Russell Dominic Peters born 29 September [ 1 ] is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and producer. In , he was number three on Forbes ' list of the world's highest-paid comedians , and became the first comedian to get a Netflix stand-up special. He lives in Los Angeles. When Peters was four, he and his family moved to Brampton.
He eventually learned boxing , which helped him resist the bullying. By the s, he was a well-connected DJ in the Toronto scene.
Peters's older brother, Clayton Peters, serves as his manager. Peters began performing in Toronto in He has since gone on to perform in several countries. In , Peters met American comedian George Carlin , one of his biggest influencers, who advised him to get on stage whenever and wherever possible.
Peters said he "took that advice to heart, and I think that's the reason I am where I am now. He is among the first South Asian Americans to achieve international success in the field. In , Peters made an appearance on Top Gear America in the third episode of season 1 as one of the guests. Forbes ranked him as the seventh-highest-paid comedian. Peters credits the turning point in his career to his special on the Canadian TV show Comedy Now!
While the initial video upload featured his entire minute performance, YouTube users subsequently uploaded segments of the performance in which Peters focused on individual cultural groups. According to Peters, those segments were seen by the targeted cultural groups and were well received by them. The video and its viral nature was referred to by Peters on his performance, Outsourced ; when the audience cheered when he referred to earlier jokes, he exclaimed, "Look at you, you filthy downloaders!
