Comedian Peters has friends in high places
Las Vegas comedian Russell Peters just got back from filming a movie in Miami with Jon Favreau, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sofia Vergara and John Leguizamo.
“It’s a pretty crazy cast,” Peters says. “It’s not even a big-budget movie. That’s what is even more impressive about the cast.”
Peters portrays a cop on South Beach in “Chef,” slated for a 2014 release. Written and directed by Favreau, the comedy follows an out-of-work chef who starts a food truck business.
“It was all very last minute. Favreau is a friend of mine, and he hit me up and asked me if I wanted to be in the movie. So I said, ‘Uh, yeah!’ ”
You can see Peters perform stand-up Saturday at the Palms’ Pearl ($49-$99).
And you can see how a celebrity lives in Vegas by following him on Twitter (@therealrussellp). In July, he posted a photo of Mike Tyson and UFC fighter Cung Le hanging out in Peters’ Henderson home.
“Cung Le stays at my house whenever he’s in town,” Peters says. “And Mike Tyson happened to come by one day. These are all people I have admired for a long time, and now I can call them my friends, which is even better.”
Peters’ restaurant haunts are Joe’s in Caesars and Sweet Tomatoes and Blueberry Hill in the suburbs.
But Peters, 42, has the same complaint about Vegas I hear most often from locals and tourists in his age group.
“I wish they had a cool club to go to — a place that plays good music. I wish it wasn’t so uniform in how (crappy) the music and vibe is. It’s becoming douchier.”
He’s one of those guys who long for the old days of Vegas, when people got all dressed up and danced to, say, ’80s funk and ’70s disco. Peters’ personal parties are DJ’d by a turntablist named Spinbad.
“Go to Spinbad.com. In the archives, download his ’80s mixtapes. You’ll love them. They’re amazing.”
I told Peters he should create his own Vegas club.
“The Russell Peters Nap Club? There should be a nap room in the casinos for the old people.”
TWISTED LITTLE GIRL
Ten-year-old Las Vegas contortionist Melody Caballero will compete tonight in “America’s Got Talent’s” semifinals. She comes from a five-generation circus family and has performed for Prince William.
NERD ALERT
Super genius Elon Musk — who made Tesla, SpaceX, SolarCity and PayPal happen — had dinner and margaritas with downtown Vegas rebuilder Tony Hsieh and five others Saturday at La Comida. I happened to be at the Palomino strip club (for work, you know) a few weeks ago when one of Musk’s SpaceX guys had a crazy celebration there. Musk recently unveiled alpha plans for a 30-minute Hyperloop from L.A. to San Francisco. I hope he and Hsieh discussed a 30-minute Hyperloop from Vegas to L.A.
THE PENN IS MIGHTIER
The New York Times asked Penn Jillette when and where he reads.
“Mostly in my giant bathtub about 1 to 3 a.m. — after my Vegas show, before I go to bed. I sometimes fall asleep while reading, so I’ve dropped a couple Kindles and an iPad in the water and ruined them.”
TWEET VEGAS
@JohnStamos: “last few hours being 49 w/ the woman that birthed me. she said conception (in vegas) was so much fun — i said TMI.”
Doug Elfman’s column appears on Page 3A in the main section on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. He also writes for Neon on Fridays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.
