WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1136 - George Lopez

Episode Date: July 2, 2020

George Lopez says much of his career is driven by spite. He talks with Marc about how the people who told him he wasn't going to make it served as fuel for his ambitions, especially coming from a background where his opportunities were limited. George remembers what it was like to get on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, develop a hit sitcom with Sandra Bullock as his producer, and become a late night talk show host. He also sets the record straight on what happened between him and Carlos Mencia.  Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Look, folks. Be safe. Wear your fucking mask. I'm not telling you. I mean, you know, I go on a hike. I go on a hike and I bring my mask. I got it on my chin. And I don't see no people on the trail coming at me for, you know, 20, 30 feet or at all.

Not wearing it. If I see someone coming 20, 30 feet away, put the mask on. We all put our mask on. Nod. Someone's not wearing a mask, they're coming at me, and they're giving me the stink eye under my breath or in my mind. I'm like, hey, I might have it, dude. I'm helping you out.

Why are you giving me the shit face? Stupid. Don't give me the shit face? Stupid. Don't give me the shit face. You think I want to wear this? I'm wearing this so I don't fucking kill you with my fucking dandelion virus coming out of my mouth. Who knows? Today on the show, George Lopez. I'm going to talk to George Lopez.

Okay? I'm going to talk to George Lopez okay I'm going to talk to George Lopez George Lopez I've known of I've met a few times I've seen him around over the years but he did give me a ride from the airport in his limo once didn't have to do that could have just big time me nice seeing you man good to meet you again I gotta go nope said I'll give you a ride went to his house first and had the driver drop me at my house. And I had to remind him of that during our conversation. I will be talking to George Lopez shortly.

Hey, I just wanted to thank all the people. I went to my P.O. box. Hadn't been there in a while. Thank you for all the cards. Like, these are you guys who write the cards. Like, someone brought you up. Well, you know what to do. I didn't know people wrote cards anymore.

And I've been getting some at the house. I get some from people I know. But there were just dozens at my P.O. box from just people like you guys. And writing nice cards. It's really a beautiful thing. Lynn used to write cards. Thank you cards. I've got to figure out how to be a person.

I really do. That's what I want to learn. I want to learn how to be a person that does things, nice things. I think I can do it. Don't you? Yeah, I think so. I went and did the COVID test here in LA like every other person. I was told that there was a place I could go pay for pay 125 bucks get one results you know in a half hour and I'm like no I want to go through the regular person thing I don't need special treatment that sounds like a racket anyways but I called them because I was I was online on the traffic line waiting for the regular one and I'm like wow this looks like it could be a few hours so I just just said, well, look, if you got an opening like in the next 15, 20 minutes or in the next hour or so, call me up.

But they never called. And I went all the way through the big long line at Dodger Stadium. I had that experience. I had the COVID-19 test experience at Dodger Stadium, like many Angelenos. You get there. They've got videos for you to tell you what to do.

They give you a bag with your toys in it. You got the swabber toy. You get the test tube with the liquid in it toy and baggies. So I did that, dropped it off. I haven't heard from them. Everyone I've talked to said like one or two days and it's been, well, you know, it was two days. I'll know, I'll know. But yeah, I gotta be honest with you. I haven't heard from everyone. I've talked to said like two, like one or two days and it's been, well,

you know, it was two days. I'll know. I'll know. But yeah, I gotta be honest with you. I don't think I have it. I do not think I do.

And if I do, uh, it seems, uh, it seems I might have the better one to have. And also if I do, by the time I get my fucking test results, I'll be more than halfway

through my quarantine. But I don't think I do because here's my deal. You know where I'm at. I'm in a lot of grief that comes and goes and I've got a sick cat and I let the grief happen as much as I can, but I do stifle a lot of feelings. And that means like that shuts down my chest. I'm a guy who holds stress in their chest. And if I'm trying to shut down feelings, I'll have a hard time breathing. Here's how I know it's probably not COVID is when I cry, my chest opens up. Is that maybe that's the treatment that they're missing. People need to just, they need to cry to kill it. I don't want to trivialize that at all it's i i never

really put it together until i was talking to my friend michaela watkins and i've done it my whole life one way or the other that if i have some big overwhelming fear or feelings or something that's out of my control that's causing me pain or panic or dread that, or fear, those are, I guess, all different words for it. What I'll do is I will make it about me. I will personalize it. I will make something as extreme, usually around my mortality or around some sort of sickness. Every time I've done a big show before I've done a special or a Letterman appearance or anything, either I'll think that I'm losing my voice or that I'm getting a cold sore. And sometimes I've managed to almost manifest

both of those things. And if I'm just terrified of something or there's just this horrible feeling of loss and pain and dealing with the anxiety of monkey right now, it's like I just will develop symptoms. I will decide I have COVID or I have lung cancer. I'm having a heart attack because if I can make my fear something I have control over. Like, obviously, I don't have control over really having those things, but I can I can go get a test or I can get through it or I can realize that I'm being crazy or whatever.

and realize that I'm being crazy or whatever, something that I can do something about, then it's somehow comforting to me or it's somehow grounding or it's somehow, it makes it easier for me to process. That's easier for me to process. But ultimately, it's avoidance and it's a weird thing that my brain does as opposed to sit in the fear or the pain, the sadness or the anxiety, why not give myself something that I can make up or something life-threatening to obsess about? I guess it's a survival tool, but it seems more to be an avoidance tool. I don't know, but it's something I've done but it seems more to be an avoidance tool. I don't know, but it's something I've done most of my life.

Most of my life. But here's the thing. Here's what's going on with me and why I'm exhausted. There's a good possibility I'm deeply emotionally exhausted because I'm sleeping, but I'm not sleeping good. I got Monkey, you know, who's on his last legs. He's mostly sleeping in the closet. And he comes out and he eats and stuff. But, you know, people have been asking about Buster Kitten.

Buster Kitten's around, but I'm like, I'm really fucking not treating Buster Kitten that well. Because I'm focused on Monkey. And to be honest with you, Buster beats the shit out of monkey and monkey is old and frail and it's really a fucking nightmare but i gotta wake up to hear that old frail 16 year old cat being bullied by this little tank of a black cat who can't stop fucking eating this little fat this cat is nuts it's a fat cat now and he runs up and down the fucking stairs and it's not like cat sounds. It's like, kunk, kunk, kunk, kunk, kunk, kunk.

And then I hear like, meow, meow. And he's fucking with monkeys. So now I got a locked monkey in the goddamn room with litter and food with me at night just so his last days can be comfortable, and he's not fucking riddled with stress from this little fucking pig cat that, like, just beats the shit out of him. Now now i got a lot of love for buster but it is what it is so that's what's up that's why my chest is like that's what i believe but i'll let you know so carl reiner died and um you can listen to the 2013 interview I did with him.

It's available in whatever podcast feed you use and at WTFpod.com. And I interviewed both him and Mel Brooks. There's a beautiful story on the Carl Reiner episode about the two of them that I also told on Letterman. It's very nice to actually have a personal Mel Brooks-Carl Reiner story. It's one of my favorite things in my life, was talking to those two guys and having what happened happen. And I'm just so glad that when these people pass,

and he lived a good full life, this guy, Carl Reiner. I tweeted, Carl Reiner was great. He was just getting started. Life is unfair. And I thought that was a very Carl Reiner I tweeted Carl Reiner was great he was just getting started life is unfair and I thought that was a very Carl Reiner like joke and he would enjoy it but he and Mel Brooks were friends they used to spend I believe almost every night together for

years they loved each other and it's a beautiful friendship and I wanted to play this clip from Rob Reiner. I talked to him in 2016. And this is obviously Carl Reiner's son. No slouch in the showbiz himself. But he talked about the special thing that Carl and Mel shared.

But, you know, I went to your father's house, and he says he hangs out with Mel every night. Mel and my dad every single night. Really? Every night? Yeah, virtually every night. That's really something. Listen, it's wonderful that they have each other. They met each other when they were in their 20s,

you know, show of shows. And to have that kind of bond and that bond to stick, and they make each other when they were in their 20s, you know, show of shows. And to have that kind of bond and that bond to stick and they make each other laugh, they enjoy each other's company. They both lost their spouses recently, so they have that. And they'd say that, you know, they watch any movie that has Secure the Perimeter in it. They watch it. Do you go over there? Yeah, I've been over there. I was over there one time when they got into a huge fight over, it was an appearance that Mel did on the Carson show.

And they were arguing about, it was like the Sunshine Boys. They were arguing about who got the, you know, which line got the biggest laugh. And Mel was a guy who played an expert on wine. He could detect any wine. And they blindfolded him they gave him a glass of wine he tasted it he went i think it's a red it's a it's a cabernet it's 1970 and carson says no no that's not it's not he says okay wait a minute let me try he takes another sip oh yes it's a red it's a bordeaux it's a 1980 no it's not that he says all right let me taste it

in okay i got it it's a white and it's and that was says all right let me taste it in okay i got it it's a white and it's and that was a big laugh and then mel says that's the line that got the big laugh and i said no my dad says no it was the line after that it was the line after he's he takes another sip and he says oh i know what it is it's chiclets and and that got a big laugh too and and my and mel said no but the but the white wine got the big laugh. My dad says, yes, but it's not as funny as the chicklets because here's a guy who was a wine expert who couldn't tell the difference between a liquid and a solid. That's the funny part.

So they yelled at each other. And you're sitting there watching that. I'm sitting there. I love it. I love it. Beautiful. Rest in peace, Carl Reiner. What a tremendous gift your presence was all these years in,

uh, in the world of comedy and show business. And also just as a decent human being. So George Lopez, um, as I said earlier, we, we've met,

but we never really talked. And, uh, he has a new Netflix special. We'll do it for half. Is streaming now. And I talked to him in just a second. We'll be right back. Get almost almost anything. Order now. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. Are you self-employed? Don't think you need business insurance? Think again.

Business insurance from Zensurance is a no-brainer for every business owner because it provides peace of mind. A lot can go wrong. A fire, cyber attack, stolen equipment, or an unhappy customer suing you. That's why you need insurance. Don't let the, I-too-small-for-this mindset hold you back from protecting yourself. Zensurance provides customized business insurance policies starting at just $19 per month. Visit Zensurance today to get a free quote. Zensurance. Mind your business. What's going on, Mark? Hey, George.

What's up, brother? How you doing, man? Good, good, good. I'm good. What do you got on the wall there? You a guitar player? I dabble a little bit. That's a Santana model there, the green one.

And then the other one is just a Les Paul Paul and there's some crazy ones in here, upstairs. Van Halen, I got a couple from Van Halen that are awesome upstairs. With those taped up Stratocaster ones? One of those models, but then he gave me one for my birthday that was one of the four black stealth guitars

that he was playing on this last tour. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. So how long you know Eddie? of the four black stealth guitars that he was playing on this last tour oh really oh yeah so how long you know eddie um he's been at that club that lakeside for you know as a golfer for like 20 years he never showed up and then we met in 2009 and i said hey man you ever go play i haven't played in years so i said let's go play one morning you know he gets up early he doesn't have much to do yeah and i said you want i, you want to warm up or anything? You want to hit a ball? He hasn't swung the club in 20 years. He goes up there.

Boom, right down the middle. Of course, it's like gambling. You go to Vegas, you win the first time, and then after that. No good. He loved it. I mean, he loved being out there, and he kind of worked at the game. So it was good to see somebody that you respect also, you know, as meticulous about golf and wanting to do good

as he is about you know music and getting everything right how's he feeling you know i think he's he's hung in there pretty well you know he's taking a lot of treatments these last few years but you know he's a tough dude man and he he's he's uh he's getting by yeah so tell me like about golf because like i'm one of these guys like like, you know, I know guys love it. And I kind of understand it. Like if I think about it, why it would be a nice thing, but I still don't give a fuck. Why not? There's that's a school of thought, too, for golf. You know, a lot of people don't give a fuck about golf, but it depends on, you know, there's a familiar aspect to it like guys who play with their fathers who play with

their buddies guys who maybe played casually at public golf courses like you know when I was growing up I didn't have a father my grandfather never really did anything together we'd go to baseball games but not anything we had to spend any time with someone yeah so on Christmas day of 1981 my buddy that I grew up with, Ernie, says to me, hey, man, let's go golf. And it's like 1.30. I'm like, where? Up here in Sylmar at El Carrizo.

I go, they're closed. He's like, no, they're open. And I called him. They're open. We don't have clubs. Well, we rent clubs. So we rent clubs. We hit some golf balls.

We didn't know what we were doing. We had some tall 32-ounce silver bullets. Plowed some of those away, laughing, bullshitting. And you know what? It changed my life. It taught me all the things that were wrong with me that needed to be

corrected, that I didn't have a male figure or an adult invest their time in me because I would always quit because it was really hard and I wasn't that natural at it and when it got really hard I'd make an excuse to leave or I'd pick the ball up but uh um those were the things that taught me temperament and taught me that when shit got tough not to quit which is what my baseball coach told me when I was a senior that nose to nose and my buddies behind me they were tripping out they never seen a student and a teacher that nose to nose and my buddies behind me, they were tripping out. They never seen a student and a teacher fucking go at it.

And he's like, you know what? You're a quitter and you're always going to be a fucking quitter. And when the shit gets tough, remember he said, you pack it in. I go, is that right? He's like, that's right. Nose to nose. That's right. Because you're a quitter and let's see where you good luck.

You know, let's see where you get in life. And I started playing golf and I started quitting. And one day I picked up and I left. And in the car, it's almost like you could see life. And I started playing golf and I started quitting. And one day I picked up and I left and in the car, it's almost like you could see him pulled over the side of the road. And I said, mother fucker. I said, man, wow. And I went back to the school. I hadn't seen him in four years and he's looking at me and he's like, is that my third basement? I said, what's up coach? And he's like, what you doing here? And I went over there to apologize to him for the way that I treated him when I was a student and couldn't believe that four years later, and I'd never done that, Mark.

I'd never really apologized to somebody face to face. Because usually if I was drunk and I pissed somebody off, or I said something to somebody or treated somebody bad, I just eliminated them from my life. Never tried to run into him again or never tried to see him again. But with that advice that that guy gave me, I don't think I could have continued my life without telling that guy that I appreciate you, even though I didn't want to hear it at that time that you may have given me the one key advice that I could use the rest of my life.

That's a wild story. So it's just stuck in your head in that moment, huh? And then, you know, we didn't talk for years and he passed away like two years ago so i was trying to recall the story and you had parkinson's he was a little demented and he's like i don't remember that and i'm like are you sure it was me like motherfucker yes it was you so i tried to get all sympathetic you know and he's like uh i don't remember any of

that shit all right so that, so that's a, that's sort of a, it taught you temperament and tolerance and follow through and everything else. Yeah. And now you just like, you just enjoy playing now you got, do you shoot? Are you good?

Well, you know, I'm about a 12 handicap, but I played like, you know, I used to grow up. I grew up alone. So I grew up early,

wake up early in the morning. And then I would watch the British open and it started like three o'clock in the morning. So I would, I would get up early. the morning, and then I would watch the British Open, and it started at like 3 o'clock in the morning. So I would get up early. I started to watch golf. I started looking forward to this golf tournament, the British Open. I would go get some food from this place I still eat at. So I'm maybe 13, 12, 13. I'd walk up there and walk back, get some food.

Every year was a ritual thing. I played at all the courses that I watched growing up. And we had a seven iron. I don't know where the seven iron came from, a fucking garage sale. And my grandfather used to use it to keep the dog in the backyard. He would put the seven iron between the wall and the fence because the dog would push the fence and get out. So all of a sudden, I start passing this golf club. And I'm like, what's this golf club doing here? And I'd go in the morning and pull lemons off of the lemon tree and hit lemons over the fence. If I hit it good,

it went over the fence and it cut it and the juice would fly up. One day my grandfather says, come over here. I want you to see something. Look in the alley. There's all these fucking rinds of lemons and limes in the back. Go get a fucking trash can and pick this shit up. He didn't tell you to go get some other clubs?

No, just that one. Yeah. Just that one. So you grew up with your grandparents? Yeah, I didn't know my father. And it's funny, man, because, you know, with kids now and Ancestry.com, and, you know, 23andMe and everything you could trace.

You know, my daughter's 24, but let's say I think baby was like six years ago, you know, with her mom, you know, being divorced and her mom. And they found relatives that were on my wife's side. And, you know, they're saying, what's your father's name? You know, I give my father's name. And where did he, you know, where did he, I said, I never met my father. So I'm just going to give you stuff that I kind of know. And just like nothing, you know, casually, I said, I never met my father. So I'm just going to give you stuff that I kind of know. And just like nothing, you know, casually I said,

so did you ever find out about my dad? And she goes, yeah, he died. Your dad's been dead for like 30 years. Wow. And I'm like, Hey, well, you know, wow. Thanks for, you know, thanks for putting me down gently. And they had no, you know, you're just looking for fucking results that someone's dead. You're just like, oh, yeah, I thought I told you. Your dad died like 30 years ago. I don't think it was the right person.

Right. But even if he was living, I don't think I'd get involved with him. No? I mean, I wonder about that. Yeah, because why now? I mean, how would that help anything? You know, it was tough, Mark. You know, when you're a kid and you're playing Little League

and you're the kid that always has to get a ride home from somebody and if there's no room in it to walk. And, you know, my grandmother was so fucking tight. Like, you know, every week every kid has to bring snacks. Yeah. And my grandmother would be like, hey, grandma, we have to stop at the store. And I'd be like, for what? For your tip-off bullshit.

And then every week, every game, every other guy on the team has some juices and some licorice or some potato chips. And the fucking week that is my week, they're like, I don't have anything. Well, you know your grandmother is supposed to bring snacks.

Yeah, I know. I know. So where did your mom go? My mom was not the most stable person. Yeah. And she was having a hard time mentally. You know, she was epileptic. And, you know, she was tough to be around, man. She's almost like childlike.

You know, if I told her, I don't want to go to school, she's like, don't go. We'll just go outside and play. Like, you like you don't play with your mom in the backyard she's still around she lives in sacramento i believe but it was awful you know it's awful man it's awful not to have you know it's tough to not have siblings but when you're surrounded by people who either ignore you or they're awful people to be around it's tough man yeah i mean you know how you how you gonna come into your own how you're gonna become a person my grandmother my grandmother caught me writing a a threatening note to myself so i don't think i've ever told this story she

comes up behind me she goes what the are you doing all this runs down your whole body and she grabs this letter and she's like you better tell george that we're gonna kick his ass if he comes to school and we're gonna beat the fuck out of him and you know what he thinks and i was writing that to myself to have her find it to try to get some attention so she found it and found out that i was writing a threatening letter to myself and looked at me like I was the most disturbed fucking person she'd ever seen. So you're writing a note to yourself?

No. You're writing a note to beat yourself up. And you're just like... It's a cry for attention. That was a plan though so you would get some attention? Yeah. They would just ignore me. I mean... So they didn't want you. They just took you because you had It's a cry for attention. Yeah, that was a plan, though, so you would get some attention from her? They would just ignore me.

Get the fuck out of here. Oh, my God. So they didn't want you. They just took you because you had nowhere else to go? I didn't have nowhere else to go. And listen, my mom, I took a bus ride from San Fernando, California, to Sacramento on a Greyhound. My mom always went Greyhound in the early 70s.

I was maybe 13, and she bought me a Playboy magazine to look at on the bus, and that may have single-handedly been the absolute worst thing that she could have fucking given me. How old were you? 13. Jacking off behind houses and in the garage. You know, just every chance you could get to fire off. Yeah. Set me up for relationships where already you're remotely removed from people.

Now, if you can satisfy yourself, why would you need anybody else around? Yeah. So that was it. She ruined your brain. Lonnie Chin was the centerfold. Lonnie Chin. Oh, you remember. I guess you don't.

Oh, man. I don't think I remember. You know, you're kissing the magazine you're going to catch. The other time they caught me kissing the fucking TV. It was on Channel 13. It was on when you'd watch like, you know, Gomer Pyle and Gilligan's Island. Yeah. And they had those Chris Craft commercials

for if you wanted to buy a boat. And I'm leaning in to kiss the TV and my grandfather comes behind me. I hit my lip against the TV. And back then, you know, I had all those rays that if it got wet, you could see the little electrodes, you know, rainbows.

And he's like, fucking kissing the TV. No, he goes over there close and looks to the side. You could see saliva on And he's like, fucking kissing the TV. No, he goes over there close. He looks to the side. You can see saliva on the TV. Like, fucking kissing the TV. All before I was 15, by the way. Oh, my God. And you were the only kid in the house? The only kid in the house.

It was awful, man. But did you have cousins and shit? I had some cousins, but they didn't like me because my grandmother was raising me. And they were just tough people. Oh, my God. Where did you grow up? I think I'm making it sound more fun than it was. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in this track home right by Brand Park, right by the 5 Freeway and Severan Auto Mission. But the saving grace for my childhood was that in that cul-de-sac,

there was a lot of cul-de-sacs in that area, that I met some of the guys that I'm still friends with today. And had it not been for those guys living there, I'm not sure how bearable life would have been at that, at that time. I mean, kids, my ethnicity, kids, my age, and just if, if anything went right growing up, that did. Oh, that's good. You got in with the right guys, not the wrong guys. And they're still your friends. So my friends, you know, as a matter of fact, you know, we're talking about, you know, violence and the police and all that stuff. You know, I had a friend of mine, Kenny Ramirez. He was shot in, I believe, 1980.

He was 19, 20 years old. I grew up with him. I knew him from kindergarten. And his brother, Chris, Kenny was working at Lockheed and Burbank Night Shift. So his brother, Chris, and a couple other guys, Chris was a younger brother hanging out, they dropped him off in Burbank, and then they went purse snatching in Beverly Hills.

I should say allegedly. They allegedly went purse snatching in Beverly Hills, and they grabbed this lady's purse that was standing there waiting for the light to change, and the lady didn't let go of the purse. She hung on, and they dragged the lady alongside the car, and while they were chasing the car, one of the guys got She hung on and they dragged the lady alongside the car. And while they were chasing the car, one of the guys got the license plate number down, called Beverly Hills police.

They tracked it down to San Fernando and they were laying kind of a stakeout with some cars there. They go pick Kenny up around one 30. They get back about two o'clock in the morning. He gets out of the car because I guess those guys used to go play pool or drink after the guy had a pool table. So he goes, I'll be right back. He gets out of the car. A cop car goes by LAPD, Foothill Division, Rodney King Division. It goes down, you know, without the lights on,

gets to the end, circles back without the lights on. He's coming out of his house and they say, hey, Kenny, watch out. You know, the cops are right here. So at the end of his driveway down where the car starts to come up meets the street, that cop opened. There's two cops in the car. Opened the door and fired and hit him over the right eye, dropped him.

They said he fell so close. He almost hit the bumper of the police car, and all these other cars swarmed in, and he was gone. Wow. I mean, and they kind of bargained the brother over what the penalty would have been for the officer. So, you know, I, I, I dealt with that. And still, even now, you know, I was a little bit, I was out of town a little bit. And then as I came in,

you start to see the beginnings of what were the black life matter protests. And I got emotional, man, because I mean, here's this dude that went away and with no with nothing just became another statistic and then now these years later you see kids out there holding up these signs and families and kids on their shoulders about lives you know and about people being killed senseless by the police and I mean I was emotional because I mean I thought we were going to grow old with this dude this guy was like and I don't think i'd ever even now it's like how many years have passed to think about you know all the stuff that we wanted to do or we used to talk about even being i was a being a comedian yeah to for him to have seen all this or just to see us go old i

mean i take those guys to the laker games i take them to dodger games and of all the guys that i grew up with he's the one dude that's missing that's sad man yeah so I had that with that incredible childhood well what so how'd you start like you know did you like to did you like to watch comedy to get you out of your shit or how'd you start thinking about comedy you know I started watching you know the midnight special oh yeah I started I started down Kershner, down Kershner's Midnight Special rock show. I started to see, you know, Cheech and Chong albums and guys that were older, had older brothers. They'd let us listen to Richard Pryor on an album. You sit in the living room drinking and you listen to this, you know voice and you're imagining all this stuff yeah and uh so from that and then Sanford and Son the Tonight Show with

Johnny Carson Chico and the Man like in 73 when I saw Freddie Prinze I was just like man what's this dude at least he's Hungarian Puerto Rican but you know wanting to do you didn't even know a stand-up's a profession, but wanting to do that at 11 and then seeing this guy at 13, he wasn't around that long. He was around until January of 77. But it had such a tremendous impact on me because it was like the first person that I had in my life that I could look forward to seeing, even though I didn't know him. Right. But it gave me almost a connection. And I think it was a little bit of that. And then at San Fernando High, when I was a senior in high school, my buddy Ernie went

to Kennedy and they had written about this guy named Don Nielsen, who was going to the comedy store in Westwood on Monday night. So he was written up in the school paper. And then he brought me the school paper and he's like, look at this dude's doing standup. He's a senior in high school. You and I ought to go out there and we ought to, we ought to try it, man. You ought to try to go up there and see if you can do it on a Monday night.

So I did. Don Nelson. What happened to that guy? Don Nelson was a little bit of an actor. He was doing some Budweiser commercials in the, in the eighties. And I think he was still doing a little standup. I don't remember if I met him, but he was at that time the epitome

of the tweed jacket with the patches and then the knitted tie and the khakis. And he just looked perfect. And back at that time, Joey Gaynor was at the Comedy Store in Westwood, Holly Mandel, Tim Thomerson, Ollie Joe Prater,

Shanleen, and those guys that, you know, John Fox. Late 70s? Oh, late 79, summer of 79. And even though I didn't really know those guys, I was kind of around. But to see those guys at that time and then, you know, to go to the comedy store on Sunset and just hang out and, you know, you see David Letterman there. I saw Pryor there.

I saw Robin Williams, you know, Yakov. So at those times, almost now, if you look back, those guys almost seem like, you know, icons or dinosaurs amongst, you know, humanity that those guys now are so iconic that they almost look like they didn't exist. It's been so long. That's true. Except that, you know, you can still go see Yakov. Yeah.

And, you know, he's the first dude. He's the first dude. He used to go to the Comedy Store. Danny Mora had a workshop at the Comedy Store, Cross Street, in the original room, but then sometimes across street in that annex yeah and we we went in there early and yakov smirnoff was on stage he did an hour his show verbatim where he would even look into the audience and go how how how's your name even

look at the chairs that dude had it down i'd never seen anybody do it like that since there's a lot of guys that you know denny johnston still does the same stuff but the fact that this guy could feel an hour in an empty showroom talking to the chairs and knowing what chairs to talk to as an 18 year old kid fucking blew me away man it's like what the fuck is this guy doing like it's all planned that's where you learn the trick for some of those guys you make it look like improv yeah so he's doing a whole other thing now i mean i guess he got his degree in uh psychotherapy he does a whole man and women and psychology trip like because you know the russian thing don't fly anymore he went to branson didn't he have his own theater yeah yeah and? Yeah, and he went to graduate school.

And now he's got this whole other men and women thing, not like What a Country. It's about, you know, it's more of a one-man show, you know. What a Country was pretty good. That's a pretty good one. Pretty good, man. Because I come here, I land at the airport, I see a billboard that says Smirnoff.

I'm like, what a country. Yeah. So you started going over to Westwood when you were like 18 or 19 i just turned 18 i went i went on cinco de mayo in 1979 i was still in high school me and my buddy ernie went on a saturday night we went in there uh they would let you in if you were 18 i saw uh all those guys i saw yakov i saw danny mora for the first time and saw some other, I saw Fox and, uh, Lois, uh, Bromfield, Bromfield. Um, uh,

like that. So I followed Danny Morrow to the sidewalk. I follow them outside. And I said, Hey man, he's wearing a Laverne and Shirley hoodie. He's riding on Laverne and Shirley. He still has that,

that leather bag. He probably still has it to this day. It's the same bag. And I said, Hey man, you know, I'm a, I want to be a comedian too.

And you know, he's like, Oh yeah. Well, well, you know, what's your style? I said,

I don't have a style yet, but like, I'm, I want to be like you.. He's like, oh yeah, what's your style? I said, I don't have a style yet, but I want to be like you. That motherfucker spent the next 10 minutes telling me how I couldn't be like him and how I had to find my own identity and how you just can't walk up to somebody and say you want to be a comedian and you want to be like that person. I was like, fuck, all right.

Take it easy. It sounds like between him and your uh little in your baseball coach you got some good fucking gems fucking diamonds in the rough these guys were how many latino guys were they really working around then at that time there was uh angel salazar from new york check it out check it out. And then I was at the Comedy Store on Sunset. Yeah. When Angel, by the time Angel's done, it looks like a goddamn flea market behind him. Oh, yeah, dude.

So when he says goodbye, the next 10 minutes is him putting shit back in his bag. And then Eddie Murphy walks up behind him. Yeah. And now as he has his back turned, this place is going fucking crazy. Eddie Murphy goes in there with a leather jacket, fucking sleeves rolled up,

taught his fuck. And no, but, and the thing that's funny is that Angel hasn't seen that Eddie Murphy is standing behind him yet. So as he's gathering his shit, he looks up and he's just like this. And now everybody's truly fucking rolling.

And he goes, check it out. He's like, Eddie he goes check it out he's like Eddie Murphy check it out that's hilarious I saw Jesse Aragon the last night of his life he was down at the we're down at the comedy store on a Monday night he was driving a motorcycle and he got hit on the side

of the freeway that night by a truck that was, you know, they drive too close to the inside lane. Crazy shit, man. The greatest thing about Jesse Aragon is now when you start to do one-nighters in the car, somebody's driving. I still work during the day. He didn't.

So he really didn't have a car that was reliable. So we go up to, I think san luis obispo and we leave friday because i'm working we probably should have left earlier and we're driving there we're gonna we're gonna make it probably just go straight to the to the the hotel the ballroom and he says to me he's looking through his bag and he pulls out a bag of oranges that are completely fucking rotten and twisted and black with fruit flies in them and he goes it looks like what the fuck is i'm driving what the fuck is that he goes oh man he goes i haven't worked my fondness goes we got to stop at the market before we go to the club because i gotta buy another bag of oranges

and i said so what do you do man like before every show you you buy a bag of oranges and he goes yeah i said why don't you just get some fucking tennis balls and paint them orange and just put them in the orange bag? That motherfucker looked at me like if I had discovered fire. He just was like. Yeah. He changed all that. So you guys were buddies. You used to do one-nighters together, and then he passed.

We used to do one-nighters up there, yeah. Lampost, pizza, the club sold up in Ventura. It's funny, man know on a sunday you know i'd invite my friends and it's not glamorous you know on a when you're starting out on a sunday yeah and uh mark wilmore uh was up before me and there was a guy in the front row with his foot on the stage uh uh eating popcorn out of a you know one of those you know coconut bowls you know and uh mark wilmore says to me if that motherfucker right there is talking i'm eating popcorn out of one of those coconut bowls. And Mark Wilmore says to me, if that motherfucker right there is talking,

I'm going to beat his ass. So the guy is talking. Mark Wilmore is going at him. And he leaves early. And then I go up and I tell my buddy, I said, if this dude is talking shit, man, I'm going to go at him. And of course he's talking shit i grabbed that popcorn bowl upside down and i flung it and it went like a frisbee fucking cut him right here show's over bob zany was that was a bob zany gig the dude's bleeding from a slice

like a stuck pig that shit running outside of his face. He thinks he's going to lose an eye and the next day Bob Zaney calls me. It's $25. And I remember he said, so you tell me, you think that I should pay you this $25 considering what happened last night? And I'm like, you know what, man? Fucking keep that $25.

He wanted me to decide if I was up there long enough since i threw a fucking bamboo bowl at this guy and cut him over his eye was i deserve you tell me i'll pay you but you tell me do you think you deserve this 25 dollars i'm still working during the day man i was like hey man you got to throw a bowl at a guy who deserved it yeah couldn't do that shit out no well that like that i say that all the time back in the day man people used to lose their shit on stage and nobody was the wiser you know you saw some people really lose their fucking mind sometimes you know if you want

to see some of the greatest man that dude that was playing the guitar kenny whatever that guy's name is kenny lane or some dude if anybody looks it up. Oh, the guy who hit the guy in the head? He's going like this. He's trying to stay. He goes, hey, don't come up here, motherfucker. And you see the guy coming. He grabs that guitar, hits him over the head. The back comes off the guitar.

He puts it back on like nothing. The back's missing. And, you know, everyone's like, what the fuck? He tries to play it, and he goes, you saw him, folks. That guy just came at me. And everybody's know, everyone was like, he tries to play it. And he goes, you saw him, folks. That guy just came at me. And everybody's like, no. Yeah, that's crazy, man. Crazy shit, man.

So when did you start doing the TV? Like, one thing I don't know about, there was a time there way back when people gave a shit about, you know, the Mencia thing. Where I talked to, you know, I talked to Barsena and I talked to some other cats and there was like I never knew if there was there was there a Latino circuit when you guys were starting out you know the thing was that it started it started like this like I don't think I've ever told my story um um I would hear because I didn't go to the comedy show even though I started the comedy store I didn't really spend my time there. And I would hear about this doorman that was doing my material. Oh, this is this.

Okay, yeah. And I'm like, who is that? They're like, this is some dude, like Mitzi's driver. He's a comedian. And, you know, Mencia had a little bit of heat in the early 90s. Like, he was daring, you know. He was out there. He was a bravado.

He's like, he was daring, you know, you know, he was, he was out there. It was a bravado. So I had already been doing Sunday comics and I'd have been doing Friday night videos, anything that you could do around. And that was obviously, I was already, I already married. I was already doing Arsenio's of the, so in 19, you were headlining. I was starting on the road. You were headlining? I was starting on the road.

And in 1993, he had a one night only or half hour comedy. 95. HBO. Right there. Yeah. So when it premieres the next morning, I have like 40 calls on my answering machine. And they're like, yo, Lope, you got to see this dude. This dude's doing your shit. I'm like, where?

And on that, I got a copy from my lawyer, a copy of his half hour, his HBO special half hour. There was, it was a 21 minute special. 14 minutes of his 21 minutes was mine. So we went to HBO but aside from that I went to the Laugh Factory on a Saturday that week that that happened and as I pull up to the valet he's waiting by the valet and I look at and I go, it's not the time, man. It's not the time. I just want to talk to you. I go, dude, leave me alone. I said, man, it's not the time. Don't follow me. Follows me inside. I just want to, I said, listen, man, fucking stay away from me.

It ain't the time. It ain't the place. We go upstairs. He's like, listen, if you don't understand, I grabbed this dude with both of my fists spin him around throw him into the corner of the laugh factory where you start to take the stairs back by the where the DJ is I get him I have both fists in his shirt I'm picking him up and I'm going like this

Mark I was going to throw that motherfucker over the balcony while the show was going on so I'm back like this and my wife grabs my arm and she's like he's not worth it you know leave him alone and fucking messia with his fucking bumblebee fucking body is down on the ground looking for some you know metal he was wearing and i said man get the fuck out of here dude and uh i don't think uh i've seen him maybe once or twice in that time and it's like you know it's all good it's like listen man I don't have an axe to grind with that dude

so long ago it's almost fucking 30 years ago I mean but that dude was about as felonious joke thief as I've ever that may have ever been oh for sure yeah I mean he had a lot of he did it to a lot of people and I guess like you know he paid the price that's for sure well he paid the price because you know you're now you're

the fucking man in the iron mask because you know you would hear stories that there was a headliner at the riviera in las vegas and he closed with that joke where the two kids are eating breakfast and he goes how about some fucking oatmeal and the mom slaps the kid yeah fuck and you ask the other kid what do you want for breakfast i don't want any fucking oatmeal so the mom slaps the kid yeah fuck you ask the other kid what do you want for breakfast i don't want any fucking oatmeal so the headliner closes the first show with that mencia is the host at the riviera sharipa's room he closes with it as he's doing his set the beginning of the second show the headliner comes out of the room. He's literally chasing him in the showroom trying to catch him

for using his shit. It even goes outside the Riviera. So I didn't really work there. I saw Sharippa early on and he'd go, Sharippa's like, you probably want to know why I never booked you. And I'm like, yeah, why is that? Why didn't you book me?

He goes, I had Mencia the same jokes, half the price. So when you, so you, you, you started out at the comedy store and then what you, you just started touring or how'd that go? Like, I mean, when did you get started to go on the road? You know, I was working over there at the ice house. So I kind of tried to stay out of Hollywood until I had a little bit of a, you know, some legs or consistently, you know, know i could be consistently funny it didn't come natural to you stayed over there at the ice house at bob fisher's place i stayed over there i worked at

igb's and oh really the comedy store and the improv especially the improv on mel was a tough room man so i stayed out of there it is a tough room well i had some consistency and um, so for a few years, so I was over there hosting the shows on the weekends, not a bad gig, man. And I, you know, I got a chance to, you know, get on stage and host this stuff and at the ice house stuff at the ice house. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's like a classic old room. I mean, it's weird. I used to, I, when I was living over in the Highland park, I'd go work there cause it was close and Fisher would let you, you know, you could do an hour there. Now, I mean, was it ever a really popular place

or was it always sort of off to the side? Yeah, it was pretty popular for the area. I think they pulled from Pasadena and Altadena. There was nobody from Hollywood. Kipidata. Kipidata. Steve Blustein. Oh, yeah.

Oh, this dude, Ron Jones and Flame. You know, Ron Jones and Flame. So Ron Jones would go into this box at the end. You're a fucking magician. Fitting into a fucking box at the end. Like, nobody knows he's in the fucking box. Right. So he says to me, you know, when you go up there,

you know, vamp a little because I got to get out of this box. So, you know, he wraps it up. He said he just disappears and smoke is in the box. And the box looks way too small to, for this guy to fit. So nobody is going to assume that he's in the box. So I go up there and I said, listen, take care of yourself. We have another show coming in. So if you guys could get out as quickly as you can,

I leave the stage. And as I get back there they say man you're supposed to that dude's still in the box and I look and people are starting to get up and he's in the box and now we're like what the fuck so he's in the box probably in the box 35

minutes he comes out he's drenched in sweat he makes a move for me grabs my shirt. He's pulling me towards him. He's going to fucking punch me. He's like, you're supposed to do some time to find that fucking box. So he's in that box waiting for the room to clear.

He doesn't want to come out so people see he's in the box. I forgot. So when did you start doing the big – I watched your special years a while back. It looked like you were playing the biggest room in the world. I did one in San Antonio in 2009. I did 85 minutes live at the AT&T Center where the Spurs play. That was a long haul, man. There was like 16,500 people in there.

That was crazy, man. That was wild, man. Because you were up there trying to manage that room. I owned it. thousand people in there that was crazy man that was wild man because you like you know you just right up there trying to own it manage that room owned it imagine man and i had them you know i had them all in one place i didn't have any hot spots i didn't have anybody yelling out yeah i had them i don't think you could do that now with politics being the way they are yeah you're gonna get some bullshit going on but i saw you though you were locked in in there man locked in there brother but i used to see you come up like when i was starting out or not starting out but i mean you're only a couple years older than me but

you used to go up to san francisco a lot oh yeah that's why i met you guys yeah i think it's the first time i met you in san francisco you come in to comedy day comedy day comedy day in san francisco even though they don't do it anymore was really one of the, one of the coolest things. One of the greatest things that I've ever been a part of to this day was that day in the park and having everybody be cool and everybody from different clubs out there and everybody's trying to bring their best guys and Jose Simone, you know, up there and allose simone you know up there yeah and un gallo and all these dudes you know

all in the same spot really the only time you'd ever see those guys all in the same spot johnny steel and will johnny lopez johnny lopez yeah that's his name alex bennett alex bennett we met on alex bennett that motherfucker oh my god he'd just sit there and talk about like anyone else got a stomach ache i got a stomach ache does anyone have a stomach i know man i saw i was in there one time with al goldstein from screw magazine oh just he was tongue kissing young chicks in there to get tickets to go to a car just a just a a whole uh buffet of jewish pigs oh man those dudes were now ghostingstein was nasty, man. It was like by the time I got there,

no one even really, the audience never showed up there and no one was really listening. But you still sat there with three comics. You'd get up at six in the morning, go sit there for three hours to listen. Oh, I'd keep you the whole time. To listen to Alex complain about shit.

Oh, and he would do those remotes. Like he'd do them at the walnut creek punch line oh the worst he'd do it they do i think maybe sacramento did them oh they did them everywhere dude i did it at a fitness center in stockton or something fucking six in the morning you're doing comedy at a fucking fitness center oh my wow bro yeah man i remember all those guys up there. Bobby Slayton. Bobby Slayton. One of the best ever. Bobby Slayton. So when you started touring heavy, what year was that?

When you really started to hit the clubs. So you do the Ice House, and then you do Igby's for a while, and then what? You start to come into the improvs, and you start doing those? Then I start going a little bit of the improv. I met Arsenio. It's funny. I had a time at the improv on Melrose,

and I would always talk myself out of going. I'm not going to go. I'm going to go. I'm going to go. I'm going to go, 745. I'm not going to go. At that time, I wasn't going to go. I ended up going, and I meet Arsenio.

His show had just started. It had been February of 89, and Scott LaRose had gone up before me. He's like, do you mind if I go ahead of you so while scott while scott larose was up arsenio and his crew come in i ended up getting arsenio out of that scott laroe went up because they had another time somewhere else i think he ended up doing it later but i became almost like a staple on arsenio that that helped a lot to be able to do that oh when he first started you know with the talk show yeah scott larose i hadn't heard that name in a while getting pictures he was doing all the commercials man

that dude would did all the commercials for maybe a five or six year period yeah him and kevin west was the other kid kevin west he was at the comedy store little guy little mousy guy kind of looks like scott larose man crazy yeah so arsenio now when did you like when you look at your audience like from the beginning is it like did you find that you had a pretty immediate latino following was it big no i was uh you know what i was moderately amusing you know i wasn't edgy i wasn't political yeah doing stuff that you know um that was more latino you know flavored in you know some politics more about you know taco bell stuff yeah yeah heart named after that mundane shit you know

so not not really and at that time you know they weren't there wasn't really a huge amount of latinos even going to clubs why is that man so, man? It was just a different feeling for them. That was almost a very white thing to do, was to go to a comedy club. So over the years, they would start to come out. They didn't really know how to behave. They'd fight. They'd be kind of like, shut the fuck up.

There's no decorum. They'd try to leave on checks. And gradually, gradually, gradually, they started to leave on checks and and and and gradually gradually gradually they started to get an identity and know how to behave themselves when they went to a show but when i started doing theaters they would yell out shit like thinking they're helping yeah there would be full-on blows in the crowd and you know i ended up even back then like i ended up hiring my own guys to patrol the room because without those guys you couldn't get through your set but you were making most of your money just doing headlining sets yeah yeah yeah in the 96 97 i was already making over

six figures uh a year oh so you were good you're one of those guys you were like 96 97 because i i never understood it but you got you did door deals back then right i did door deals and i remember because i did a lot of the improvs um and you'd stay two weeks like in addison the club's still there um i would i my goal was was 16 shows in two weeks my My goal was to make $1,000 a show. And, you know, over a couple of years being there, I think I'd made like 18,000. I was so happy that I would, you know, finally got to my goal of $1,000 a show.

But on a door deal, you could have made more. Could have made more. You know, it was inconsistent, you know. And a lot of times, you know, sometimes you catch a good more. Could have made more. It was inconsistent. A lot of times, sometimes you'd catch a good week. It's a lot of shows, dude. Jesus, man. It's a lot of shows. It's brutal. You just built your reputation on the road. You were doing little TV sets

here and there, regular on Arsenio. You do the Tonight Show with Carson or no? I did. I did November of 91. Yeah, it's funny because I was a couple of months before that I had auditioned for Shapiro West, Dan Barnett. They had Jerry. You know, Jerry's show was on.

And Macaulay was at the course, Macaulay trolling at the Melrose Improv. The Booker, yeah. The Booker, Jim Macaulay. Yeah. And I was up on stage and he's looking at me. He looks at George Shapiro and he goes, you handle this kid right here? He goes, no, we're looking at him. He goes, well, if you handle him, tell him, you know, to put

some stuff together and to give me a call in a week and to come by my office. And so when I got off, they go, hey, we think we got you the Tonight Show. Yeah, they didn't fucking do anything, but they were standing right next to Jim McCauley. And they did nothing. Goddamn Barnett, who, God rest her soul, told me on the phone, yelled at me when I was asking about showcases, yelled at me,

nobody wants to see you on the phone. You don't understand. Nobody wants to see you on the phone. You don't understand. Nobody wants to see you. That was my manager, Shapiro West. That was Diane Barnett. Fucking yelled at me. Nobody wants to see you. So you signed with them after that?

Yeah, but that was the ready to go after that. Mr. Star on the Walk of Fame syndication. Fucking wax figure in the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Nobody wants to see you! You remember that too, right? You'll never forget that. I remember every motherfucking person. I remember every

fucking ding, every dent. The greatest. I saw Marty Klein came to see me, God rest his soul. Great dude. One of the great agents. Marty Klein. Marty Klein sees me at Igby's. I'm green, man. It's like 88, 89.

Sees me, Harvey Elkin, who had everybody go through him at one time, literally the Broadway Danny Rose of fucking Hollywood comedians. Marty Klein signed me, didn't do anything with me. And then we went in there for a meeting and Marty Klein doesn't know who the fuck I am. And he goes, well, who's your agent? It's Danny Robinson, Bud Robinson's son. Was a younger guy, looked like the critic,

big stomach, mustache. So they bring him into the office and i'm standing there and marty klein looks at uh danny uh robinson and goes would you start to work on getting this kid some work and he's like you know it's all for show i know and and he goes yeah yeah yeah and as he's leaving danny robinson looks down at me and he looks up and he goes, hey, nice shoes. Yeah. So cut to I have my television show on. Yeah.

It's been on like two years. Lowell Sanders is doing Comic View. He says, hey, will you introduce me for Comic View? I said, I'm working, dude. He goes, just just it'll take five minutes, man. Just leave. You can introduce me and then you can go back to work. I don't know. How can you leave? You me, and then you can go back to work. I said, I don't know, Lowell, man.

I was like, how can you leave, you know? So I left. I went over there, got out of my car. I'm still, like, in the show thing, like a suit. Yeah. Almost like that scene in Goodfellas where they walk in, they go down the stairs, they go through the kitchen, they go through the back.

He walks on the stage. I go, here's a guy, Lowell Sanders. go crazy i leave i walk back out people are like tapping me on the back hey george lopez all right george lopez the last dude at the door is fucking danny robinson and i walk up to him i look down like this i look up i go nice shoes it's the last thing i said to him even you're even you know it was it was this fight you know i don't think it's healthy no i know but i think somebody who who who succeeded against high odds knows you know when we were doing the television show the woman who played my mother came in she was an acting coach yeah went to school with powers booth was related you know worked with

all these incredible actors and she comes in one day and she's very demure she's like i need to ask you a question like how did all this happen like what motivated you and i i go spite yeah fucking i go fucking spite me too dude and she goes that's not very healthy i said hey got your ass here oh man it is the listen spite for the person that can handle it can ride that shit like a rocket and it'll never let you down you'll never run out of spite either no you won't i i don't know if it's good but but i can't when i was starting out i can't tell you how many times i would call dave becky and go why the fuck is that guy doing that who the fuck is that guy

he got it how the fuck did that guy get that but ultimately my spite it never paid off like you know i i ended up turning things around in my fucking garage so i you know i i was never never great at the spite you know you know i listen listen i you know you and i don't really know each other i saw you at the airport one time we were always cordial to each other you gave me a lift but i didn't give you a lift up yeah yeah you saw me at the airport you're like get in the car. Come on back in the car. When, when, when Brock, when the president did your show, I was so proud of you, man,

as a comedian, as somebody in the trenches, I said, man, that's, that's beautiful. Yeah. It was something else, man. He came over to my house. Thanks buddy. And thanks for the ride. I didn't know. You're welcome.

Yeah. You're welcome. Yeah. But like, what was the big turning point though you know you're making good money you're married that's going all right i guess and but you when did you know what the you know what the big you know what the crazy you know my my wife had a friend that was an agent at um ed lamato's agent big. She was like the secretary. And she called, I was still, I was living in a condo on Barham, maybe 1999. And she says to me, you know, there's somebody that wants

to see you. He was working on this project with this producer. It's kind of hush hush. He wants to come and see you Friday at the ice house. I go to ice house on Friday. I see him. I'm drinking on stage. I'm like, maybe this isn't the right thing to do for a showcase, but I'm killing him. They're laughing. I'm drinking on stage. He leaves, and I don't see him. I'm like, where did this guy go? I don't know who you were looking for. A year later,

almost to the month, I get a call, and he says to me, are you still interested in this idea? I'm like, dude, I don't even know what the fuck you're talking about. What idea? My producing partner and I have an idea that you could be interesting for. Well, we found out it was Sandra Bullock, and Sandra Bullock came to see me at the Brea Improv. Imagine getting Sandra Bullock to leave her house above Marmont,

up there by where Jimmy Kimmel lives, and to drive the 65 miles to the Brea Improv to sit there on a Thursday to watch me. And she did. And I said, follow me. And as she was following me, I kept waiting to see those headlights just veer off. Well, this is too fucking far.

And she came and she saw me. And we had a meeting. And we started to have more meetings. And that became my show. And that show, I don't think people realize that. It went into syndication. It almost became bigger in syndication, right? It became bigger in syndication, yeah.

It was up against American Idol the last three years. People loved that show. Nickelodeon picked it up. My goal ultimately when we started to do the show, and it looked like we might syndicate, my goal for me personally was to get the number for syndication. We were at 120. But also to be in production and syndication at the same time.

And the only reason the show didn't come back is allegedly the president of ABC at that time was having relations with several actresses and his decisions were not based on performance of shows, but they were based on where he could put these particular people into shows, allegedly. And then two years go by. The guy is now a winemaker, sends me a case of wine with a card that says, you know, I know you're upset with me. We haven't talked. You know, if you get a chance, give me a call. I call them, and he apologized for not picking my fucking show up. And I'm like, you know, what good does that do me now? You fuck.

We were telling you that shit two years ago. So that spite didn't go away. No. I was doing my talk show at that time. So, you know, as long as there's somebody out there with an ax to grind and they make a move on me, I'll always be successful. But the thing is that, like, the George Lopez show, you know, it was doing all right. You're on a lot of years, right?

Yep. But then, like, it was one of those things where in syndication it picked up a whole new audience of young people i bet i guess and then absolutely and so is that where you really became because i'm just curious because i watched a new special we'll do it for half i just watched it yeah and it's pretty clear that you know you're one of these people like you know you kind of a an inspiration and a role model and a guy who speaks to the latino community in a very personal way. So I imagine that groundwork got laid with the George Lopez show, right? Right, right. You know, it's

funny that, you know, when I first started to show up, you know, my wife had a higher opinion of me when we were married than when we were divorced. And she was usually how it works. That's usually how. Yeah. Don't kid yourself. You were a draw draw like i only worked on the west side of texas and over here so all of that stuff was new and in the beginning i wasn't political at all and as i started to look at things in the community and i started to have a voice in specials um and started to take on politicians and politics that i started to lose a lot of people who would say of any particular color that they liked me before i got political. And then, you know, with the wall that we did two years ago in DC live with all the Trump stuff, like, you know, really became a wedge through, you know, both sides

where people would, uh, you know, send me messages and threaten my life all anonymous too, by the way. So, you know, I didn't grow up the toughest dude, but anybody who threatens my life anonymously is more than welcome to come and threaten me when I tell them where I am. Like that shit don't scare me. Well, do you find that, are you finding that like within the Latino community, there's, you know, there's a defiant, cause it seems like there's definitely two types of Latino voters. I mean, there's three types. They're the type that vote and there's a type that are Republican who look at

it, who look down on everybody. And then there's a type that could give a fuck. And then there's another type that aren't citizens and they can't vote. So, you know, I would always say that it's up to us who can vote to be a voice for the workers that can't vote. Right. So those things became clear when you look at December, you know,

they're putting people in camps. And then in the middle of April, they consider all of the farm workers, the essential workers. Listen, nobody wants to do that shit for fun or for profit. It's a fucking hard job to do. And instead of being ridiculed and rounded up

when you're taking your kids to school, they're out of social respect that they show up every day and not only feed your family, but they feed themselves too. They ought to feed their own family too. Yeah, and then they're being used as pawns by these monsters. And I became the guy that talked a lot of shit that, hey, you made quite a, you know, you, you made quite a success for yourself in this country. And if you don't like it here and stop

bitching and fucking go back to Mexico, I'm fourth generation. I'm not from Mexico. And I really don't even know anybody in Mexico. Have you ever been there? Yeah, I've been there, but I bought a house in Hawaii in the like 2004 through 12. I lived in Hawaii and they say, why wouldn't you buy a house in Mexico? And I'm like, Mexicans? You know, if you grew up around them, why would the fuck you want to fucking go vacation around them? I wanted to get away from them. Which island did you have a house on? In Lanai before Larry Ellison bought it.

That was nice. He bought my house, man. It's like, you know, we're trying to sell this. I got divorced. I have this huge ass house, you know, 12,000 square man. It's like, you know, we're trying to sell this. I got divorced. I have this huge-ass house, you know, 12,000-square-foot house in Hawaii that, you know, I got left in the separation. You know, I got that house. I'm paying all these property taxes.

I'm going over, bringing my friends, beautiful house. And when Larry Ellison buys the island, about the island, I thought, where's this guy going to live? Boom. Bought my house. You know, he was, he was, he was, he was kinder than TBS. You know, he's like, TBS was like, you got 36 hours to get the fuck out of here. Larry Allison at least gave me 48 to make a decision. Yeah. You did good though. When did you get sick, man? I got sick. You know, it's funny because, uh, I was born with a narrow ureters, which I

found later was a, uh, a case of being born early. The ureters didn't, um, you know, um, develop properly. So, um, what are the ureters? What are your ureters where from the bladder, the tubes that take the urine, uh, from the bladder through the kidney and out, you know, so you can urinate, they were narrow, they were were narrow and what it did was it made me have to go to the bathroom a lot yeah but then but then if I held it in which I did a lot you're backing that urine into your kidneys and you're poisoning yourself oh no that's why when kids hold it you're really backing that was years holding that urine back into my kidneys,

which, which damaged them. And then it wasn't, you know, much like DL Hughley, you know, feigning on stage that he found out that he had, you know, COVID maybe if he doesn't faint on stage and he gets lightheaded in a hotel or at home, he probably wouldn't think that that's COVID. He probably would have thought, you know, I'm traveling again. Right. I haven't been eating. Yeah. So in a way, it may have been the best thing that happened to him was to know early.

With me, I was already on the road just feeling horrible, bent over, and I couldn't understand why my back hurt. That was all kidney disease. Oh, my God. So I was grinding, man. It was crazy. Holy shit. So you were still

married and you're and and how'd you you talked your wife out of a kidney no you know uh it's funny you know um when i when i found out i had advanced kidney disease it's almost like in the movies like you and i are talking but you could see her sitting in a chair between us yeah and the doctor comes in he's like hey i don't know how to tell you this man you got advanced kidney disease and you're gonna need a kidney by the time you're 30 you're 45 i was 38 and she's there and she's like i'll give you one of mine i'm like you know i can relax yeah you can't give kidneys to somebody without being tested she was the only one tested she was a perfect match her mother mother, God rest her soul, wasn't sure if she should do it.

So her and I had a conversation about if she wanted to and if she didn't want to. I didn't feel like she should have. I said, I'll leave it up to you. And she did. Saved my life. And I was very disingenuous to her, but in reality, it cost me a lot of money anyways to get married and divorced in California. But if there's anything that I do appreciate out of all my spite and all the fact that I talk a lot of shit about people and even was disrespectful to her,

which I should not have been, was that I'm very thankful that that after 15 years that she allowed me to continue my life. You know, the same person that saved my life really made me want to fucking, you know, continue my life. You know, you know, the same person that saved my life really made me want to fucking kill myself, but that's life. It's good. She let you keep the kidney and the divorce. Everybody's like,

you know, you're going to give her back the kidney. Imagine you want to get coffee in the morning. And some lady says, you know, I think you're a fucking asshole for getting divorced for your wife to get a cast. And you know,

it's like six45 in the morning. Did you get that kind of shit? Oh, man, yes. People were mad at you? They were mad at me, man. I don't know. Do you stay together for the sake of somebody? Yeah, because they gave you a kidney?

We had a huge fight one time, and she says, you should thank me every day for the way that you feel and you know that's why they don't want donors to meet because you could lay that guilt on somebody yeah in a relationship and i said listen if i could i'd put my fist in my ass pull it out of my asshole and throw it right back at you so that's how bad it gets right before you think you know maybe i should maybe I shouldn't be living in this house. Yeah. It's weird that you do like, but you, it's, you have no choice, but to be grateful underneath it all. You know, I, nobody, you know, nobody gave me a chance. You talk about

in the beginning, you know, there's a, there's a lack of appreciation that I didn't get until I, until I got older older when I started to really become grateful for people who invested in me. And she was part of that. Divorce is contentious. There's a kid involved. But I mistook that anger for the respect that I should have shown her for saving my life.

Yeah, I mean, look, I didn't have kids, but my second divorce completely bankrupted me. And I fucking hated her and I hated her lawyer. But she, but my second divorce completely bankrupted me and I fucking hated her and I hated her lawyer, but she got me sober and I always give her credit for that. And I used to, uh, I used to thank her for it. Uh, every year I just, uh, you know, she hated me, man. I'd send her this, uh, email to the, I just want to thank you again. It's my anniversary. I got another year sober. Thanks to you. And then finally, like just a couple of years ago, she finally just said, if I want to hear from you i'll let you know all right that's done then there's no listen there's

no there's no dissension like divorce dissension no shit dude even if you say just go say hello it's like oh we hate each other just fucking go say hello yeah no. No good. No. No good. It's not going to go anywhere. So the TBS show, how's your spite level about that in retrospect? They were afraid, man. I mean, you know, Coonan and whatever that guy, White, whoever was the thing. You know, they thought they wanted to get in business with me. We told them we were going to do what we did. wanted to get in business with me we were we told them we were going to do what we did they made cone a conan's side or his people made tbs believe that if they didn't sign conan they were going to

lose him to fox masterful masterful move yeah so he comes in i blame jay leno jay leno should have lost the tonight show and like a man taking his millions and walked away. That 10 o'clock show put me in a position where I was going to lose my show. Conan was the host of The Tonight Show. Fucking Jay Leno goes there at 10 o'clock. Conan looks bad. Conan gets fired from The Tonight Show, comes over to TBS. I moved to Midnight, and this all happens because fucking Jay Leno couldn't just take his million

dollar checks and, and stay off TV. So you blame Jay. You know, I don't blame him, but if he had just taken his hit like a man and not cock block and go to 10 PM, dude,

you had the tonight show at 1130. You mean you're going to do a show at 10 PM, give Conan a chance to succeed or fail on his own without you at 10 o'clock so you know you're not mad at conan though no man we're cool i'm not mad at anybody you know i i i you know i i have little to complain about it may appear it may appear but now i'm happy man yeah but but with those things like that when you trust somebody that you're in business with and they completely lie to your face, it's hurtful because I thought that that show was important

as far as late night and diversity goes. You know, the people that did my show didn't want to do Conan's show. The Conan show would call over and say, how can we get Sam Jackson to do our show? They don't want to do Conan show. They were Conan show would call over. How can we get, how can we get Sam Jackson to do our show that they don't want to do it. So, uh, you know,

I was in a good spot there and I wish I would've had, it's not, not maybe not something I would've liked to have done forever, but to get pushed out, uh, when you had been playing ball along was, was a bit tough to accept. Well,

yeah, I mean, yeah, you've taken, you know, he's definitely taken a few shots in show business, but you got to play in the big game. I got to play in the big leagues, baby.

Nothing's been better than having shows named after you and being able to, you know, meet some of the people that you admired growing up and become friends with them. And, you know, I have this love of music. I have this love of concerts, and I love golf. And I've been able to, you know, like I said in the beginning, go play the golf courses that I watched on TV as that kid that wrote threatening letters to himself in that back room in San Fernando. And did your grandparents live to see

any of your success? My grandmother lived to 2009. Wow. And my grandfather passed away at 64 in 1988. So what'd your grandmother think of your success? Did she give you any credit then? You know, she was, she was more complimentary to people that she would meet that would talk about me than she was to me. But you know what? God bless her, man. I mean, you know, I miss her every day. She had dementia and it was tough to look at somebody just kind of wither away that meant so much to me. Yeah. So, but I miss her, man. And if I would have known I was going to miss her this much, I probably would have gone

over there more. I guess that's always the way. It's great talking to you, George. You look good. I'm glad you're doing well. I like the special. It was good. Thanks, brother.

Appreciate it, man. Right on. You take it easy. Let's talk to you george you look good i'm glad you're doing well i like the special it was good thanks brother appreciate it right on you take it easy that was me and george lopez his new netflix special we'll do it for half is now streaming globally globally that was funny when he uh he remembered or i reminded him that he gave me a ride it was almost like there was a moment there where he was like uh oh yeah oh i'm a nice guy i am a nice guy i actually i did i'm honestly i'm a nice guy anyway that was a fun talk all right so now let's go out with some guitar i you know i'm gonna clean this guitar up a little bit i'm gonna clean it up it's getting

a little sloppy but uh'm going to clean it up. It's getting a little sloppy. But let's do it. Thank you. guitar solo guitar solo Boomer lives. the influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talked to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. Discover the timeless elegance of cozy, where furniture meets innovation.

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