Bill Brownstein: Sugar Sammy set for his biggest comedy invasion of the U.S.

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Sugar Sammy is striking while the iron is red hot. 

He has conquered this city, province and country with his piquant equal-opportunity bilingual satire You’re Gonna Rire 2. He’s constantly killing on the franco comedy front in Europe, with barbs directed at enthralled audiences that soak it all up. 

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But is the U.S. ready for the full-on Sugar Sammy attack? We’ll find out soon enough. 

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The Montreal native is set to launch his biggest-ever comedy invasion of the U.S. Starting on March 22 and running through Aug. 31, he will be performing a newly created anglo show — with no shortage of political and social potshots — on a 20-city tour, including a pit stop at the Just for Laughs fest in Austin, Texas.  

Snowbirds, take note: Sugar Sammy will also pop up in such southern hot spots as Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Las Vegas. The tour wraps with highly anticipated gigs in New York and Boston. 

Sugar Sammy has played the U.S. on several occasions, but never on this level. But fret not about him shifting his roots to more lucrative terrain in the south. His heart and humour are firmly entrenched in these parts, and the immense payoff, both critically and financially, will keep him based here for the long haul. 

On that note, he’s adding 18 more You’re Gonna Rire 2 shows in Montreal and Gatineau in February and March before heading stateside. 

It has been quite the year for Sugar Sammy. Since launching You’re Gonna Rire 2 in Montreal in May and taking the show across the province and country, he has sold more than 100,000 tickets. All his previously announced shows for January and February are already sold out, thus accounting for the new additions. 

Sugar Sammy is not done yet. He has planned another tour of Canada for 2025 with performances in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Halifax and, of course, Toronto — because as the old adage doesn’t go: If you can make it in T.O., you can make it anywhere. 

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And good fortune hasn’t resulted in Sugar Sammy losing his edge. Just in time for the holidays, he is running a You’re Gonna Rire 2 billboard campaign in his hometown. Naturally, the six billboards to surface, with his mug cemented on the bottom of each, will be more on the snarky than the cheery seasonal side.  

To wit, this message, doubtlessly designed to rankle some detractors: “Tout est en français. Sauf la moitié qui est en anglais.” 

For tickets and more information on Sugar Sammy’s newly announced shows, see sugarsammy.com. 

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