Russell Peters & Black Theatre Workshop
Earlier this month Canadians elected a new federal government. Aside from the fact that the Conservatives won an overwhelming majority, the New Democratic Party was elected Official Opposition. Several of their Members of Parliament were either completely unknown, or new to the political game. Tyrone Benskin is a newbie. His was a bitter-sweet victory for his community, because he now as to step down as artistic director of the Black Theatre Workshop.
Photo by blacktheatreworkshop.ca
BTW has been the theatrical voice of the black community in Montreal for 40 years, and until recently Benskin has seen to several events celebrating that fact. One such event, coming up next week, is called Since Mama Done Got Off the Couch: Celebrating the African Voice.
It’s a 2-day seminar featuring several of the best African-American playwrights North American discussing their work and the craft. The first day is open to the public, and starts with a brunch, which leads to an afternoon of seminars, and culminates in a cocktail and dinner where participants can rub elbows with the likes of Amiri Baraka (whose play, The Dutchman, just wrapped at BTW), Djanet Sears, Montreal’s own George Boyd, and others.
For his part, Mr. Benskin will be heading to Ottawa where, as a Member of Parliament, he’ll work with other MPs who also had worked in the arts, including former rockers Charlie Angus and Andrew Cash, to promote Canadian arts and culture.
When this year’s Just For Laughs Festival launched last week, Russell Peters was on hand as a bit of a surprise. He’s one of the funniest man in Canada, and as such was given a fairly prominent role in this year’s festival.
He’ll be hosting a show called Russell Peters: Best Night Ever. And to take it over the top, Just For Laughs got him to personally select the comedians.
Russell has proven himself, over the years, as a comic and as an MC; he hosted the Juno Awards twice, where Canadians got to see him in action as a DJ! And last year he published his autobiography, Call Me Russell. He’s done some movies, including the currently-running Source Code, played a couple of roles in the CBC radio play Monsoon House, has a sitcom in development with NBC, and is promoting a new DVD.
Peters jokes a lot about his own Indian heritage, and as such has no qualms about riffing on other ethnicities. He’ll soften up the crowd with an Indian accent, then move on to Chinese or even Spanish.
Russell Peters: Best Night Ever will run at Place Des Arts on July 28, at 7:00 and then again at 10:00. Some of the comics that Peters has booked include Jimmy Carr, Dom Irrera, and Jeremy Hotz, among others. These are comics that return to the Just For Laughs Festival time and again, and are indeed some of the best comics in the business.
Watch this space, over the next few weeks, for more on the upcoming Just For Laughs Festival.
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Patrick Hopf said:
On May 19, 2011 - 16:19
I love this guy :)