Rusell Peters, et al
I started with the staple: Russell Peters - BBC: Comedy Central (46 min) [Link] - one of his better shows (i.e. more racist than ever before). If you're too busy, too lazy, or too ADHD-ed, bite into the excerpts instead: Company [Link], no more white people [Link], Indian Redneck [Link], Wedding Rice [Link] and Hong Kong [Link]. The Tsunami special [Link]. And a whole bunch more [Link].
As is the nature of celebrity, Russell too is beginning to face criticism. One hears accusations of eve teasing, arrogance and generally lame jokes [Link].
And then she drops the bomb "This guy Peters is creepy". I'm like "What?" G goes on to reveal how backstage, Peters was so hitting and making passes on her and the other waitresses and if they would politely turn and walk away, he would get mad and start making false complaints about them to the manager."Dude, no back-talking, no whistles, no speaking out loudly back to Peters, no…. this Peters guy has passed strict instructions to the management, if any of these things happen, he's gonna walk off from the stage."
The show did begin well and the best of the jokes, Peters used up in the first 15 minutes of his act. Then as mentioned by the waitress, I noticed Peters switching gears and picking up people in the audience, asking them questions, fishing for laughs. It was downhill from there on. Peters could never get the whole audience laughing at a time. It was always 5 people here or 10 people then who giggled when he said something.
The forced humor and people-picking is clearly visible in his Intense Comedy Night performance (59 min) [Link]. Competition is beginning to offer alternatives. A new face: Paul Varghese on Desi Vision [Link] (try username= arre, password=bhai). And the inimitable MC Vikram & Ludikrishna, with Curry N Rice girl [Link].
Onto our tour of the latest Indian TV Commericials, with great musical scores: Aish-Cash, with a tongue-in-cheek rags-to-riches story and addictive desi-rap, Yo [Link]. Peugeot's take on Indians' procifiency in Engineering and deficiency in woman-eering, set to Raja Mustaq's Husn: [Link]. A cigarette maker (Wills) promoting its sports-friendly image by capitalizing on India's love for cricket [Link]. This ad reminds me of all the "take care of your younger sister" lectures I received when I was growing up [Link]. Shah Rukh plays Bunty aur Bubbly [Link].
From this side of the globe, two new X-box commercials tout its immersive virtual-reality features: Bang! [Link] and Plane Ride [Link]. Jennifer Anniston is the American Aishwarya Rai (ala "Hi I'm Sanju. Ek Pepsi Milegi?") [Link]. The world's Worst Job Ever (be patient watching this one) [Link].
Finally, if you have 3 hours to spare, you could watch the best hindi comedy movie ever made: Dil Chahta Hai [Link].
Related Post: Vela Afternoon
