Sugar Sammy talks race, comedy, Marine Le Pen and blackface

Real Talk on Raceis CBC Montreal's special series exploring personal conversations and experiences around race in the city.

Comedian Sugar Sammy is known for confronting language politics in his stand-up, but the Indian-Montrealerisn't one to shy away from race either.

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For CBC Montreal'sReal Talk on Raceseries, Sugar Sammytook the time to talk race and comedy.

He touched ongrowing up in Cte-des-Neiges, French politicianMarine Le Pen's controversial stance on multicultural societies, making fun of other racesand blackface in Quebec.

On growing up in a multicultural neighbourhood

I went from a baby to an adult in Cte-des-Neiges, so I grew up with different cultures around me and those differences is what brought us together. I think the first time I realized I was different was when I got out of that space and I went to Marianopolis. It was completely different from what I'd known. The kids were a little richer, a little whiter sometimes we had some multiculturalism but not as much as I did in my high school. So that's one place where Ifelt different right away and I thought to myself, 'I need to adapt myself to this new environment and figure out how to build a bridge,' and I kept doing that when I went to McGill, when I started doing shows on the French side I always figured out how to do it.

On Marine Le Pensaying multicultural societies areconflicted:

It's not the experience I had. A multicultural society is richer for being so I always felt that and I feel like everyone around me did. There [are]so many examples of that that I think we don't highlight I think we always highlight the bad things. A homogeneous society is also in conflict. I think when you don't know anything else than what you're used to, you're not opening yourself up to the rest of the world.

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On being South Asian as a barrier to getting ahead

I never let it be [a barrier]. I don't think it was for me. I just had to approach it in a different way. I had to be creative about how I was going to go about it. And I felt like it also made me original. It made me different and I always thought to myself being different isn't a disadvantage, it's an advantage. I look at it in my standupit's very clear right from the start that I'm very different from what's going on in the Quebec cultural landscape and I think that's one of the reasons why I'm successful.

On making fun of other races

Sugar Sammy on making fun of other races

9 years ago

Duration 2:03

Montreal comedian Sugar Sammy says, if you're going to make fun of other races, you have to do your research. "If it's not authentic... don't touch it."

I think that you need to be knowledgeable about the culture that you're poking fun at. For me, it's sort of celebrating my childhood and what I grew up with when I do[comedy]. Some people ask, 'Why didn't you make fun of the Portuguese, man, we were waiting for it.' ...Well, I didn't really grow up with that so I don't have the knowledge and I didn't do the research. I think you can do it as long as you're spot on. You've got tobe spot on and you've got todo your research. If you do write a joke or you do an imitation, think to yourself, 'Would this work in an all black audience if I imitate someone who's black or Haitian?' Think that to yourself before you do it You have to make sure that it connects with the culture.

If it's not authentic...don't touch it.

On blackface in Quebec

I feel like in Quebec, no one's mastered that yet.I've never seen an imitation of a black person yet by a white person that's been good. It's always been a little bit lazy, the makeup hasn't been great, the imitation hasn't been great.

There's also a whole historic and cultural reason why it shouldn't be done. But it's also not done the way it could be. I saw Peter Sellers [playing and Indian character in the movie The Party]and there's was no way I was offended I thought it was perfect. It was flattering that he actually went to the extent that he went to to research Indian people before he did an Indian imitation.

I think if you don't have it right, hire a black person to do it.