Samuel Landry and Xavier Gould have an undeniable charisma and formidable versatility. In drag, their characters Sami Landri and Chiquita Mere have accumulated millions of views on social networks. Sami throws himself headlong into music. Xavier plays in the theater and publishes poetry. And the duo will host the Montreal Pride comedy show, Me joke-tu?, this Thursday at the National.
To get to know them better, we asked them to reciprocally describe their characters. “Sami is a young party girl from New Brunswick who doesn’t care what you think,” says Xavier Gould. He is a fundamentally positive person. It has an absurd, trashy, yet stylish aesthetic that’s inspired by the 2000s, but with a fashionable twist that I don’t fucking clue. »
In turn, Samuel takes pleasure in introducing his sidekick. “Chiquita is an aunt in the best fun way possible. She is silly in her aesthetic and very uninhibited. Every time we’re out shopping and we find the ugliest thing in the store, Xavier has to buy it. And it’s getting beautiful on Chiquita! »
Their characters will shine this Thursday on the stage of Me joke-tu? “We want to put our wacky humor and our mocking side forward to highlight the comedians of the show”, underlines Samuel. With Justine Philie, Erika Suarez, Charlie Morin, Portia K, Maxime Ève Gagnon and Kě Xīn Li, the crowd will be treated to a 100% queer comedy show. “Since humor is a storytelling art, people are going to be entitled to different views of queerness,” he adds.
A much-needed concept, according to Xavier Gould.
The duo animation does not scare the two artists who have been a couple for five years and who met in full artistic collaboration.
Xavier first directed Samuel in a play in Moncton, before a friendship developed. “A little later, I was making a short film for the Festival international du cinema francophone en Acadie and I offered Sami to play in it, notifying him that there was a scene in which we make out in the mud , to make sure it was comfortable,” recalls Xavier, before Samuel picks up the ball again. “At that time, I was studying drama and I was desperate to act in anything. »
Gradually, their cinematographic intimacy turned into a love story and multiple joint creations. “When you collaborate with the same person over and over again, you challenge yourself to go further,” says Samuel. Over time, we have developed a common lexicon. »
Thus, it is impossible to hide from each other.
Fortunately, their bases are extremely solid. “The reason why we connected so much at the beginning is because we had big conversations that lasted for hours about Acadie, queerness, the language, our region and our families, recalls Samuel. We had different visions, but we had an equal passion for these things. »
As soon as we talk about their roots, their eyes light up. “My Acadianness is intrinsic to my artistic identity. Chiquita Mére is a Chiac-speaking aunt from southeastern New Brunswick, not just a French-Canadian aunt. »
Same story with his partner. “Chiac is essential to what Sami Landri does in the videos on TikTok and in the lyrics of my music,” says Samuel. I do not change a crumb how I express myself. »
In this regard, the couple faced some challenges when leaving Moncton for Montreal. “If you have a Southeast accent and you move to Quebec to work in the arts, you have two forks in front of you: that of hiding your accent to fit in and have more contracts, respect and validity in certain contexts, or speaking as one speaks while living with the consequences”, summarizes Xavier Gould, before specifying that the consequences can also be beautiful.
“We’re fucking lucky that our accents positively set us apart, but we’re not the first to do that. Lisa LeBlanc, P’tit Belliveau and Les Hay Babies have also done it their own way over the past few years. »
