Born in Canada, Anglo-Indian stand-up comic Russell Peters says he can't relate to B-Town, feels the acting is bad and the stories almost identical!
Indians can be cheap, the Jews will pay up if they think it's worth it, but not us Indians! As Russell Peters tells it, "I took my dad to the bar for a drink, the waiter asked for $4.50. My dad gave him $3. When the waiter asked him for the other $1.50, my dad told him, 'Don't worry about it'."
A stand-up comic, who has had people from across cultures laughing at themselves, says it's his honesty that clicks with the audience, regardless of the country or culture. He calls his brand of humour "observational and personal. It's how I see the world. It's important for me to be honest. I've been told by fans that it doesn't matter what country they're from and that they respond to me being honest about them."
Peters first knew he loved playing to the gallery in 1989 at Yuk Yuks in Toronto. He recalls, "I enjoyed from the moment I got my first laugh at what was an awful joke." His family was supportive, largely because, he thinks "nobody really understood what it was. I think my dad thought it was just some 'thing' I was going to do until I figured out what I really wanted to do."
He has kept in touch with the Indian connection, and that perhaps explains where the jokes are coming from! He says, "I still have uncles and cousins in India and I see them when I come over, or when they come over to see my mom. I'm as Indian as anybody with Indian parents and born in Canada can be, I guess."
He has also faced his share of being the 'outsider' in a 'white' Canadian society. Things are changing though. "Being 'Indian' made me a misfit in 'white' society when I was younger, but not any more. I just hosted the Juno Awards (Canada's Grammy Awards) for the second year in a row. Thirty years ago, I never would have imagined an Indian guy hosting a national awards show in Canada. When I do something like that, it means that all the young Indian and South-Asian kids know that they can do anything they want, there are no limits on them to do what they want."
Being born Canadian, living next door to big brother US also has its advantages for a comic. He says, "As Canadians, we're always outsiders. We live next door to the most powerful country in the world. We grow up watching their tv shows, news, sports — we're constantly watching and observing. I think that's why Canada produces so many comedians."
A career highlight was being invited to the Jay Leno Show. He confesses, "It was cool. Jay was and still is a stand-up comic, so he really understands what I do and what it was like for me to be on his show. He came to my dressing room before the show and was really nice. It's a benchmark in every comic's career."
He's also played roles in films like Quarter Life Crises, My Baby's Daddy and Tiger Claws III. And, there are more coming up. Peters reveals, "I'm developing a romantic comedy with Billy Crystal and a couple of other film projects in LA. I like making movies. I've said no to a lot of offers over the past decade or so, mostly because they all consisted of me playing a taxi driver, seven-eleven guy or some other stereotypical role where the character is a stumbling, bumbling Indian guy with an accent."
As for Bollywood, ahem! He's not in touch with the films at all. He is categorical, "I don't watch the films, I have no interest in them. They're awful. I grew up in Canada and live in the States. There's nothing about Bollywood that I can relate to. I understand why they exist and why they're successful in India and with people who recently emigrated from India, but they're not for me. The acting sucks and the stories are always basically the same."
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-12/news-interviews/29406851_1_russell-peters-indian-connection-indian-guy
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