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Russell Peters: From stand-up to sitcom |
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He started out doing amateur nights at Yuk Yuk’s comedy club in Toronto. Today Russell Peters is one of the world’s top acts, with a TV series in the pipeline. Interview by Frederick Rocque.
Russell Peters is not just funny. He is outrageously hilarious! All he has to do is make an entrance to spark a laugh riot as he saunters towards centre-stage and eyeballs the front row. Big expressive eyeballs too, and Peters uses those precision lasers to pick the subjects for his first strike.
 The audience knows what’s coming, but the target is oblivious. Then comes the ethnic jab, dipped in multicultural dynamite and glazed with the Russell Peters finesse. It triggers an explosion of laughter. That sets the mood for yet another hilarious show that will last two hours or more as Peters rocks the world with his inimitable comedy.
What makes Peters tick, or rather, tickle? For one, he is something of a rarity – a brown stand-up comic from a predominantly white country who attracts fans of every colour and race.
Part of the reason Peters is universally popular is that he is an equal-opportunity employer of humour. Race is an integral part of his monologue, yet his own family (he was born in Canada to parents who immigrated from India) isn’t spared when he delivers his lines. White, black, brown, Chinese, South African… he takes them all on, with perfectly mimicked accents. He is unafraid to engage his audience during his act, yet his punch lines are never intended to injure – so the target of the joke is usually left laughing with the rest of the audience.
A testament to his soaring popularity came in June 2007, when he drew 30,000 fans to two sold-out performances at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The ACC is used to sellout crowds when the Toronto Maple Leafs are in the house, but 30,000 fans for a comedy act? This was a first.
“Selling out the Air Canada Centre with back-to-back sold-out shows was my proudest achievement,” admits Peters. “Thing is, I don’t really see this as something that I did on my own. I couldn’t have done this without the fans. They’re the ones who made those two shows the success that they were.”
This level of popularity could hardly have been predicted in Peters’ early life. Growing up brown in white Canadian society in the 1970s meant sometimes becoming the target of racist barbs. Yet rather than let this suffocate him, he used his talent for mimicking voices to turn the barbs into comedy gold. He took the act he’d perfected on his Brampton buddies – break-dancing and all – first to amateur nights at Yuk Yuk’s, then to a wider stage.
The turning point in Peters’ life came about when his February 2004 Comedy Now! show hit the internet. Suddenly, he was everywhere, including YouTube and countless fan sites. His YouTube videos have since been viewed more than four million times.
He has performed all over Canada and the US (where he now lives), as well as in the UK, Australia, China, Singapore, Denmark, South Africa, the Caribbean, Vietnam, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India and the UAE.
On February 2, 2008, Peters will mark yet another milestone when he becomes just one of a handful of comedians to ever headline at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
“The secret to my success is I’m always working on new material,” says Peters. “I see things. I remember them and then start figuring out the bits. I don’t actually write things down. When I can, I like to hit the local clubs in LA and work out new material.”
As with most South Asians, the Peters remain a very close-knit family. While his father Eric (once a staple of Russell’s mimicry) recently passed away, his brother Clayton is always on tour with him as manager.
“Mom (Maureen) joins us whenever she can. Mom came down to Australia last year when we were on tour. She also visits me in Vegas and LA,” says Peters.
Given the star status he has achieved, his life away from the stage is surprisingly normal.
“I just hang out after work. I go to the movies, dinner. Really normal stuff. I don’t do the club scene in LA.
“The first thing I do when I get home – whether it’s in Toronto, LA or Vegas – is get on my turntables. I spin for at least 20 minutes or more – before I unpack, shower, anything. Spinning always relaxes me,” he says.
For Peters, home is a special place. “I come home to Toronto to see my mom. Go roller-skating. Every now and then I’ll go to a movie premiere or an awards show or something, but mostly I do the same stuff as people with normal jobs.”
Expensive restaurants and fancy food hold no great attraction for Peters. “Back home in Canada, dinner’s on the house if it’s at Mom’s place. Other favourites are Denny’s or a few places around town. Nothing fancy.”
Peters is proud of his heritage, and it bothers him that the Indian community has almost no presence in mainstream television in North America. “We’re the second largest population in the world, but we’re invisible on TV,” laments Peters. “Everything is either black or white,” he adds, attributing this to people in charge of TV having no idea of the transformed demographic of a rapidly browning North America.
Peters may well get a chance to do something about it himself. He has just confirmed a deal with the Fox network to develop a new sitcom, based on his experience of living in Canada.
“We haven’t decided on a title but as far as we’re concerned, it should be The Russell Peters Show,” says Peters. “We’re still working on the pilot script and taking notes from the network. Hopefully they’ll sign-off on a pilot and then order some episodes for Fall 2008.
“The show will be based on my life, like ten years ago. I was living at home, so was my brother, with my mom and dad. We’re a working-class South Asian family. The concept is that simple. The only thing is, it won’t be set in Brampton – which would have been great, but this is for an American network, so what can you do?”
Peters says he isn’t certain if he’ll fit in some of his trademark lines like “Somebody’s gonna get a-hurt real bad” (an imitation of his father’s admonition when he was growing up).
“It doesn’t always work when you take comedy bits and incorporate them into a sitcom. If it fits, then we’ll try it. If it doesn’t, then it could seem forced. The show has to be honest.”
Rob Light, a partner at Creative Artists Agency, which also handles Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, says Peters has a great future in comedy, not just on TV, but also in movies. “He’s getting attention from Hollywood because he’s already done it all on his own. He’s a naturally funny person with a multicultural outlook that allows him to be entertaining to people of all races and backgrounds. Nobody’s ever had an outlook like him before.”
Aside from his ability to make people laugh, Peters declares himself “amazed” at the impact he’s had on people’s lives.
“I started out just wanting to make people laugh, and then I find out that I’ve actually affected people in a much deeper way.
“Recently, two incidents made me realize this. One involved a young kid named Joe, who through a freak accident fell into a coma for several months. When he came to, he had little or no memory. The only thing he remembered was my Comedy Now! performance. I know it sounds crazy, but one of the ways the doctors helped him regain his memory was by playing my act for him,” reveals Peters.
“I also just learned of a fan named Francois Giroux who died of leukemia. We’d been in touch with Francois and his family during his illness. Turns out that Francois passed away in one of my ‘Somebody Gonna Get a-Hurt’ T-shirts. According to Francois’ brother Marc, his last days were made easier by watching my DVDs and listening to me on his iPod.”
Peters says confidence has never been a problem for him. “I guess I’ve always been pretty confident. Some comics didn’t like that when I was still climbing up the ladder, but that’s just who I am. If I didn’t believe in myself, then no one else was going to. This is a tough business and you’re standing on stage talking to people – just you and a mic. There’s no band to back you up, no other performers. You have to be able to hold the audience’s attention. You have some confidence to be able to do that.”
And he has some final words for our readers, especially teenagers and young adults.
“Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you can’t do something. You have to believe in yourself. When I was starting out, there were lots of people who said I couldn’t do this. There were lots of comics who told me that I’d never make it. The main thing is to follow-through.”
Quote, unquote
What I am reading: Street Justice, by Chuck Zito
What I am watching: Entourage, 30 Rock
What I am listening to: A lot of classic rock lately.
What single fact about me readers might be surprised to know: That I’m a completely un-funny ‘spaz’ off-stage. I tell the most horrible, un-funny jokes to my friends…
The biggest leadership tip I can give young people: Don’t follow. Leaders lead. If you have a dream, you have to create that path yourself. |
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