“I’m a joyous guy,” he says. “I’m really an instant gratification kinda guy, and it constantly surprises me that I’m popular anywhere so when I hear that people really like my show I get super joyous. It’s a good way to be.”
Of course it probably helps that Peters can play his show pretty much anywhere he wants these days; the only condition is that the city in question has to have a stadium large enough to house his hordes of fans. Since a clip of Peters performing on Canada’s Comedy Now! in 2004 went viral a few years ago, his popularity has soared. He’s gone from playing club shows across North America to selling out massive arenas in South Africa, Malaysia and Canada as part of his Notorious World Tour. His shows at Dubai’s World Trade Centre last March sold out in less than eight minutes; all the more significant given he sold more tickets in the city than a certain iconic pop star.
“I’ve been doing this for 24 years, and it’s pretty great to finally be able to say that I beat Madonna at something,” Peters says. “If you’re going to beat Madonna then Dubai is definitely the place to do it. If anything the show actually wasn’t good enough when I was there. A year later I can’t help but think about how much they’d love it now we’ve straightened out all the little problems.”
And does Peters plan to use his next trip to Australia to engage with any of the typical tourist sights and sounds? “I very much doubt I’ll have even a second to myself,” he says ruefully. “This is a huge production. Having said that, if I am lucky enough to get some time to myself I’ll probably look to meet a nice lady and ask her back to the hotel. I’ll take that experience over anything else.”
BY BENJAMIN COOPER
