Hollywood Masala caught up with Russell Peters after his recent show in HollywoodSOMEBODY`S GONNA LAUGH REAL BAD!
A night with Russell Peters
Anjali Belmann
If you plan to see the Candian comedian Russell Peters live, expect to stand. He`s sold out his shows in China, Toronto, Dallas, Chicago, Boston, DC, NY, LA...
But think of it this way: you`re less likely to hit your head when you double over in laughter at the world`s leading Desi comedian.
Desi? Russell Peters is no Desi name!
"The British were in India for 400 years. I think it pretty much writes itself after that. They decided to do whatever they wanted to do with their people, and I`m a product of their mis-doings, " says Peters.
Ok, he has the bloodline. And if you don`t believe me, his rendition of his father`s accent is enough to make you call your own parents and shout "See? You do sound like that!"
"My father used to ask, ‘Why do you make me sound like a bloody idiot?` I recorded my father and played it back for him. He said,‘That`s not me.` Indian parents refuse to believe they have an accent and they know it`s [Indian accent] a funny accent. So they`ll make fun of other Indian parents that have the accent, not realizing they have the exact same accent."
Thank God! A comedian that doesn`t sound like Apu from the Simpsons! And don`t think its all Indian all the time. No one is safe. His Chinese accents are actually tailored to different regions within China.
"I was in Hong Kong for the first time in 1989. ...I didn`t incorporate it in my act until 2003 – the last time I was there... I really got that [accent] from listening to people and talking to people. That`s when I got a grasp of their inflections and found the commonality between everybody."
But the golden rule in comedy: the person with the mic can make fun of anyone, as long as its his own people. And Russell - that rebel - is not Chinese.
"It has to be real. The person you are talking about has to be able to relate and say ‘he`s right`. Can`t get mad if its true, know what I mean? Are you going to get mad at the news? I say what I see. Now if you take it the wrong way, that`s on you, I`m not out to hurt anyone`s feelings."
That`s a relief. With all these sell out audiences, if he pissed off a 20,000 seat house (to use his own tag line) somebody`s gonna get hurt real bad! Why yes, I did say 20,000.
"I prefer more intimate venues. I love comedy clubs. Right now, doing all these theaters, ego-wise and financially, they are very rewarding. But at the end of the day, I was always a club comic and I love playing the club crowd. Last night at the Laugh Factory – two shows and they were sold out, they were full. It was a comedy club and it just felt right. You can tell the energy is different in comedy clubs. They are right there, right there with you, right in front of you. It`s a great feeling!"
"I`ve done every level of room you can think of. Every size. I`ve done 3 people in an audience, I`ve done 20,000 in the audience, I`ve done the full spectrum, I`ve had the worst gigs you can think of, I`ve had the best gigs you can think of. I`ve had every experience you can have in this game. That`s why if anything adverse happens to me on stage, its not like I get freaked out by it, because I`ve heard it, I`m sure its happened once or twice before. I`ve been booed off stage a couple times. It`s all a part of growing, know what I mean? You learn from your bad sets, you don`t look from your good sets. The good sets spoil you. "
Speaking of getting spoiled, think anyone who started off as a boxer and a DJ and then turned to comedy must have some family dough to finance his dreams? Come on, "be a man."
"Growing up in Canada is very different than growing up in the United States. Especially for an Indian guy. I find a lot of the Indian people in the United States grew up very privileged. Their parents were professionals of some sort, they`ve afforded them a better lifestyle. I didn`t grow up like that at all. My parents were working class, my mom worked at K-mart."
Doesn`t explain Russell`s obsession with Hugo Boss clothes, but enough about the past....what`s the future?
"My brother and I wrote a sit-com....little treatment...half a script....They`ve been talking it around the town, meeting with people – production people, just seeing if anyone is interested in it. And there`s a little interest in there."
Write? Do stand-ups actually write down material?
"I don`t actually write material, that`s the thing. People ask, how do you write such great material? I don`t write anything. I let the material write itself, I just report it back to you. It`s stuff you`ve already seen, you just ignored it when it happened."
I missed it? Maybe I`m losing it. Should I see a doctor?
"F*ck a doctor. Doctors are fabricated people. Any Jackass can go and study long enough and become a doctor. I meet all these Indian kids who become doctors, and they don`t want to be doctors. They just do what their parents told them. So I have no respect for them because they have no independent thought. You can`t think outside the box, think for yourself? You`re never gonna make it in this world. So now what? ... You go to a doctor who doesn`t to be a doctor, you gonna trust that doctor? Hell no, I don`t wanna go to that doctor. I want to go the poor guy who really studied his ass off because he really wanted to BE a doctor and make a difference. That`s the guy I wanna go see. "
You wanna see the comedian who goes on stage and just pisses around, "I`m just doing this because my friends made me..." No, you want to see the comedian that loves getting on stage, and he`s doing his job. Those are the people that make it in this world and those are the people that make a difference. "
Check out Russell Peters on http://www.russellpeters.com/
And the next time he`s in town, ask him to go catch a movie. Its not a date. He swears.
Anjali Belmann`s bio