>>PREVIEW
ETHNIC HEROES OF COMEDY
Friday, April 27
Just for Laughs
Jack Singer Concert Hall (Epcor Centre)
Get it out of your system: when serving the chicken vindaloo, Air India should have more than one toilet. Curry and mayonnaise don’t mix. Wouldn’t gay arranged marriages be outrageous? Ethnic comedy is more than just taking potshots at broad stereotypes. It’s also about how white people can’t do anything right.
Sugar Sammy, though, isn’t that type of comedian. His act has taken him around the world and landed him the coveted spot of opening for Dave Chappelle. As Montreal’s favourite comedian three years running, he’s known for his raunchy sets on the classic trifecta of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll. And it’s all delivered with a boy-band smile and the casual intimacy of kicking back with a good buddy – who happens to be Indian. Not even seeing his act, people can’t seem to let it go. So, of course, he sets out to change minds, along with Frank Spadone, Angelo Tsarouchas and Jo Koy, as part of the Just For Laugh’s Ethnic Heroes of Comedy Tour. Sugar Sammy sits down with Fast Forward to talk about life as an ethnic comedian, his critics and of course, French philosopher Michel Foucault.
Fast Forward: You’ve been compared to Russell Peters, well, a lot. Does that bother you?
Sugar Sammy: In the beginning, I didn’t like the comparisons to Russell Peters. People who hadn’t seen my act were asking, "Do you know Russell Peters?" But, you know everything gets compared. It’s part of business and I’ve accepted it. People see in the first five minutes that my act is different, a little edgier. I have a lot less of a filter than what Russell does. I have jokes about deviant sex with a retarded girl. When people see me on stage, I get more of an Eddie Murphy comparison.
As a so-called ethnic comic, do you feel boxed into certain themes?
Obviously, it’s part of your life. You have to address the fact you’re from a certain background. If you don’t talk about it, people are going to ask why you’re not talking about it. I do, but I talk about my relationships, pop culture, sports, which is all universal. You’re just not living the ethnic life. I’ll be hanging out with my Jewish friends and we don’t keep saying, "You’re Jewish, I’m Indian, and we’re hanging out. That’s weird." It’s not even part of the discourse anymore. It’s unique to Canada. We push a philosophy that works. I was in England and I could feel the racism when I walked down the streets. You could tell people were saying in their heads, "Paki." You feel it.
(Off the record conversation about white people.)
Do you ever get in trouble because of your material?
Some of my stuff is edgy, touching borderline sexist. People get it’s a joke, but some… There was a full-on black belt lesbian feminist who freaked out after a show, going, "Thanks for undermining women." Come on, I’m so over the top, it has to be a joke. I’m not a politician or giving a sermon. I’m just here to make people laugh. There’s no bigger social message within the comedy. People need to disconnect for a second.
Are you finding your audience isn’t doing that?
Most people don’t listen to just the surface level. They know it’s comedy. It’s the supersensitive ones in university taking arts classes who freak out because they took a cultural studies course. They analyze the semiotics of the discourse during standup and don’t have fun, saying, "I don’t think Michel Foucault would agree with this." I took the same classes they did. Foucault went out and had fun too. |
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