A few years ago,a funny Canadian man was making quite some noise online,with his stand-up routines. His lines Somebodys gonna get a hurt real bad reached our living rooms and bars thereafter and catapulted him to success. The celebrated stand-up comedian,Russell Peters is now touring India as part of the Russell Peters Notorious World Tour. He performed to a packed audience in Delhi,has another show in Mumbai today at MMRDA grounds,and will continue the tour in Bangalore and Chennai. The tour has been produced by Mumbai-based company Only Much Louder. The 43-year-old,known for his observational humour and his commentary on racial and ethnic stereotypes makes one promise about what one can expect funny jokes and stories. This is Peters second India tour. During the first one,he took quite a few digs at Bollywood. Probe him about taking potshots at the film industry this time,and he says,Its not that I hate Bollywood movies. I just never grew up with them. The random bits and pieces that Ive seen just never appealed to me. It was at the insistence of a cousin,when Peters was a 19-year-old in Toronto,that he first performed. I did an open mic night at Yuk Yuks,a comedy club in Toronto,and I was terrible. I didnt really have any material,but I still got a couple of giggles from the audience that night. After that,I was hooked, he says. However,its the internet that he truly credits for his rise and popularity as a stand-up comedian. I cant deny that everything took off for me once my material was dumped on the web. At first I was freaking out,but obviously its worked out well for me, says Peters. Once his India tour finishes,Peters will begin work on his next project,an American sitcom. I just announced a partnership with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smiths production company,Overbrook,to develop a sitcom. Even though the project is in its early stages,weve got an interesting idea and Will and Jada have been great to work with. Jada may or may not play my wife on the show. Well be working on it as soon as I get back from India, he says. Somya Lakhani
