Russell Peters
Russell Dominic Peters [1] is a Canadian stand-up comic of British Indian descent and is one of the succesful Indian-Western performers in the entertainment industry such as Anand Bhatt of *Anand Clique, Tony Kanal of No Doubt, and Kim Thayil of Soundgarden. His comedy focuses primarily on his cultural background, but also on cultural and racial stereotypes of all kinds.
Peters began performing in Toronto in 1989 [1] and has performed in the UK, Australia, China, Singapore, Denmark, South Africa, The Caribbean, Vietnam, Malaysia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the United States. He has been nominated for four Gemini Awards,[2] the Canadian television awards. He has also been nominated for Best Male Comic at the Canadian Comedy Awards. Peters has been featured at such shows as Montreal's Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival. He hosted the Canada Day Comedy Festival 2006.
Peters' comedy focuses largely around his Indian upbringing and racial stereotypes, as he often parodies his parents and South Asian culture. Much of his material explores the cultural divides between many different ethnicities and upbringings in a way that includes many impressions. Russell has also been a DJ since 1985, and is an amateur boxer.[citation needed] Russell's skills as a DJ are shown during the opening to the comedy special Russell Peters: Outsourced. This comedy special also confirms his real name is Russell Dominic Peters.
His most recent comedy special Russell Peters: Outsourced, aired on Comedy Central on August 26, 2006. Outsourced was also made available on DVD and CD in stores on August 29, 2006.
Peters has been critical of the Canadian entertainment industry for not supporting Canadian comics sufficiently and for being overly bureaucratic.
Personal life
He grew up in Brampton, Ontario but now lives in Los Angeles. He was once engaged but is currently single. Russell's father, Eric Peters, died in March 2004 from cancer. He was a firm supporter of his son and was very proud of the success that Russell had achieved at the time of his passing. Russell Peters: Outsourced, in fact, is dedicated to his father. Peters has said that although his act often focuses on his father, much of the material is in fact based on his friends' fathers.
Russell is represented by Creative Artists Agency in the United States and is managed by his brother, Clayton Peters, CPI Management Services Ltd.
References
- ^ a b "Russell Peters IMDB profile". IMDB Profile.
- ^ "http://www.helpms.ca/russellpeters.htm".
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External links
- RussellPeters.com - Official site
- Template:MySpace
- Russell Peters at IMDb
- Toronto Star Interview
- College Radio Interview