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Russell Peters

Extracted and modified from ikipedia under CC-BY-SA 3.0


Russell Dominic Peters (born September 29, 1970) [1] is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and producer. [2] He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and won a Gemini Award in 2008. In 2013, he was number three on Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid comedians, and became the first comedian to get a Netflix stand-up special. [3] He also won the Peabody Award and the International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming for producing Hip-Hop Evolution (2016). He lives in Los Angeles. [4]

Peters was born in Toronto, Ontario on September 29, 1971, to Eric and Maureen Peters, both of whom were of Anglo-Indian descent and immigrated to Canada from Kolkata, India in 1965. [5] [6] Peters was raised Catholic. [6]

When Peters was four, he and his family moved to the suburb of Brampton. He attended Chinguacousy Secondary School for grades 9–10, and North Peel Secondary School in Bramalea for grades 11–12. [7] [8] [9] In school, he was regularly bullied because of his ethnicity. He eventually learned boxing, which helped him resist the bullying. [10] Peters also became a fan of hip hop in his youth. By the 1990s, he was a well-connected DJ in the Toronto scene. [11] [12]

Peters' older brother, Clayton, serves as his manager. [13]

Peters began performing in Toronto in 1989. He has since gone on to perform in several countries. [14]

In 1992, Peters met American comedian George Carlin, one of his biggest influencers, who advised him to get on stage whenever and wherever possible. Peters said he "took that advice to heart, and I think that's the reason I am where I am now." [15] In 2007, 15 years later, he hosted one of Carlin's last shows before the comedian's death the following year. [10]

On September 28, 2013, Peters was awarded the 2013 Trailblazer award by the Association of South Asians in Media, Marketing and Entertainment (SAMMA) for good contributions to comedy. He is among the first South Asians to achieve international success in the field.

In 2017, Peters made an appearance on Top Gear America in the third episode of season 1 as one of the guests. [16]

According to Forbes, Peters earned an estimated $15 million between June 2009 and June 2010, continuing his run as one of the highest-paid comedians, after earning an estimated $5 million the prior year. Forbes ranked him as the third-highest-paid comedian. [17] [18] In 2013, he earned $21 million, according to Forbes' estimate. [19]

Peters credits the turning point in his career to his 2004 special on the Canadian TV show Comedy Now!, which was uploaded onto YouTube, where it became popular. While the initial video upload featured his entire 45-minute performance, YouTube users subsequently uploaded segments of the performance in which Peters focused on individual cultural groups. According to Peters, those segments were seen by the targeted cultural groups and were well received by them. The video and its viral nature was referred to by Peters on his performance, Outsourced; when the audience cheered when he referred to earlier jokes, he exclaimed, "Look at you, you filthy downloaders!" [20]

In 2007, Peters was the first comedian to sell out Toronto's Air Canada Centre, selling more than 16,000 tickets in two days for the single show. He ended up selling more than 30,000 tickets nationally over the two-day sales period. He broke a UK comedy sales record at London's O2 Arena when he sold over 16,000 tickets to his show in 2009. [21] His show in Sydney on 15 May 2010 had an audience of 13,880, making it the largest stand-up comedy show ever in Australia. [22] Peters's performances on May 5–6, 2012 in Singapore also set attendance records for a single stand-up comedian at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. [23]

Peters hosted the Canada Day Comedy Festival 2006, and participated in a USO tour of Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Africa and Greenland in November 2007 with Wilmer Valderrama and Mayra Veronica. [24] He also produced and starred in the radio situation comedy series Monsoon House on CBC Radio One.

Peters was the host of the televised 2008 Juno Awards ceremonies in Calgary on April 6, 2008, [25] for which he won a Gemini Award for "Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series." [26] The show received the second-highest ratings of any Juno Awards broadcast. Following the show's success, Peters accepted an invitation to host the Juno Awards for a second consecutive year; the 2009 Juno Awards took place in Vancouver on March 29, 2009.

Peters released his debut comedy album, Outsourced, of his performance aired on Comedy Central on August 26, 2006. The DVD version is uncensored; it has sold more than 100,000 copies, and remained on the National DVD Chart over one and a half years after its release.

Peters released a second DVD/CD combo, Red, White and Brown, in Canada in 2008, and in the U.S. in early 2009. It was recorded on February 2, 2008, at the WaMu Theatre in New York City's Madison Square Garden. It was self-produced and financed by Peters and his brother Clayton.

On October 26, 2010, Peters published his autobiography, Call Me Russell, co-written with his brother, Clayton, and Dannis Koromilas.

In May 2011, Peters released The Green Card Tour: Live from the O2 Arena, a live performance recorded in front of a total audience of 30,000, over two nights at O2 Arena in London, England. [27] Also in 2011, Peters received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame. [28]

Peters's stand-up performances feature observational comedy, using humour to highlight racial, ethnic, class and cultural stereotypes. He often refers to his own experiences growing up in an Anglo-Indian family, and impersonates the accents of various ethnic groups to poke fun at them. As he told an audience in San Francisco, "I don't make the stereotypes, I just see them." [29] In a 2006 interview with The National, Peters observed that he did not intend to put down or offend different races and cultures, but tried to "raise them up through humour". [30]

Peters is widely known for his punchline, "Somebody gonna get a hurt real bad." It ends a joke he tells about his childhood with a traditional Indian father, who used corporal punishment on his sons. Another punchline he uses is "Be a man! Do the right thing!", which relates to a story of a Chinese man trying to get him to pay more for an item at a shop. [31]

Peters lives in Los Angeles, California and owns two homes there. He also owns homes in Las Vegas and Vaughan, Ontario. [4]

In 2010, Peters established the Russell Peters North Peel Scholarship, an award worth up to $21,000 and intended to finance up to three years of college. [32] It will be awarded annually to a student from Judith Nyman Secondary School (formerly North Peel) with a strong academic record and the intention of attending college. [9] [32]

Peters proposed to girlfriend Monica Diaz on July 10, 2010 at the Los Angeles International Airport and announced their engagement via Twitter. The couple married on August 20, 2010 at A Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The wedding was attended by about 20 guests, including an Elvis impersonator. Soon after, Peters told The Canadian Press that Diaz was pregnant, saying, "Did I get married because she was knocked up? I would say that expedited it." [33] Their daughter, Crystianna Marie Peters, was born two months early on December 14, 2010. [34] In a March 2012 interview, Peters revealed that he and Diaz were divorcing. [35] [36]

In October 2016, it was announced that Peters was engaged to Ruzanna Khetchian. [37] After the engagement was called off, Peters announced on December 4, 2018, via Twitter, that he and his girlfriend Jennifer Andrade were expecting a child. [38] Andrade was the Miss Universe Honduras in 2012. The following April, it was announced that Andrade had given birth to a boy, whom they named Russell Santiago Peters. [39] [40] His relationship with Andrade ended in 2020. [41]

When interviewer Larry King asked Peters, "Is there such a thing as too taboo?", Peters replied, "I don't talk about religion because I think people are a little weird about religion, especially nowadays, and I'm more of a science guy than I am a beliefs guy. I'm more into facts than I am into beliefs." [42] [43] Peters is an atheist. [44]

Russell Peters has appeared in many films. Earlier in his career, he had cameo roles in Boozecan (1994) as Snake's Friend, Tiger Claws III (2000) as Detective Elliott, My Baby's Daddy (2004) as the obstetrician, and Quarter Life Crisis (2006) as Dilip Kumar.

He appeared in Senior Skip Day (2008), which starred Larry Miller, Tara Reid, and Gary Lundy. That year he was also in The Take (2008) as Dr. Sharma.

He acted in the Punjabi-Canadian Breakaway (2011), alongside Rob Lowe, Camilla Belle, Anupam Kher, and Vinay Virmani. That year he also acted in Duncan Jones's Source Code (2011) as Max, an amateur comedian with a bad attitude; and as Pervius in National Lampoon's 301: The Legend of Awesomest Maximus (2011). [45]

Peters has guest-starred on the TV series Mr. D as the school superintendent. In 2011, he starred in a Canadian TV Christmas special, A Russell Peters Christmas. Guests included Michael Bublé, Pamela Anderson, and Jon Lovitz. The show attracted the highest number of viewers of any CTV Canadian holiday special.



References

  1. "Russell Peters biography". Tribute. Retrieved 17 May 2015. ^
  2. Le, Vanna (February 14, 2014). "Why Russell Peters Is Notoriously Unknown". Forbes. ^
  3. "The famous comedian most Americans don't know". edition.cnn.com. 16 October 2013. ^
  4. Hough, Robert (September 2009). "Lighten Up". Toronto Life. Archived from the original on 26 September 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2012. ^
  5. "Archive from The Official Website of Russell Peters". Russellpeters.com. 2013-04-27. Archived from the original on 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2016-11-01.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) ^
  6. "Russell Peters". thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. May 25, 2016. ^
  7. "Russell Peters". Mahalo.com. Retrieved 2011-03-11. ^
  8. Jonathan Morvay (2010-04-30). "Punchline Magazine Blog: " Russell Peters creates $20,000 college scholarship — Comedy Blog, Comedy News, and all things in Stand Up Comedy". Punchlinemagazine.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-04. Retrieved 2011-03-11. ^
  9. "Comedian Russell Peters awards scholarship to Randy Adams". Digitaljournal.com. Retrieved 2011-03-11. ^
  10. "Call him grateful." The Globe and Mail. Accessed on November 6, 2012. ^
  11. "FAQ." RussellPeters.com. Accessed on November 6, 2012. ^
  12. MacLachlan, Alex. 27 June 2012. "Russell Peters: Comedian, DJ, Anti-fist pumper." DJ Mag, Accessed on November 6, 2012. ^
  13. "Comedian Russell Peters talks about his manager and big brother, Clayton." Toronto Star. Accessed on March 25, 2013. ^
  14. Mohr, Jay. "Mohr Stories 87: Russell Peters". Mohr Stories. Fake Mustache Studios. Retrieved 8 September 2012. ^
  15. Russell Peters - 10 Comics to Watch RussellPeters.com. Accessed on March 25, 2013. Archived 2013-04-03 at the Wayback Machine. ^
  16. KORZENIEWSKI, JEREMY. "Enjoy this exclusive preview of Top Gear America Episode 3". Autoblog. ^
  17. Lacey Rose. "In Pictures: The 10 Top Earning Comedians - 7) Russell Peters". Forbes.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-31. Retrieved 2010-12-17. ^
  18. Lacey Rose. "In Pictures: The 10 Top Earning Comedians - 9) Russell Peters, (tie)". Forbes.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-04. Retrieved 2010-07-06. ^
  19. Feeney, Nolan. "No. 3: Russell Peters - In Photos: The Top-Earning Comedians of 2013". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-04-21. ^
  20. "Russell Peters: Outsourced Aired on COMEDYP — Ark TV Transcript". tv.ark.com. Archived from the original on 11 January 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2015. ^
  21. "The Official Russell Peters Website, Hi-lites". russellpeters.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-26. Retrieved 2011-08-07. ^
  22. "World laughs with you". Sydney Morning Herald. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2012. ^
  23. "Have a hearty laugh". TTGmice. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013. ^
  24. "USO visits Bagram". United States Department of Defense. November 21, 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-24. ^
  25. "Russell Peters to Host The 2008 Juno Awards, April 6 on CTV" (PDF). CARAS. February 5, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-16. Retrieved 2008-02-05. ^
  26. "Self-proclaimed 'mainstream' Nickelback reigns at Junos". CBC Arts, Mar 29, 2009 ^
  27. De Giorgio, Lorianna (31 May 2011). "Russell Peters releases third DVD, panic ensues". thestar.com. Toronto. Retrieved 29 January 2012. ^
  28. "Russell Peters". Canada's Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on 7 December 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-02. ^
  29. Piccalo, Gina (16 April 2010). "No joke — Russell Peters is a famous comedian". LA Times. Retrieved 29 January 2012. ^
  30. Clifton Joseph, "Russell Peters Interview on CBC The National, May 30th 2006" ^
  31. Nguyen, An (19 May 2009). "Defying Stereotypes and Breaking All Laws of Decency, Russell Peters Lets It All Hang Out". (Cult)ure magazine. Archived from the original on 15 November 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012. ^
  32. Morvay, Jonathan (2010-04-30). "Russell Peters creates $20,000 college scholarship". Punchlinemagazine.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-04. Retrieved 2011-03-11. ^
  33. "Russell Peters and wife, Monica Diaz, expecting baby girl in February". 680 News. October 26, 2010. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2012. ^
  34. "Russell Peters eases into fatherhood and film". CTV News. May 31, 2011. ^
  35. "Russell Peters: Bring on the Funny". Gulf News. March 19, 2012. ^
  36. "A busy Russell Peters divorcing, renovating, touring world". The Globe and Mail. June 15, 2012. ^
  37. "Russell Peters Is Engaged!". Global News. September 28, 2016 ^
  38. Peters, Russell (4 December 2018). "I am pleased to announce that my beautiful girlfriend Jennifer Andrade and I are pregnant!! (Well she's pregnant I'm just carrying baby weight) In a time with negativity". twitter. ^
  39. "Russell Peters announces birth of his second child, a 'strong, big ass' son - The Star". thestar.com. ^
  40. "Russell Peters announces birth of his second child, a 'strong, big ass' son". Thespec.com. 16 April 2019. ^
  41. "Ex Miss Honduras confirma ruptura con el comediante Russell Peters" (in Spanish). laprensa.hn. June 29, 2020. ^
  42. "Russell Peters: I Don't Talk About Religion". Ora.tv. ^
  43. "Russell Peters avoids religion in his comedy act". The Washington Times. ^
  44. "Russell Peters Celebrates 25 Years in Comedy With Massive Crowds, Big DVD Sales". Variety. July 15, 2015. ^
  45. Compolongo, Gabrielle. "EXCLUSIVE: Russell Peters Talks Source Code, Working with Jake Gyllenhaal". Movie Fanatic. Retrieved 29 January 2012. ^
  46. "Hip-Hop Evolution". Peabody Awards. Retrieved July 27, 2018. ^
  47. "Canadian documentary series Hip-Hop Evolution wins International Emmy Award". Toronto Star. November 21, 2017. ^