We recently saw the comedian Russell Peters at the Hi-Sense Arena in Melbourne recently.
A Very Funny guy; we enjoyed ourselves.
The audience was packed. Hi-Sense Arena holds approximately 10,000 people. Russell Peters, is 47 years old, is well known across the world and said he has been performing for 30 years.
We had good seats about 25 rows back from the stage. I don’t mind this because every performance (and his video performances) shows him poking fun at anyone in the first 5 rows. Their race, their status, their appearance nothing is off limits – this can take up to a 1/4 of the show.
I notice Russell is making appearances in a few Hollywood movies. The first I saw Russell Peters was in a Jake Gyllenhaal movie in 2011 called the Source Code. He has made a few movie appearances since then (recently the Clapper) and has even had his own television or Netflix series called the Indian Detective (alongside the age-defying prolific actor: William Shatner) which may be entering the second season. He is also a bestselling author: Call Me Russell published by Doubleday Canada (2010).
Like most successful observational comedians, Russell Peters makes fun of himself, his Indian heritage, his apparent identity issues, relationships, sex, gay culture, US politics, and society at large.
Whether this is a type of therapy for him doesn’t seem to matter as he generates the laughs. Russell grew up in Toronto and has a Indian heritage. The parents forbade the speaking of Hindi in the home and when they travel back to India when he was a child; he feels like an outsider- he conveys the impression that this is a lifelong feeling – The Indian Detective uses this Western/Asian dichotomy theme as well. This experience makes up a large percentage of his material and concluded by him making fun of a society that is reluctant or refuses to accept him as a western-raised Indian who speaks only English i.e. “India is many countries in one.” One driver had a common name that translates into ‘snake-penis’ he thought was hilarious (and many of the Sub-Continent members of the audience as well).
Russell’s comedic delivery is flawless, his quick wit is genius and overall, very funny.
We had a great night out, and the laughs came regularly throughout the two-hour show.
My Rating: 5 Stars- Worth Seeing.
Take Care & Cheers
Jason
