Russell Peters: The Stand-Up Comedian No More

This is merely but an opinion based on Russell Peters’ recent show in Singapore on February 2016.

Considering Russell Peters had 2 shows in Singapore last year, the common question I faced was whether not  if the content was repetitive. Despite the fact I did not attend last year’s show, I was quite confident that I was fed with fresh content.

Russell Peter’s content is all about making fun of the unfortunate people who paid a premium to snag front row seats in the center section. This time, the offerings for the star of the night  included a bald Caucasian male blessed with luscious eyebrows, a Chinese male who clearly had a better looking partner, another Caucasian father of seven children, out of which, 2 were present, an Indian trainee surgeon amongst others. He was merciless.

Yet, 5000 or so at Suntec Convention Centre, including myself,  laughed our guts out at the expense of certain individuals. When my friends wanted me to share the jokes of the night, I could not bring myself to repeat any of them without experiencing a sense of repugnance.

Almost everyone of us would have encountered bullies in our lives from our childhood to school or even at work. While most of us stand in plain sight as spectators afraid of standing up for the weak and bullied, those who partake in the joys are downright despicable.

The art of stand-up comedy  is no longer one Russell Peter dwells in. He used to be a very good one. A good comedian will not see the need to apologise to anyone during his set, something which Russell Peters resorted to more than a few times.  Even Chris Newburg (The Chris Army), who helmed the warm up set, came prepared with material to entertain the crowd and he actually had jokes.

Some of you may feel that I may be over reacting or being sensitive and that comedians are actually entitled to say what they want. Ask yourself this, do you not see a fine line between being funny and being rude. Cracking a joke by belittling someone else is not humour. It is a form of bullying.

Russell Peters, if you do actually read this, I can only hope that you bounce back to what you are truly great at. I wish you well. I fear that if you insist on treading along this lowly path of bullying, somebody is gonna get hurt real bad….

 

Thinesh Kurunathan
The Guru Project

*This is the personal opinion of the writer*