Russell Peters Talks Trash

‘Peshaab?’ After ribbing Shashi Tharoor’s missus for a good half hour, Peters turned his sight on the poor wide eyed bloke from FHM we sent over for an interview and got his name wrong.

The man can speak, and dance, and mimic, and do pretty much anything that comes to mind. We caught up with Russell who was in India promoting his Notorious tour.

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FHM: So where do you get your wit from?

Russell Peters: There’s no secret recipe for having wit or imbibing it in you. It’s like either you have it or you don’t. I guess, I was born with it.

FHM: Why did you call this tour Notorious?

Russell Peters: Because we started it in March of 2012 and that was the 15 year death anniversary of Notorious B.I.G., who was my favorite rapper.

FHM: Which has been your best performance till date?

Russell Peters: Picking out one gig and terming it as the best will be unfair on my part. I’ve been doing stand ups for the last 24 years. From the beginning till this day, every gig has been spectacular.

FHM: So how well do you gel with other comics like Chris Rock and the likes?

Russell Peters: It’s like a close knit community. Comics are a big group yet small at the same time. When you reach a certain level, they are all like your peers. Everyone knows each other and chills with each other, whenever they have time on their hands. Chris Rock calls me the ‘Most Famous Person Nobody Knows’, which to me is quite flattering.

FHM: You are an Indian by descent and still mock your culture’s idiosyncrasies. Why do you do so?

Russell Peters: My comedy is universal and relatable to all walks of life (well, life on two legs at least). It’s true I talk about India’s culture a lot, but that’s because the whole world, at least the part that I grew up in has always been so intrigued by this country’s culture. India is a great country, despite the obscene nature of people (you know the fact that they scratch their balls right in the middle of the road and so on). And this is what amuses me and inspires me in my acts.

FHM: Your acts usually spin around racial cultural comedy. Don’t you get hate calls after your shows?

Russell Peters: That’s my style of comedy. Some guys do political comedy, while I do a lot of racial cultural. It does creep out a lot of people, but it bothers them more because they can’t figure out how my comedy is acceptable. People have tried to imitate my style and failed miserably at it. The fact is my acts talk about celebrating the culture, not about mocking it. And that’s how I get away with it.

FHM: We’ve been hearing a lot about your sitcom show. When does it come out?

Russell Peters: Yeah, I know these rumours have been making the rounds for some time now. I am working on a sitcom with Will and Jada Smith. It will take some time before it comes out for you guys, but definitely not next year.

FHM: And what about movies?

Russell Peters: No, nothing at all. There are offers every now and then, but they never seem to materialise. The problem with movies is that when you have the dates, the finances tend to topple over and when you have the finances you run out of dates. So movies and me are poles apart, at least at the moment.

Russell Peters is in India for a three city-tour for the Micromaxx Notorious tour.

From the November 2013 issue of FHM India.