The box art promises that Red, White, & Brown won’t disappoint Russell’s die hard fans. I totally agree. This extended Comedy Central concert is pretty much standard Russell Peters. I’ve only seen his act in bits and pieces in the past, but what I saw here looks very much the same. Peters’ comedy is pretty much made up of riffing on ethnicities and various stereotypes. He gets away with what many others comics can’t by having an Indian heritage that’s not really as evident as he makes it sound. Looking at the man, I would not, as he often does, characterize him as a “brown man”. He doesn’t look even vaguely Indian to me. We’re talking Indian from India, and not the Native American variety here. Whether he actually looks the part or not, he uses the ancestry to get away with racial material. Unfortunately, if some of this stuff were coming from a white guy, there would be protests and firings.
It was a little bit of a surprise to me that the audience shots showed that young children had been allowed into the concert. The material does get sexual, and Peters even acknowledged one of the young audience members while continuing with one of those kinds of routines. The stuff isn’t offensive, just not appropriate for 7 year old kids.
Video
The comedy concert is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1. This is pretty much a very standard television production. Colors are very natural. Black levels are good. I’m sure this will look about as good or better than the standard definition broadcast.
Audio
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is really unnecessary, but a nice touch when it comes to applause. Otherwise this is all dialog and so completely front and center.
I was more than a little surprised that there was an Audio Commentary by Peters. It’s a very odd experience. There’s not much use for it. If you have to explain a joke, maybe you should forget it. Anyway, it’s not like this is some visually exciting presentation, so listening to this track means you can’t really hear the jokes. The ultimate in distraction.
Special Features
Additional Footage: There are 4 deleted scenes, each under 2 minutes. There are also other themed outtakes. Two deal with Iraq and two others might as well just be longer deleted scenes. The best is a piece where Peters puts a young Asian couple on the spot, who are work colleagues and not really there as a couple.
Bonus CD: In another unusual extra, there is an audio CD of the concert.
Final Thoughts:
Comedy Central tends to repeat this stuff, so there are ample chances to catch it again. The 20 extra minutes and about 35 extra deleted minutes are likely worth a rent, if you’re a fan of Russell Peters. I can take him or leave him. There were a couple good laughs to be had here, but I’d rent instead of buy. That’s my recommendation. “Take it and go.”
