Podcast episode 575ish: Sugar Sammy

When Sugar Sammy was last with us in 2010, he told us he was transitioning out of the moniker he spent the first 14 years of his career with. Soon he'd be known as his birth name: Sam Khullar. Well, here we are in 2020 and he's still Sugar Sammy. He explains in this episode that he got too well known after appearing on What's So Funny? to make the change. Coincidence? Doubtful. We are star-makers. We spoke to Sammy from his home in Montreal. We talk about his high school days, some hell gigs he had coming up, and his new role as France's Simon Cowell and how it keeps him off the Paris Métro.

Have a listen here, or on your favourite podcast server, or even on YouTube. We've got you covered.

This week in press releases: Sugar Sammy

A shout-out to my main man, Sugar Sammy, today. (Do I sound hip enough? Lord knows I try.) Sammy's been a guest on What's So Funny? at least three times that I remember. He's a good guy. And a funny guy, which helps because, after all, he's a professional stand-up comedian. He's also chill, charming and probably even another word that starts with 'ch' that isn't 'Chinese'. Cheeky! Yes, definitely cheeky. Chill, charming and cheeky. Put that on the poster, stat!

Sugar – no wait, Sammy's got a TV special airing on Saturday night on the Comedy Network. Check it out if you like comedy, which I know you do because you're reading here. And before you do, why not listen to his last episode on my show to warm you up and get to know the man behind the stage persona. Here it is for you:



Now here's the press release you've been dying to read:

Sugar Sammy: Live In Concert – airs on Comedy network’s Saturday Night Standup series Saturday, January 19 at 9pm ET/PT 

After traveling across the country in the winter of 2009 hometown boy, comedian Sugar Sammy, makes his triumphant return to Montreal for the final leg of his cross-Canada tour in this one-hour comedy special. Filmed in the beautiful Place des Arts – Théâtre Maisonneuve, Sugar Sammy Live in Concert: Direct From Montreal, produced by Just For Laughs, showcases a rising comedy star at the top of his game with A-list material guaranteed to bring the house down. 

 A Canadian born to Indian parents, Sugar Sammy draws on everything from arranged marriages in his own Indian ancestry to his view on politics, pop-culture and modern-day relationships. Brilliantly entertaining, Sugar Sammy will have you laughing, thinking and seeing life in a whole new way. 

Sugar Sammy has been having incredible success in Canada and around the world. In the last year and a half he has sold over 100,000 tickets to his shows across Quebec, including 60,000 to his groundbreaking bilingual show. 

Setting him apart from the pack, Sugar Sammy performs in four languages (English, French, Punjabi and Hindi), and travels the world, performing to his dedicated fans in cities and countries as varied as London, the U.S., Dubai, South Africa, Singapore, Holland, Australia and of course, Canada. He’s been invited to perform at Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival seven times and has performed in their English, French and Toronto editions. No stranger to the prestigious festival circuit, he’s also performed at the Sydney, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Auckland, Halifax, Winnipeg and Quebec City comedy festivals.

Four new episodes (#187ish-191ish)

While every other podcast drops new episodes one at a time and with more regularity, we like to keep you on your toes. We post 'em when we get around to it, which is what keeps What's So Funny? a ratings leader (in Bizarro World, anyway). Here are four relatively recent shows you may find to your liking. As always, listen here (this blog), there (Comedy Couch), or everywhere (iTunes):

From May 16, 2010, this is Phil Hanley's third appearance on the show, and his best. If you heard his second appearance, you know that was pretty damn funny, too. There's just something about the guy that makes it easy to rib him. There's also the added element of a new drinking game you can play while listening. Phil unwittingly unveils a new catchphrase. If you take a drink everytime he says it, you'll enjoy the show even more.
What's So Funny? featuring Phil Hanley

From May 2, 2010, this is Sugar Sammy's fourth appearance on the show. We did one in his hotel room, two in studio, and this one at a hotel bar. Sammy's a great guy and always opens up a bit more on our show than you'll see elsewhere. And he's everywhere.
What's So Funny? featuring Sugar Sammy

From May 9, 2010, Lars Callieou makes his third "appearance" with us. I use quotation marks because we didn't see him. He called in from his home base of Edmonton. Lars talks about his recent trip to Iraq. As an added bonus, I play a clip from an interview I did with Brian Regan that's well worth the price of admission.
What's So Funny? featuring Lars Callieou

And finally, from April 25, 2010, Vince Flueck makes his second appearance, and first solo appearance. Vince regales us with tales from Europe, where he's been living from the past couple of years, and recounts the story of his night being an imposter at a movie awards show.
What's So Funny? featuring Vince Flueck

May 2: Sugar Sammy (Sam Khullar)

No national/international comedian has been a greater friend to What's So Funny? than Sugar Sammy. Tonight marks his fourth appearance on the show. The first was recorded in his room at a dinghy New West hotel; his third and fourth spots were done live in our studio; and this one was recorded last month at the bar of the Pan Pacific Hotel. While munching on mixed nuts and sipping drinks, we talked about Indian women, taking stereotype roles in Hollywood, his opinion of Peter Sellers playing one of his people in the film The Party, Harry Doupe's Statelessness of the Industry shots at him, Quebec politics, his throwback tastes in music and women, and we find out which Vancouver comic is one of his favourites.

***

I took a trip in the wayback machine last night going to 1960s Las Vegas. It felt like it anyway. Actually, it was just Coquitlam and the Red Robinson Show Theatre. The evening started with Vancouver-based crooner Kenny Colman and a 14-piece big band. Kenny is one of the great singers, and great hard-luck stories, of Canadian show business. He's had his breaks over the years, doing early Tonight Shows with Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin Shows. He's recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. People like Lou Rawls, Redd Foxx, Johnny Mandel, David Foster and none other than Frank Sinatra have all sung his praises. Yet he's largely unknown. When he came along in the early 1960s, rock was taking over. Now you've got young bucks like Michael Bublé co-opting the style that comes naturally to Kenny – and making way more than guys did in Colman's generation. While his chops aren't what they used to be, they're still pretty good. The guy can swing. And the band swung like a mo-fo, too.

He was a perfect lead-in for Don Rickles. The 83-year-old is a show business legend and while he moves a little slower and a little more hunched over, he's still in full voice. His jokes have never made complete sense and they still don't. You laugh at the attitude more than anything. And his references haven't progressed, so you get mentions of Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia, lots of talk of buck-toothed Japanese soldiers and Jimmy Cagney singing I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy. Yes, that's right, hockey puck, the man sings. He employs the same big band and uses it throughout his act, often singing unironically. Despite what you'd imagine, only about 20% of the show is unscripted insults directed at the crowd, if that. But it is what it is. You can't judge it by today's standards. You've just got to get in the right frame of mind, sit back and enjoy.

Episodes 185ish & 186ish

Here are two enjoyable episodes for your collection. You do collect all the podcasts, don't you? And trade them with friends? I apologize that they're slightly out of order but the station was having download issues. Whatever, they're timeless. Who cares if one originally aired before the last couple? Not I! Oh, and because of said station issues, I must also apologize publicly to Carter Hortie. He joined us on air several weeks ago and if you missed it, you missed it. That episode has been lost forever. I hate when that happens, especially when the episode is a good one. We've lost a few over the years. We'll never get back Rob Pue or Kyle Cease's second appearance or Sugar Sammy's first two appearances. Sigh. So sorry Carter, but you're in good company.

I can't post the episodes for you right here on the blog due to a problem with the server I use and my ignorance of other ones. But fret not, it's still easy-peasy. You can listen over at the Comedy Couch podcast page. And here's the link to all the shows over at iTunes. There are 186 (and counting) to choose from. But here are the latest, with individual links to the episodes.

Episode 185ish: Sean Kent talks about history, his two seasons on Last Comic Standing, his bout with cancer, politics, and a bit of basketball in an on-location interview downstairs at Lafflines Comedy Club in New Westminster, between shows. The show aired on April 11, 2010.

Episode 186ish: Local boy Jy Harris somehow managed to sneak by all these years without ever having done the show before. But we eventually got him. He brought the Polish Princess with him, who provided us with a nice distraction during the show. We talked about why he doesn't drink and his two experiences on The Jerry Springer Show, among other things. This show aired on March 28, 2010.

Podcasts, we've got podcasts...

We're slowly but surely catching up on the old shows and turning them into podcasts. It won't be too long before the podcast will be uploaded the week of the show. But for now, enjoy eight new/old podcast/shows:

Todd Allen from April 27, 2008:


Torben Rolfsen from August 17, 2008:


Graham Clark from September 21, 2008:


Seth Perry from January 11, 2009:


Maz Jobrani from February 1, 2009:


Sugar Sammy from February 8, 2009:


Damonde Tschritter from February 22, 2009:


David C. Jones from March 1, 2009:


And as always, you can listen to these over at the Comedy Couch and at iTunes. Your call.

February 8: Sugar Sammy

Happy Sunday, all. I'm just back from my first ever Alpine experience. Not that I went skiing or anything crazy like that. No, that record stays. But tubing is awesome, dude (I think that's what they say on the slopes). Here's proof:


But enough about me. I've got a show to prepare for... after the requisite nap, that is. Sam Khullar will be our guest tonight. Who's that, you say? Why, it's Sugar Sammy, who's transitioning into his real name as he matures into a grown-up. Sammy flew into town this very day and he'll be in studio with us tonight for his third visit to the program. This guy is suave and hilarious and I'm betting he'll be bigger than Russell Peters some day. Why the comparison with Peters? It's not fair, really, but they're both Indo-Canadians so it's the easy comparison. And I'm all about taking the easy way out.

The good folks at Just For Laughs are sending Sammy all across the country (or at least the JFL version of Canada that ends in Montreal) on a solo tour. He plays The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts (aka the Catchiest Theatre Name in the Business) on Friday, Feb. 13. Yes, Friday the 13th for you horror fans. And on Valentine's Day night he'll be in Surrey at the Bell Performing Arts Centre. But tonight is when you'll really get to know the man behind the Sugar Sammy persona.

THIS JUST IN: Joining us tonight will be this guy, Daliso Chaponda, who's from Malawi via the UK and Canada and also is Sam's opening act on this tour.

UPDATE: Forget the This Just In addendum. It's just Sugar Sammy on the show. Daliso is jet-lagged. But do check out his blog and website. They're pretty good.