Russell Peters

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Russell Peters
Russell Peters in 2009
Birth name	Russell Dominic Peters
Born	September 29, 1970 (1970-09-29) (age 38) Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Medium	stand-up, television, film, radio
Nationality	Canadian
Years active	1989–present
Genres	Satire, Improvisational comedy, Observational comedy
Subject(s)	racism, race relations,Indian culture
Influences	George Carlin, Steve Martin, Cheech and Chong,[1] Don Rickles,[2] Eddie Murphy
Notable works and roles	Russell Peters: Outsourced, Russell Peters: Red, White, and Brown
Website	RussellPeters.com

Russell Dominic Peters^[3] (born September 29, 1970)^[4] is a Canadian stand-up comic and actor of Anglo-Indian decent.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Early life and background 2 Career 2.1 New sitcom on Fox 2.2 USO tour 2.3 Juno Awards 2008 2.4 Juno Awards 2009 3 Red, White, and Brown 4 Film 5 Popularity 6 Awards and recognitions 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Early life and background

Russell Peters was born in Toronto, to Eric and Maureen Peters, and raised in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. His father was born in Bombay, India and worked as a Federal meat inspector and his mother, born in Calcutta, India. He has an older brother named Clayton who was also born in Calcutta.^{[citation needed]}

He went to Georges Vanier Catholic Elementary School from kindergarten to grade 8 and North Peel Secondary School for grades 9-12 in Brampton, Ontario.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Career

Peters began performing in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1989.^[3] He has since also performed in the UK, Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Denmark, South Africa, the Caribbean, Vietnam, New Zealand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sweden, India, UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, and the United States among other places.

He has been nominated for four Gemini Awards,^[5] the Canadian television awards. He has also been nominated for Best Male Comic at the Canadian Comedy Awards.^{[citation needed]} Peters has been featured at such shows as Montreal's Just for Laughs (Juste Pour Rire) Comedy Festival, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival. He hosted the Canada Day Comedy Festival 2006.

His comedy special Russell Peters: Outsourced, aired on Comedy Central on August 16, 2006. The DVD version features his uncensored performance. The DVD has been popular, especially in Canada, selling over 100,000 copies. Outsourced remained on the National DVD Chart over one and a half years after release.

Peters' DVD/CD combo Russell Peters: Red, White, and Brown was recorded on February 2, 2008 at The WAMU Theatre at Madison Square Garden. Peters and his brother self-produced and financed Red, White and Brown.

Peters also currently produces and stars on the radio situation comedy series, Monsoon House, on CBC Radio One.

[edit] New sitcom on Fox

In September 2007, it was confirmed that Peters made a deal with Fox to develop a new sitcom, based on his experience in Canada. Peters says, "It's really a snapshot of where my family maybe was ten years ago" and he ensures that the sitcom is "Something that will be funny and honest."^[6][7]

[edit] USO tour

Peters participated in a USO tour of Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Africa and Greenland in November 2007 with Wilmer Valderrama and Mayra Veronica.^[8]

[edit] Juno Awards 2008

Peters was the host of the 2008 Juno Awards televised ceremonies in Calgary on April 6, 2008.^[9] He won a Gemini Award for "Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series" for hosting the Junos III. The 2008 awards received the second-highest ratings ever for the program.

[edit] Juno Awards 2009

Peters was asked to host the 2009 Juno Awards for a second year in a row. The 2009 Juno Awards took place in Vancouver on March 29, 2009.

[edit] Red, White, and Brown

Peters latest DVD/CD is called Russell Peters: Red, White, and Brown. It was released in Canada in September 2008 and in the US on January 27, 2009. Peters produced this DVD along with his brother and manager, Clayton Peters.

[edit] Film

Peters has also appeared in a few films, most recent of which is "Senior Skip Day" also starring Larry Miller, Tara Reid & Gary Lundy. Besides these, Peters has also had short appearances in the 1994 film Boozecan as Snake's Friend, the 1999 film Tiger Claws III as Detective Elliott, the 2004 film My Baby's Daddy as the obstetrician, the 2006 film Quarter Life Crisis as Dilip Kumar, the 2007 film The Take as Dr. Sharma, and the 2008 film Senior Skip Day as Uncle Todd. Peters is also listed for his appearances in two upcoming films. He is scheduled to star as "Pervius" in National Lampoon's The Legend of Awesomest Maximus.

[edit] Popularity

Peters' popularity extends to several countries. In Canada, Peters became the first comedian to sell out at Toronto's Air Canada Centre,^[10] with more than 15,000 tickets in two days for the single show. He ended up selling over 30,000 tickets nationally over the two-day sales period. A total of over 60,000 tickets were sold across six cities.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Awards and recognitions

• 1997 - Nomination for the Gemini Award in the category "Best Individual Performance in a Comedy Program or Series". This was for Show Me The Funny, from the TV-series Comics! (1997)^[11]
• 2004 - Nomination for a Gemini Award for his Comedy Now! special.
• 2008 - Nomination for a Gemini Award for hosting The Junos.
• 2008 - Winner of a Gemini Award for 'Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series'.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Russell Peters

• RussellPeters.com - Official site
• Russell Peters at MySpace
• Russell Peters at the Internet Movie Database
• Russell named first Toronto ambassador