Russell Peters

We finally caught an A-List comedian, at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey:  Russell Peters.  The Canadian of Indian (7-11 Indian, not casino Indian) origin gave a predictably hilarious performance, for about one hour (not the 1.5-2 hour performance we expect from a headlining musical group). 

What can we tell from him?   He was born and grew up in Canada from Indian parents who moved to Canada in the 60s.  They gave him a common name so he wouldn’t be ridiculed.  He’s been back to India several times but seems to prefer Canada (not much of a surprise).  He’s not good at “things that Indians are supposed to be good at”, like computers. 

Much of his routine involves making fun of whoever is in the first two rows, particularly if they’re mixed race or Asian.  We were several rows back, so we were safe in the darkness.  To that extent his routine has some improvisation, except that by now he can probably count on a certain ethnic mix in the audience – we saw lots of Indians, which was not a surprise.  Although he does make fun of Indians – particularly his parents – other targets are Chinese and Koreans.  According to him, Russian sounds like “talking backwards”. 

You’ll never get anywhere accusing an Indian of being cheap, he says.  The Indians simply consider this being smart.  Chinese are #2 in cheapness, with Jews a long distant third.  “I don’t know how they got that reputation,” he says, “as they’re nowhere near the same class of cheapness as Indians and Chinese.”

We’d seen several of his comedy specials on Netflix and YouTube, so we had some idea of what to expect, but if anything he’s gotten even funnier. 

By the way, a few months ago we caught a comedy night at a local club off 8^th Avenue in Manhattan.  This was a hole in the wall with no A-list comedians.  Even so, all of the comedians were funny and none were atrocious.  Whether we’ll be able to recognize them in a few years if and when they finally break it big, who knows.  Aside from a drafty window behind us, the show was definitely enjoyable.