Russell Peters

Russell Dominic Peters¹ (born 1970) is a Canadian stand-up comic of Indian descent, specifically Anglo-Indian, from Brampton, Ontario. His parents, Eric and Maureen, are originally from Calcutta, India and later moved to Brampton, Ontario in Canada in 1975.[2] Russell Peters focuses primarily on his cultural background, Arab, Caribbean, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, and other South and Southeast Asian communities that remain invisible to the mainstream media.

Peters began performing in Toronto in 1989¹ and has performed in the UK, Australia, China, Singapore, Denmark, South Africa, the Caribbean, Vietnam, Malaysia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the United States. He has been nominated for four Gemini Awards,[3] 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 Comedy Festival, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival. He hosted the Canada Day Comedy Festival 2006.

Peters’ comedy focuses largely around his Indian upbringing and racial stereotypes, as he often parodies his parents and South Asian culture. Much of his material explores the cultural divides between many different ethnicities and upbringings in a way that includes many impressions. One reason for his popularity is that he engages the audience at his shows, by talking to individuals and making some sort of remark at or about them.

His most recent comedy special Russell Peters: Outsourced, aired on Comedy Central on August 26, 2006. Outsourced was also made available on DVD and CD in stores on August 29, 2006. The DVD version features his uncensored “Outsourced” performance. The DVD was extremely popular, especially in Canada, selling over 50,000 copies. Peters confirmed that “Outsourced” is his first comedy DVD released. The DVD “Two Concerts, One Ticket” never had Peters involved or made deals about the DVD release.

He currently resides in Hollywood, California.