Russell Peters is already a comedy superstar in much of the world. During a recent tour of Dubai, Russell sold tickets at the rate of one ticket every two seconds - crashing all the online sales outlets as soon as the tickets went on-sale . In April 2005, Russell was the first South Asian to headline and sell-out the Apollo Theatre in New York City. In June 2007, Russell became the first comedian to sell-out Toronto's Air Canada Centre - performing for over 30,000 fans over two nights. In addition to this first-time feat, in February 2008, Russell became one of only a handful of comedians to ever headline and sell-out the world famous Madison Square Garden.
Outsourced
Russell's last DVD and CD, Outsourced, was taped before a sold out audience at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco, and gives viewers and listeners an excellent overview of Russell's comedic genius. As much a humorist as a comedian, Russell doesn't really tell jokes. Rather, he uses his wry observations on the subjects of race, class and culture to illuminate our human shortcomings with the sizzling accuracy of a well-aimed laser. His quick wit and ability to mimic language and accents allows Russell to create characters of all races and cultures and forge an immediate bond with his audiences, regardless of their racial and cultural background. Outsourced has gone eleven times Platinum in his home country of Canada.
Russell has been doing stand up for 20 years and already has an impressive resume. He had a recurring role in the Canadian sitcom Lord Have Mercy and hosted his own BBC chat show Network East Late. His movie credits include the comedy Quarter Life Crises, My Baby's Daddy and the martial arts flick Tiger Claws III.
Russell has been nominated for four Gemini Awards [the Canadian equivalent of the Emmys]. He has been featured at Montreal's Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, HBO's Aspen Comedy Festival, the Edinburgh (Scotland) Comedy Festival and many others across the globe. His TV appearances include CBC's Comics! and two one-hour Comedy Now! specials on The Comedy Network in Canada. His Comedy Now! performance of February 2004 is one of the network's most popular shows of all time. When fans placed segments of the special on the internet it created a global demand for Russell comedy and his popularity exploded. His Youtube videos have been viewed by over 20 million individual viewers. His website, www.russellpeters.com, gets over 10,000 hits a day and alerts his many fans to his upcoming shows via targeted email blasts. He's performed sold-out tours of China, South Africa, Australia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Jamaica, St. Maartens, Trinidad, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates and in 2007, was be the first North American comic to tour India.
In 2007, Russell completed two USO tours for the troops. During these tours he performed on the USS Eisenhower and in Iraq, Afghanistan, Djibouti and Greenland and was part of a special Thanksgiving Tour for the troops with the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Cartwright.
Russell's comedy is rooted in the reality of growing up brown in white Canadian society. "My family and I are Anglo-Indian," Russell explains. "Anglo-Indians are a community of Indians from India who mixed with the British when they occupied India. Both of my parents are Anglo-Indian and their parents were Anglo-Indians and so on."
What's Next for Russell?
In February 2008, Russell recorded his latest DVD, Red, White and Brown at Madison Square Garden.
Red, White and Brown was released in Canada on September 30th, 2008 with Warner Music Canada. Red, White and Brown will be released in the US on January 27th, 2009.
Russell recently put his February 14th, 2009 show at London's O2 Arena on-sale, selling an uprecedented 9000+ tickets in one day.
In 2009, Russell will tour with his 20th Anniversay Tour, which will feature not only his greatest hits 'remixed' + all new material. The 20th Anniversay Tour will go across Canada, the US and The UK.
