Wednesday, November 17, 2010

RAVE - Russell Peters at HP Pavilion, San Jose

Having seen this Canadian-born-Indian comedian a couple of times before, it;s interesting to note the development in his act and humor.

When we first saw Peters at a 500-seat theater in the Mission district in San Francisco, the audience was almost totally Indian - i.e. from India, or their sons and daughters born in the USA. Consequently, his material was mostly observations on, and stories about Hindu, Punjabi, Gujarati, and other groups within, or from India. It meant you had to be Indian, or like me, married to someone from an Indian family, to completely and totally "get it".

Now, putting it that way somewhat plays down his effect. His act is scream-out-loud funny, and even with the limited exposure I've had to Mrs. Page's family, I can appreciate the extremes - the slapstick and the subtleties, the family archetypes, the ethnic mannerisms.

Two years ago we saw Peters at another small-ish show, this time at Cobbs Comedy Club here in San Francisco. The audience was a wider selection of "foreigners", not just Indians. Peters showed the same connection with Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Caribbeans, and Filipinos. He clearly understood their idiosyncrasies, their foibles and their linguistic individualities. And he was still hugely funny.

This past Sunday we saw him again at a 10,000+ seat event, where the audience represented pretty much every nationality on the planet. We know this because Peters works his way along the front few rows, engaging with people to find out where they're from, and using their answers to spark other racial and language merriment. Not only were there all the usual suspects, but also Koreans, Lebanese, Kuwaitis, Irish (yes, you're ethnic too), Iranians / Persians, Syrians AND Assyrians, Trinidadians, and a few white people aside from the Irish and me.

Truth be told, I prefer him focusing on India, because her ladyship laughs loudest at that stuff.

No comments: