- Russell Peters
-
Not to be confused with Russell Peterson or Peter Russell.
Russell Peters 
Russell Peters in 2009Birth name Russell Dominic Peters Born September 29, 1970
Brampton, Ontario, CanadaMedium Stand-up, Television, Film, Radio Nationality Canadian Years active 1989–present Genres Satire, Improvisational comedy, Observational comedy Subject(s) Racism, Race relations, Stereotypes, Multiculturalism, Indian culture Influences George Carlin,[1] Steve Martin, Cheech and Chong,[2] Don Rickles,[3] Eddie Murphy Spouse Monica Diaz (2010–present) 1 child Signature 
Website RussellPeters.com Russell Dominic Peters (born September 29, 1970)[4] is an Indo-Canadian comedian, actor and disc jockey. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and has been nominated for four Gemini Awards.
Contents
Early life
Russell Peters was born in Canada to Eric and Maureen Peters. His family is of Anglo-Indian ancestry and is Catholic.[5] His father was born in Mumbai, India and worked as a federal meat inspector and his mother was born in Calcutta, India. He has an older brother named Clayton who was born in Calcutta.[6]
He went to Georges Vanier Catholic Elementary School from kindergarten to grade 8, North Park Secondary for grades 9–10, and North Peel Secondary School for grades 11–12 in Brampton.[7][8][9]
Career
Peters began performing in Toronto in 1989. He has since also performed in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Iran, Denmark, South Africa, India,the Caribbean, Vietnam, New Zealand, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Sweden, India, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Norway, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Trinidad among other places.
He hosted the Canada Day Comedy Festival 2006. His comedy special Russell Peters: Outsourced, aired on Comedy Central on August 16, 2006. The DVD version features his uncensored performance. The DVD has been popular, especially in Canada, selling over 100,000 copies. Outsourced remained on the National DVD Chart over one and a half years after release.
In September 2008, it was confirmed that Peters made a deal with Fox to develop a new sitcom, based on his experience in Canada. Peters says, "It's really a snapshot of where my family maybe was ten years ago" and he ensures that the sitcom is "Something that will be funny and honest."[10][11] Peters participated in a USO tour of Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Africa and Greenland in November 2007 with Wilmer Valderrama and Mayra Veronica.[12] Peters' latest DVD/CD combo Russell Peters: Red, White, and Brown was recorded on February 2, 2008, at The WAMU Theatre at Madison Square Garden. Peters and his brother, Clayton Peters, who is also his manager, self-produced and financed Red, White and Brown. It was released in Canada in September 2008 and in the US on January 27, 2009. Peters also currently produces and stars on the radio situation comedy series, Monsoon House, on CBC Radio One.
Peters was the host of the 2008 Juno Awards televised ceremonies in Calgary on April 6, 2008,[13] for which he won a Gemini Award for "Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series". The 2008 awards broadcast received the second-highest ratings ever for the program. He was asked to host the Juno Awards for a second year in a row. The 2009 Juno Awards took place in Vancouver on March 29, 2009.
Between June 2008 and June 2009, Peters earned $10 million, making him one of the highest-paid comedians during that twelve-month period.[14]
Between June 2008 and June 2010, Peters earned $15 million, continuing his run as one of the highest-paid comedians.[15]
On October 26, 2010, Peters released his autobiography, Call me Russell, co - written with his brother Clayton and Dannis Koromilas.
Russell first appeared as a guest on the Joe Rogan podcast on December 17, 2010, episode 63. On June 21, 2011, Russell went onto the Joe Rogan podcast again, this time with Junior Simpson. Joe Rogan was the main host and Brian Redban was the co-host/technician.
Popularity
Peters' popularity extends to several countries. In Canada, Peters became the first comedian to sell out Toronto's Air Canada Centre,[16] with more than 16,000 tickets in two days for the single show. He ended up selling over 30,000 tickets nationally over the two-day sales period. A total of over 60,000 tickets were sold across six cities.[citation needed] In Sydney, Peters had a record breaking audience of 13,880, making the event the largest stand-up comedy show in Australian history[citation needed] He broke a UK comedy sales record at London's O2 arena when he sold over 16,000 tickets to his show on February 14, 2009.[17] Peters attributes his sudden widespread popularity to a stand-up performance he did on the Canadian TV comedy series Comedy Now! that was uploaded onto YouTube and became viral.[18] While the initial video upload featured his performance in its 45 minute entirety, subsequent videos uploaded by other YouTube users were snippets of that performance, chopped into each of the cultural groups he targeted. According to Peters, those snippets made their way to those specified cultural groups, and were well received by them.[19]
Comedy
Russell Peters' stand-up performances are mostly made up of observational comedy where he uses humour to poke fun at the subjects of race, class and culture, often using his own life experiences as well as impersonations of different cultural accents to illustrate his act. Russell Peters uses his minority status to allow him to poke fun at different races in his performance, but according to an interview done for The National, he does not intend to put down or offend different races and cultures, but instead tries to raise them up through humour. For example: "Somebody gonna get a hurt real bad".[20] Russell has often been accused of crossing the thin line between comedy and 'farce' comedy.
Personal life
Peters proposed to girlfriend Monica Diaz García on July 10, 2010, at the Los Angeles International Airport. He announced the engagement via Twitter.[21][22] The couple married on August 20, 2010 at A Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. The wedding was attended by about 20 guests, including an Elvis impersonator. Peters and Diaz had their first child, a girl, who was due to be born on February 23, 2011. When announcing the pregnancy, Peters told The Canadian Press, "Did I get married because she was knocked up? I would say that expedited it." His daughter was born two and a half months early (on December 14, 2010), but was healthy as Peters stated on his Twitter. She was given the name Crystianna Marie Peters.[23]
Awards and recognition
Peters shaking hands with Bryan Adams at the Juno Awards
He has been nominated for four Gemini Awards,[24] the Canadian television awards. He has also been nominated for Best Male Comic at the Canadian Comedy Awards.[citation needed] Peters has been featured at such shows as Montreal's Just for Laughs (Juste pour rire) Comedy Festival, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival.
On June 28, 2011 it was announced that Peters will receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame and will be inducted on October 1 at Elgin Theatre in Toronto.[25]
- 1997 – Nomination for the Gemini Award in the category "Best Individual Performance in a Comedy Program or Series". This was for Show Me The Funny, from the TV-series Comics! (1997)
- 2004 – Nomination for a Gemini Award for his Comedy Now! special.
- 2008 – Nomination for a Gemini Award for hosting The Junos.
- 2008 – Winner of a Gemini Award for 'Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series'.
In his hometown of Brampton, he has been awarded a key to the city, and will be inducted on to the Brampton Walk of Fame.
Filmography
Title Year "Show Me The Funny" 1997 Lord Have Mercy! (main cast) 2004 "Comedy Now!" 2004 "Russell Peters: Outsourced" 2006 "Russell Peters: Red, White, and Brown" 2008 "Russell Peters: Presents" 2010 "Russell Peters: The Green Card Tour" 2011 Source Code[26] 2011 Speedy Singhs released internationally as Breakaway 2011 New Year's Eve 2011 Notable roles played
Peters has appeared in a few films, most recently in the 2011 Canadian-Punjabi movie titled Speedy Singhs alongside Camilla Belle, Anupham Kher, and Vinay Virmani. He has also appeared in Senior Skip Day starring Larry Miller, Tara Reid, and Gary Lundy. Besides this, he has also had short appearances in the 1994 film Boozecan as Snake's Friend, the 1999 film Tiger Claws III as Detective Elliott, the 2004 film My Baby's Daddy as the obstetrician, the 2006 film Quarter Life Crisis as Dilip Kumar, the 2007 film The Take as Dr. Sharma, and the 2008 film Senior Skip Day as Uncle Todd.
He also acted in Duncan Jones's movie Source Code as Max, an amateur comedian with a bad attitude, and is scheduled to star as "Pervius" in National Lampoon's The Legend of Awesomest Maximus.
- Acting roles – television
- "Comics Without Borders" (2008)
- Russell Peters: Red, White and Brown (2008)
- Senior Skip Day/High School's Day Off (Australia title) (2008)- Uncle Todd
- Appearances on television
- "Lopez Tonight" - Himself (February 2, 2010)
- "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" – Himself (2009)
- "The 9th Annual Canadian Comedy Awards" (2008)- Himself (Winner – Best Large Venue Stand-up)
- "CBC News: The Hour" .... Himself – Episode dated 18 September 2008 (2008) TV episode .... Himself
- "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" – Himself – Episode dated 15 February 2008 (2008)
- "Def Comedy Jam" – Episode #8.4 (2008) TV episode – Himself/Comedian
- "Pulse: The Desi Beat" – Episode #1.9 (2007) TV episode – Himself
- "Video on Trial" – Episode #3.3 (2007) TV episode – Himself
- "Comics Unleashed" – Episode #1.6 (2009) TV episode- Himself
- The 4th Annual Canadian Comedy Awards (2003) – Himself
- The 5th Annual Canadian Comedy Awards (2004) – Nominee (Male Stand-up)
- MTV Cribs (Where he featured on two different episodes)
- Self
- Heckler (2007)
- Let's All Hate Toronto (2007)
References
- ^ Alan Cho, Gauntlet Entertainment (2005-11-24). "Gauntlet Entertainment — Comedy Preview: Russell Peters won't a hurt you real bad - 2005-11-24". Gauntlet.ucalgary.ca. http://gauntlet.ucalgary.ca/a/story/9549. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
- ^ "Russell Peters Official Site: Said With A Punch". Russell Peters Official Site: News - Said with a Punch. http://www.russellpeters.com/bio_press.php.
- ^ Comedy Preview: Russell Peters won't a hurt you real bad. Gauntlet Entertainment.
- ^ "Russell Peters Official FAQ". russellpeters.com – FAQ FAQ. http://www.russellpeters.com/faq.php.
- ^ "OK OK here is the answer!". Russellpeters.com. http://www.russellpeters.com/faq.aspx. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
- ^ "Press". RussellPeters.com. http://www.russellpeters.com/Press.aspx. Retrieved 2010-07-06.[dead link]
- ^ Post Reply. "Russell Peters". Mahalo.com. http://www.mahalo.com/russell-peters. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
- ^ "Punchline Magazine Blog " Russell Peters creates $20,000 college scholarship - Comedy Blog, Comedy News, and all things in Stand Up Comedy". Punchlinemagazine.com. 2010-04-30. http://punchlinemagazine.com/blog/2010/04/russell-peters-creates-20000-college-scholarship. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
- ^ "Comedian Russell Peters awards scholarship to Randy Adams". Digitaljournal.com. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/294038. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
- ^ Russell Peters Scores Script Deal with FOX. News Blaze.
- ^ Russell has a new gig. Metro International.
- ^ "USO visits Bagram". United States Department of Defense. November 21, 2007. http://www.defenselink.mil/PhotoEssays/PhotoEssaySS.aspx?ID=522. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
- ^ "Russell Peters to Host The 2008 JUNO Awards, April 6 on CTV" (PDF). CARAS. February 5, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-02-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20080216000747/http://www.junoawards.ca/PDF/20080205_f.pdf. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ Lacey Rose. "In Pictures: The 10 Top Earning Comedians - 9) Russell Peters, (tie)". Forbes.com. http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/13/top-earning-comedians-business-entertainment-top-earning-comedians_slide_11.html. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
- ^ Lacey Rose. "In Pictures: The 10 Top Earning Comedians - 7) Russell Peters". Forbes.com. http://www.forbes.com/2010/09/07/handler-dunham-cook-fator-business-entertainment-top-earning-comedians_slide_8.html. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
- ^ "Russell Peters' Homecoming Tour SELLS OUT Across Canada!". News Blaze. http://newsblaze.com/story/2007032313240200003.cc/topstory.html.
- ^ "The Official Russell Peters Website, Hi-lites". russellpeters.com. http://www.russellpeters.com/biography.aspx. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
- ^ "Allan Greg asks Russell Peters at the 15:28 mark what was the turning point in his career that made him a superstar. Peters responds "The internet, YouTube"". Youtube.com. 2010-12-16. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dog-H6vEpNI. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
- ^ "Russell Peters on his memor "Call Me Russell" - full show". YouTube. 2010-12-16. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dog-H6vEpNI. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
- ^ Russell Peters Interview on CBC The National, May 30th 2006, Clifton Joseph
- ^ "Tweet". Twitter. http://twitter.com/therealrussellp/status/18234024633. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
- ^ "Shinan: Leave out The Beaver?". National Post. http://arts.nationalpost.com/2010/07/14/shinan-leave-out-the-beaver/. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
- ^ "Russell Peters and wife, Monica Diaz, expecting baby girl in February". The Canadian Press. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/entertainment/breakingnews/russell-peters-and-wife-monica-diaz-expecting-baby-girl-in-february-105809288.html. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ^ "Russell Peters ~ Booking, Tour dates and video Information". http://www.helpms.ca/russellpeters.htm. Help Management Services
- ^ "Press Release: Canada's Walk of Fame Announces the 2011 Inductees". Canada's Walk of Fame. 2011-06-28. http://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/news/press-release-canadas-walk-fame-announces-2011-inductees. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
- ^ "Russell Peters Talks Source Code, Working with Jake Gyllenhaal". http://www.reelmovienews.com/2011/03/exclusive-russell-peters-talks-source-code-working-with-jake-gyl/.
Further reading
- Russell Peters (26 October 2010). Call Me Russell. Doubleday Canada. ISBN 9780385669634. http://books.google.com/books?id=E2n_YNRbabwC&pg=PP1.
External links
Categories:- 1970 births
- Actors from Ontario
- Anglo-Indian people
- Canadian expatriates in the United States
- Canadian film actors
- Canadian Internet personalities
- Canadian people of Indian descent
- Canadian radio actors
- Canadian Roman Catholics
- Canadian stand-up comedians
- Gemini Award winners
- Living people
- Warner Bros. Records artists
- People from Brampton
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