Entertainment Podium

Stand-up comedians profit from election fever

Wherever there is news, there is a stand-up comedian waiting to capitalize. Stand-up comedy has gained lot of popularity since the birth of web2.0 as more people are able to view, appreciate and respond to healthy comedy. Political jokes, criticism, celebrity trashing are all very popular genres of stand-up comedy. But the one that really sells right now are election and election related jokes. Barack Obama, John McCain, Sarah Palin and anybody else who is feebly related to the elections have become the main targets of stand-up comedians.

One time when David Letterman played a top 10 George Bush moments video on his show, Bush reacted saying, “Any society where  people can make humor if their leaders and criticize them is a free society worth builiding.” Although  stand-up comedy is good and people enjoy it, popular stand-up comedians need to act more responsibly during the election time as they can adversely impact people’s judgement through their comedy. This is evident from the number of people who after seeing a stand-up comedy show got influenced into thinking that Sarah Palin is a big farce. Although i personally beleive that she is a big farce, thats for people to decide on their own, not for stand-up comedians to cue in!!

Tags: bush jokes, comedy, political comedy, Stand up Comedy

Russell Peters: Goes Viral on You-Tube!!

“I have never been to one of his shows but, am a great fan of his.” That would have sounded jolly ridiculous to people if I had told it five years back. Today, the main platform for Stand-Up comedians is You-Tube and Russell Peters has made the most of it.

Born in Toronto, Canada, Russell grew up in Brampton, Ontario where he started practicing stand-up comedy at a very young age. He has been performing since 1989. But the big question is, What made him famous?? The Bigger question is: How did he become so famous that he has fans all over the world who have never been to any of his shows?

The answer is You-Tube. Russell Peters gained popularity thru his videos posted on You-Tube. His recent comedy specials Russell Peters: Outsourced and his all new Russell Peters: Red, White and Brown are huge hits on You-Tube with tens of thousands of viewers. When contacted by a popular newspaper, Russell openly accepted the fact that his popularity is because of the internet and specifically You-Tube. Now that’s modesty!!

But the secret recipe behind Russell’s popularity is that his jokes evolve and revolve around his audience. These are mainly about racial stereotypes and especially about his Indian background/Canadian upbringing. He is immensly talented and has adapted a style for himself that allows him to interact with his audience a lot during the show.

Some of his popular phrases like, “Somebody’s gonna get a hurt real bad!!”And “Be a Man.” have also gone viral over the internet. He has signed up with COX to do a sitcom about his life in Canada and is also planning on going on a World-Tour to promote his new comedy special. So while Russell is busy with his new ventures, what are you waiting for: His latest release has already hit You-Tube, but as Russell Says: “Don’t be downloading bastards!!” Order a copy of the DVD at www.russellpeters.com .

Tags: comedian, comedy, Entertainment, peters, russell, Stand up Comedy