ON STAGE
Russell Peters - Notorious World Tour
Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre
When: 8 p.m., Friday (doors 7 p.m.)
Tickets: $54.50-$79.50 (plus service charges) at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre box office, by phone at 220-7777, or online at selectyourtickets.com
Canadian comedy giant Russell Peters is renovating many facets of his life these days.
The Brampton, Ont.-raised standup star says he's remodelling parts of his five-bedroom, elevator-equipped Los Angeles mansion that's been featured on MTV's Cribs. He's going through what he describes as an amicable divorce with Monica Diaz, whom he wed in August 2010 and has an 18-month-old daughter with. And he's on a world tour that features "no old material," notes the outspoken, arena-packing quipster, who's known for skewering racial stereotypes, including those of his Anglo-Indian heritage.
"The subject matter will be from the same pool but the jokes will be different," Peters, 41, said of his Notorious World Tour, which touches down Friday night in Victoria at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre as part of his tour of sa国际传媒.
"I don't know about reinventing myself, but I feel pressure to write, to have new stuff, funny stuff that's comparable to the old stuff. You have to make sure you're not just doing inside jokes for the old fans. You want to make the new fans feel welcome too."
Peters has spent seven months honing his new act, which producers say has already set attendance records for comedy shows in Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, South Africa, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The set covers everything from the places Peters has visited to parenthood and his divorce. He tested the material in comedy clubs around the U.S. for several months before bringing it on the road.
Peters said the tour title is inspired in part by his reputation ("I'm notorious for doing things," he said) as well as the recent 15th anniversary of the death of rapper The Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls.
"Biggie's my favourite rapper of all time, and I was looking at one of my old 12-inches of Big Poppa or One More Chance or one of them and I was like, "That would be dope,"' said Peters, whose shows begin with hip-hop turntable sessions (usually from Toronto's DJ Starting from Scratch, and New York City's DJ Spinbad).
