How Peters warded off bullies by making them laugh

‘I loved being onstage and would take any gig anywhere. It was never for the money. I would just do it for gas money or even just for the food at a club.’

Ready to laugh your lungs out?

On March 10, AEG Presents and Ovation Productions are bringing Russell Peters, touted as a “global comedy phenomenon,” to the PICC Plenary Hall. The show, Deported World Tour, features Peters’ all-new material and his signature interactions with the audience.

After touring Asia in 2015 and 2016, Peters filmed his last special, Almost Famous, for Netflix in Toronto. In-between, he produced and starred in his own comedy-drama limited series, The Indian Detective, which will air on Dec. 19 this year on Netflix globally.

Peters has also appeared in the still unreleased film The Clapper (with Ed Helms, Amanda Seyfried and Tracy Morgan), Supercon (with Ryan Kwanten and John Malkovich), and Public Schooled (with Judy Greer).

The show will also feature comedian Jake Johannsen, one of David Letterman’s favorite comedians and known for being a legendary raconteur of weird stories.

Did you know which comic made Peters want to do comedy for a living?

Peters cited the legendary comic George Carlin as his idol and inspiration. Peters met Carlin in 1992 and never forgot the lessons he learned from the legend that included to never stop working hard and to get on stage whenever and wherever he could. Peters tells comedian Pete Holmes on his podcast, You Made It Weird, that he attributes his tireless work ethic to Carlin’s advice early on in his career. Peters also refers to Eddie Murphy as one of his comedy heroes.

Here’s Funfare’s exclusive e-mail interview with Peters:

How old were you when you realized you could make people laugh?

“Well, I think that’s something that came to me as a child, because I was a very small kid and granted I probably had a big mouth on me. I was a victim of a lot of racial bullying. Because I was so small and didn’t know how to fight or couldn’t fight back. I would try to flip the situation so that the bully would end up laughing, and they were thinking that I was making fun of myself. But really at the end of the day, I was getting myself out of an ass whooping.”

If you were not a comedian, what would you be?

“Selling shoes or driving a forklift. I realized that being a comedian was my calling after the first time I stepped on-stage and did it. It was an open-mic night at Yuk Yuks in Toronto in 1989 and I just went up and told some jokes. I was terrible, but I got a few giggles and I was hooked.”

Have you cracked jokes and nobody laughed?

“Not everyone is going to find everything you say funny. Sometimes, people will laugh at every group except themselves, which makes me nuts. You’ve got to laugh at yourself, too.”

Do you still get nervous onstage? How do you deal with it?

“My only fear (in the early years) was not getting better or not getting any laughs. That was it. I loved being onstage and would take any gig anywhere. It was never for the money. I would just do it for gas money or even just for the food at a club.”

Who are your influences?

“I grew up with Jamaicans, Filipinos, Indians and Italians. We all used to make fun of one another, so coming from a multi-cultural background definitely helped me.”

You’ve already had your own Netflix stand-up special, your own movie, your own TV series, and a sold-out world tour. What else do you plan to achieve this 2018?

“As lucky as I’ve been, I’m still very much an outsider in this business. I’m not part of any of the cliques. I do my own thing and some people get, and some people don’t.”

What advice can you give young people today who would want to pursue comedy as a profession?

“The best advice that I ever got was right from George Carlin back in 1992. He told me to get on-stage as much as possible. It doesn’t matter where, just get up there and do it. It takes at least eight years for a comedian to find his voice. So it will be interesting to see where some of the new kids will land as they get better at their craft. For me, doing stand-up is something that I have to do. It’s my calling. I guess the fact that I still love doing it after almost 30 years keeps me in the game.”

(Tickets for Deported World Tour are priced at P8,190; P7,135; P6,080; P3,970; and P2,910. Check out www.ticketworld.com.ph. Or call 891-9999.)

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