TORONTO - Gwen Stefani saw him last week, he's been photographed with David Beckham and comedian Jay Mohr (Gary Unmarried) recently said he had no idea how he could do it all without a television show.

But Russell Peters is celebrating his twenty years as a stand-up comedian in style.

Make that arena-sized style.

Peters played the first of two sold-out (or darn close to) shows Friday night at Toronto's Air Canada Centre as part of his RPXX tour which has played to arenas across North America. And for the better part of 90 minutes, Peters exemplified his unofficial role as multicultural mocking master to an amused audience.

With two DJs, a large screen behind him and two smaller ones on either side, the event had all the makings of a rock concert. Yet Peters' rather quirky observational humor and take on every nationality set the tone early on, starting with a bit on how white people are becoming the minority.

"You don't see white people anymore, when I see white people it's almost like a (UFO) sighting," he said before adding how that segment of society was going the way of the cassette tape.

Although occasionally poking fun at the front row and playing off their replies, Peters also described staying at a Bombay hotel a month before it suffered a deadly terrorist attack. He also noted the date of the attack as strange. "They got hit on July 11, or 7/11. It's almost like the terrorist had a sense of humour."

Rarely getting into the political realm, aside from being impressed that the Iraqi who tossed his shoe at George W. Bush had shoes, the comedian then recalled a visit to a dance club located in a Beirut bomb shelter and particularly a phone call from the King of Jordan.

"Hello Master Beters," King Abdullah called Peters, stating there is no "P" in the alphabet. Peters also mentioned how the various photos of the King (and royalty in general) looked badly. "They never smile in the pictures, it looks like they farted just before the picture was taken."

After quickly talking about how Italians from Woodbridge "talk like newscasters" and natives of Trinidad can't control their volume when speaking, Peters turned to sex for the first real big laugh of the night, describing how Indian men and Jamaican men differ in, well, certain areas.

"It's like one fat friend and he borrows one of your sweaters," Peters said, resulting in much laughter from the innuendo. "At least with a white man there's a chance that sweater will fit."

Nobody was unscathed, be they Irish, German or Portuguese, but Peters saved one of his better lines when he asked if there were any Sri Lankans in the audience. "It's good to see you're not on the Gardiner Expressway," he said, referring to the recent protests.

Another highlight came when Peters delved into relationships and why men always lie. "If you want anything ask him after sex," he said, adding that when men promise not to lie, "that's the first lie."

Finally, Peters wrapped things up with some toilet humour (literally) and recounting how amazed his father was at a massive bowel movement. "Don't flush it, or somebody's gonna get a hurt real bad," his father told him, ending his with signature line.

Judging from the material and his unique brand of humour, Peters' career isn't going in the toilet anytime soon.

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