning of this week. They sent a newsletter saying the best way to resist is to keep doing it. We are there to make you laugh and forget and bring up the topic, deal with the elephant in the room with finesse. I think it was brave."

Sammy says that he won't be a stranger to his hometown.  

"I have to come back. I always do corporate shows here. A lot of companies hire me to rip on their bosses and CEOs."