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AUDIO:Canadian comedian Russell Peters shows off his wedding ring during an Oct. 25 interview about his memoir, Call Me Russell. He spoke to Jian Ghomeshi, host of CBC's Q cultural affairs show, about his success and what it's like to be called 'Paki.' (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

In his memoir, Call Me Russell, Canadian comedian Russell Peters writes about growing up in suburbia as a scrawny, brown, bullied kid with ADHD.

Peters is known for busting Indian stereotypes in his comedy, which has taken him from a modest middle-class life in Woodbridge, Ont., to a place in the top 10 of a Forbes best-paid comedians list last year.

Call Me Russell devotes an entire chapter to the taunt of "Paki" that Peters says he heard throughout his childhood.

"As a kid I would hear the word and a) I didn't know they were talking about me and b) I didn't know what the word was. I thought a Paki was some kind of ghost or boogey man," Peters told Jian Ghomeshi, host of CBC's Q cultural affairs show, in an interview aired Monday.

Peters, who is of Indian background, said that as an adult he understands the racism of the term. Although his humour pokes holes in ethnic stereotypes — and he did do a routine about "Paki-dot door" (a reference to children's program Polkadot Door) early in his career — he doesn't believe he can joke about it any more.

"We live in a time now when I hope people don't use that word … people don't realize how that word affects people. It's not like the N-word, where we can take it back," he said, referring to the way black comedians use the N-word in their routines.

In the memoir, Peters writes warmly about his family and chronicles his rise to become a comedian in high demand, able to earn $500,000 in a single night. His big breakthrough came in 2004, when his Somebody's Gonna Get Hurt routine hit the internet and was downloaded 12 million times. Peters has since become an international star and is in negotiations for a TV show.

Peters says he hit a ceiling in Canada and had to move on. He now has homes in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, as well as near Toronto, but he says he's still "hungry for more."

"What I have now is a million times further than I ever thought I would be," he said.

Call Me Russell was published Oct. 26 by Doubleday Canada.