Racial profiling is not usually an amusing topic. But for Richmond comedian Hollywood Harv it is, especially when he’s using it get some laughs out of his audiences.
Harv, whose full name is Harvir Puni, does research before big shows to know where in the theatre certain ethnic groups are seated, so he can immediately play off them when he delivers parts of his routine focused on racial differences.
“Racial differences are racial differences. We all have them. And it’s my job as a comedian to point them out in an amusing way,” says Harv, a lifelong Richmond resident and grad of McNair secondary. “And it’s never done in a negative way. For me, I am proud of my Indian heritage — it’s a wonderful, colourful culture.”
One of this observations is the dramatic personality shift that occurs at Indian weddings when normal, upstanding and conservative family members cut loose.
“There’s the regular world, then there’s Bhangra World,” Harv tells the audience in a video clip from his sold out, 2012 show at the Vogue Theatre in Downtown Vancouver. “Bhangra is the traditional dance of the Punjabi peoples, right?
“In the regular world, your uncle is a professional man with a suit and tie. And in Bhangra World he’s got a bottle of Crown (Royal) on his head, he’s all dancing around. He’s all grinding up on the wrong auntie,” he says, waving a disapproving finger as the crowd bursts with laughter. “But nobody cares because it’s Bhangra World.”
Harv plans on celebrating that, and more, such as generational divides, Nov. 8 at the Bell Performing Arts Centre in Surrey where he will be among the headliners for The Original Tandoori Kings of Comedy.
The show brings his stand up career back to where it all started in front of a full house of 1,100 people on the Bell Centre stage. It was back in 2009 when fellow comedian Sugar Sammy invited Harv to be an opening act.
“That was pretty cool. I had been hosting a lot of parties, doing my show on radio (Fairchild Radio), but this was the first time I was going to perform stand up in front of a crowd,” Harv says. “So, I made sure I got on Facebook and let all my friends know.
“I think about 400 ended up buying tickets.”
The stand up debut came as quite surprise to his fellow comics that night, since most of them had endured the comedy club circuit, performing in front of significantly smaller audiences.
“I guess I have been fortunate,” Harv says, “because in a crowd of about 1,000 people, at least 100 are going to laugh at my jokes. That may not be a great percentage, but it’s better than having an audience of 40 people and having four laugh.”
Hence the push for getting friends to buy tickets. And why not? Many of them appear in his show.
“My material, a lot of it is based on day-to-day observations. I’m lucky to be surrounded by a group of pretty interesting characters, friends who end up providing me with a lot of material,” he says.
So, how do they feel when they “appear” in his show?
“I never call them out by name. I’m pretty discrete,” he says. “But I’m sure they know who they are.”
The Original Tandoori Kings of Comedy, Featuring Sunee Dhaliwal and Hollywood Harv plays Nov. 8 at the Bell Performing Arts Centre (6250 144 Street, Surrey). Doors open at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $20 in advance (including service charges), $25 at door and are available at www.bellperformingartscentre.com or Kamal’s Video Palace (Suite #103 – 8268 120th St., Surrey).
