WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 512 - Gabriel Iglesias

Episode Date: July 6, 2014

If you didn't know that Gabriel Iglesias is one of the most popular comics in the world, hear Gabriel explain how he went from working the Latino comedy circuit to selling out arenas and releasing concert films like The Fluffy Movie. Plus, Gabriel tells Marc what it was like to see his dad show up at one of his gigs after being gone for more than 30 years. 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.

It's winter, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost almost anything. So no, you can't get snowballs on Uber Eats. But meatballs, mozzarella balls, and arancini balls? Yes, we deliver those. Moose? No. But moose head? Yes. Because that's alcohol, and we deliver that too.

Along with your favorite restaurant food, groceries, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Calgary is a city built by innovators. Innovation is in the city's DNA. And it's with this pedigree that bright minds and future thinking problem solvers are tackling some of the world's greatest challenges from right here in Calgary. some of the world's greatest challenges from right here in Calgary. From cleaner energy, safe and secure food, efficient movement of goods and people, and better health solutions,

Calgary's visionaries are turning heads around the globe, across all sectors, each and every day. Calgary's on the right path forward. Take a closer look how at calgaryeconomicdevelopment.com. Lock the gates! all right let's do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies what the fucking ears what the fuck sticks what the fuck rakers all right that's enough of that how are you i'm mark maron this is wtf how are you how are you how who are you talking I'm Mark Maron. This is WTF. How are you? How are you? Who are you talking to? Today on the show, Gabriel Iglesias, whose new concert film, The Fluffy Movie, comes out this Friday, July 11th. Gabriel Iglesias, who I've heard of and known of for years and have never met.

But for years, he was always the guy that was just at the club. Oh, yeah, Gabriel was just here. We sold out the month. Oh, yeah, Gabriel Iglesias was here. We had to turn people away. Yeah, I don't know what's wrong this week. It must be because it's nice out. Them's were the days, folks.

Them's were the days. Oh. Them's were the days. Oh, you know who else is coming up that I wanted to mention? Because sometimes I can't sync everything up with everything else. But Ian Edwards, who's hilarious, who I talked to recently. We're going to put that WTF up. And I want to give a little love to his new comedy record, 100% Half-Assed. It's available to download at TeamCocoRecords.com. He's actually the first artist on Conan O'Brien's Team Coco record label, and that's great.

Here's the deal. Here's what's going on. A lot of you are asking me when I'm going to come to your town. Look, I need to plan a tour. I want to plan a tour. I've been talking about planning a tour, but we are waiting. We are waiting to see if the show gets picked up, which will make it a little different. If my show, Marin, gets picked up again for another season, I have to start working pretty quickly.

So a thorough and multi-city tour will be a little difficult. But I should know something within the next week or so. I want to come perform for you. I'm excited to perform. I like performing. The Oddball Festival dates are up. I've got dates coming up in several different cities with that Oddball Fest. Most of the cities I'm going to, I've never been to. I've got dates coming up. Oh, shit. Oh, yeah. I'm going

to be in Denver, man. I am going to be in Denver on the 18th and 19th at the Comedy Works. That's July. That's like a week. That's like two weeks away, kind of. A little less than two weeks away, Denver at the Comedy Works. And I've got other dates coming up. You can go to WTFpod.com and look at the calendar and get those. But that's what I'm waiting for. So I'm either going to tour in the fall or I'm going to tour thoroughly in the spring with some scattered dates, even if they do pick the show up in the fall so i will keep you abreast of that so new york how was new york mark it was great uh i did another scene on another episode of the popular show girls few lines uh but you know they had teeth it had teeth that was a real character i i manufactured a comb over effect

with my hair uh i saw lane and dunham and we had nice chat, and it was fun to be on a set and working with Alex Karposky, a very good guy. And it was exciting. It's exciting to act. It's a long day. It wasn't that long. There are longer ones. But, you know, you wait around. You do takes, and, you know, you nail it.

It's nice to nail it. Get a few options. Get a few options in the can get some coverage but i it's rare that i go back to new york and i get that longing the longing to stay in new york you know i spent a lot of time there and it's odd that i get it in the middle of summer which i think is most people's well winter's pretty bad too but but summer is heavy man humidity. Humidity is upon you. You're like in a pressure cooker. You're just sort of damp and exhausted.

Everybody walking through the city looks like they're on the way back from doing something shameful. It just looks like one parade of shame. Just people have given up. They can't keep their hair up. They can't keep their makeup straight. They can't keep, they're not going to wear long pants. Everybody's slightly hunched, slightly dragging, and they can't keep their makeup straight they can't keep they're not gonna wear long pants everybody's slightly hunched slightly dragging and they can't hide that's what humidity does it melts away pretense and you can see the true being of anybody because they're like what i'm hot leave me the fuck alone this is who i am today yeah i see you i see you so what

did i do i you know i did the the girls shoot and then I hung out. I did a little comedy. I went to the Eastville Comedy Club and did a set there in the basement there at Marco's Club. And then I went over to the cellar, which I don't always do because there's some parts of your, it's almost how I used to feel about the comedy store. There's some parts about going back to where you came from. If some of that time was not great, it's like going to meet the abuser. But I forget that I'm not that guy anymore, and I'm an older guy,

and I love going to the cellar to see the boys and the girls who are doing the stand-up. Pow! Look out. I shit my pants. Justcoffee.coop, available at wtfpod.com anyways see i wandered over to the cellar i didn't have a spot i didn't know if i'd get one but uh it was great man it i just it's a great place i mean i know you see it on louis but uh there's something about you know being a comic and just you know having enough gravitas to sit back there at the table and uh hang out with the with your with your peers and eat some food and know him who uh whose father used to run the

place and own it man he has passed but no one's doing it and he's a little he's a little less hands-on it's a little more pleasant though you know i miss the old man because i miss arguing but but uh who was there that night uh jim norton good to see jim looking healthy uh who else keith robinson of course lenny marcus uh greg rogel was there um i didn't see louis i went with my uh my producer brendan mcdonald we spent the uh the evening running around doing the comedy eating the food and judd apatow uh is in new york shooting his new film with amy schumer so he's doing stand-up i don't know that how long it's been since he's really done stand-up but apparently he's just been hanging out doing the stand-up so he was

hanging around and it's just uh it's pretty great when copelets i i don't know it's just it's it's a rare thing ted alexandro it's just I don't even know how to explain it because this is you know this is the world I live in this is our job but to be able to hang around you after not seeing somebody and people for months and months or even years you just sit at that back table and everybody gets caught up and Judd Apatow sitting there arguably one of the most powerful men in show business but you know at the table he's just a guy doing comedy and we're all having some laughs busting balls he's a good guy i watched him he watched me apparently i made him nervous which i can beat between me and you and him if he's listening uh that that was flattering i was flattered that he got off stage after i watched

him and he told me that i made him a little nervous i was like oh okay because like back in the day when i was doing sets why do i get that back in the day thing? That's getting tired. But I used to kick the comics out of the room. When I would go on at the Cellar, when I was just starting out working there, I was already about eight or nine years in probably. If Atel or Louis or Mark Cohen or anyone was in the room when I went on, the first thing I'd say on stage is like, get out, get out. This isn't for you. I have to figure out how to talk to these people. I can't accommodate whatever's going to make you laugh. And I'd literally throw Dave Attell out if he was in the room when I went on stage. But all in all, good time. All in all, good time. And the reason I like the humidity

between you and I, because I've been a little dry, a little crazy, a little at edge, is that you walk around for a half an hour in that type of heat with that type of humidity, and it's as close to being high as I'm going to be. You're just dazed and moving slow. And I find it relaxing. And there was a rainstorm. To see the clouds gather over New York City and just know it's coming. There's this beautiful, there is actually a calm before the storm. There was some sort of hurricane going on in North Carolina or down on the coast. And some of it was coming up to New York and we knew it was coming.

And me and Brendan are walking through the street and start to drizzle. But you could see that you could feel the cool, weird breeze and the clouds collecting in the sky. And it was drizzling. We're trying to get over the cellar from Little Italy. So we're just trying to make it before whatever the fuck is going to happen is going to happen. And we weren't there yet, man.

And there was like drizzling and then there was nothing. There was just silence and a weird breeze and a grayness that just foreboding ghostbuster sky i looked at brendan i'm like it's it's gonna happen any second because there was nothing happening there was almost a vacuum of silence and then this kapow of thunder and then a boom of lightning and then the clouds just dumped just fucking unloaded. And it was glorious. And there was some kids. You know, we're standing there under the awning of a supermarket

trying to figure out how we're going to get the three blocks without being wet for the evening. And then there were these two little kids that didn't give a shit, and they were just dancing in the rain, dancing around, getting soaked laughing and i thought to myself god why aren't we doing that why why are we not doing that that's a good question but right now uh you're going to experience a first conversation with me in a and a very big comedian very popular comedian i don't know if you know gabriel iglesias but um he comes out of

a scene that that i know nothing about really and um i was excited to talk to him and his movie is out friday that's the uh the fluffy movie comes out this this this Friday the 11th and and you'll I'll explain the Fluffy thing you know what he'll explain it because he had to explain it to me the uh what would you call it is it the etymology of Fluffy when has that ever been said all right let's talk to Gabriel it's winter and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats well almost almost anything so no you can't get snowballs on Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get snowballs on Uber Eats. But meatballs,

mozzarella balls, and arancini balls? Yes, we deliver those. Moose? No. But moose head? Yes. Because that's alcohol, and we deliver that too. Along with your favorite restaurant food, groceries, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal

drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. It's a night for the whole family. Be a part of Kids Night when the Toronto Rock take on the Colorado Mammoth at a special 5pm start time on Saturday, March 9th at First Ontario Centre in Hamilton. The first

5,000 fans in attendance will get a Dan Dawson bobblehead courtesy of Backley Construction. Punch your ticket to Kids Night on Saturday, March 9th at 5 p.m. in Rock City at torontorock.com. Glacius. Gabriel Glacius, I don't know if we've ever met, really. I can't say that we have.

It's so fucked up. I mean, I've been doing comedy for 25 years, and everywhere I go, they're like, oh, yeah, Gabriel Iglesias just sold out the entire city. Gabriel Iglesias was right here. We had to turn people away. I don't know why there's 12 people here. Iglesias was just here. Yeah, we had to add a week.

That's who you are. I've been very fortunate very very fortunate things are going good man no complaints but i mean how long you've been doing it uh this is my 17th year so it's been a long fucking time yeah yeah i've been on the road for uh since day one uh you know i'm on the road 40 plus weeks out of the year so you started when you were a kid? 20 years old. Well, where'd you grow up? Long Beach. You grew up in Long Beach? Yeah.

Your mom and dad are down there? No, unfortunately my mom is no longer with us. I'm sorry. I barely see my dad. But no, I mean, Long Beach is where I grew up. I started off in San Diego, spent most of my life in Long Beach and that's still where How many kids in the family? I'm the last of six.

So it's big. It's a decent size. For a Mexicanican family actually six is right around the average big catholic family uh in my mom's case yes and then no because uh i wasn't raised catholic i was raised just uh you know be good to people right right there was no real religion oh you didn't have that for my brother and sisters hardcore catholic to the point where they were sent to like uh catholic boarding school in mexico and then my mom with me i was like uh there's 15 years between my sister and myself so i was the one that got regular public school and uh i got so they were like well maybe maybe things relaxed they got the hang of it or were you whether why was your brother and sister where your mother was more catholic when she was younger i still couldn't, to this day, I don't know exactly what happened there.

I mean, it was a whole different life before I came about. Really? Oh, yeah. I mean, my brother and four sisters came from one dad, and I came from the bonus dad for my mom's, you know, fun weekend. Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, yeah. I heard you talk about that on stage.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's interesting. So, I mean, hey, it worked out. So, what about the other dad? Is he around still? No, he died a long time ago. Oh, really? A long time ago.

I can't even imagine boarding school in Mexico. I mean, what do you got to do? Find a way to get out of there. That's what you got to do, man. But so, you grew up in this weird family in the sense that there was that much time between you and your brothers. Are you close with them? No, not anymore.

Comedy does things. It either brings everybody together or you become that guy that, oh, you changed. You're not the same. They say that to you. Yeah. Oh, you're Hollywood now. I'm on the road freaking earning a living. You're making a living, right.

I'm Hollywood until they need a loan. And then I'm bunk with a fluffy. So then it changes. Where did this fluffy thing come from? It's a nickname that started, what, 15, 16 years ago. And at the end of my show, nobody remembered Gabriel Iglesias, but they remembered, oh, hey, Fluffy. And I'm like, really? And at first it bothered the hell out of me because it was a really cute joke in the beginning.

And then it just grew, and then I just learned to embrace it and then just brand it. And I started branding it that far back to where now, if you Google fluffy, I'm the number one search. So you were that aware of it early on that fluffy was the thing. It stuck. And you gotta be one of those guys that you, you gotta realize when you catch lightning in a bottle and this is something that people automatically gravitate to. I got to expose that.

I got to work on that. I got to keep working on it. gravitate to i gotta expose that i gotta work on that i gotta keep working on it that the hawaiian shirt thing always wearing shorts keeping a um something that is consistent right those guys that always change their look always change their appearance they add a special yeah that's one of those guys yeah i i didn't i didn't uh i didn't go down to one name though you know like you remember in the 80s there was a guy just his name, just Jose, you know, or whatever. It's just him. Yeah, but like, there was a couple of one-namers, like Mitch Hedberg briefly was Mitch. Was just Mitch.

Yeah, yeah. Because there was no other Mitches out there. Yeah, right. But I mean, I was never that conscious of looking for hooks. And subsequently, you know, I'm not releasing a movie. But I don't think it's just because I didn't have a hook. So you grow up, so most of the other kids were out of the house? Yeah, well didn't have a hook. So you grow up. So most of the other kids were out of the house?

Yeah. Well, everybody was gone by the time I showed up. I mean, you know, you got to figure I was probably two years old when my sister finally decided to move out of the house. And so it's basically like growing up as like an only child. My brother and sisters were more like cousins that would just, you know, show up every now and then because they were off doing their own thing. So it was just your mom?

It was just my mom and me. Where'd they all end up, your brothers and sisters? Most of them are in California. My second oldest sister got in the Air Force. Oh, yeah? So she took off. She's in Germany. Wow.

And they just have regular jobs? And the other ones, I don't know exactly. I think my brother's a truck driver. One of my sisters got into real estate, which you saw what happened. Yeah. The other one works for an optometrist. It's just regular jobs. Yeah, yeah.

And you're the rock star. Well, I'm the one that took chances. Yeah. So your mother was always supportive of the thing? My mom was supportive of whatever it was that would make you happy. She was very realistic in that most parents, they push their kids to get A's and get A's and get B's and go to college and do it. I mean, really putting a lot of pressure on a kid. You know, you got to get a's and get a's and get b's and go to college and do i

mean really putting a lot of like pressure on a kid that you know you got to get to this level whereas my mom was like look if you want to make me happy just graduate high school and whatever you want to do with your life after that i'll support it whatever it is really like yeah you know and i i mean i graduated high school with like c's and d's yeah but so your options were limited yeah i guess so. But she knew that I always wanted to become a comic. And so she was very much- When did you know that? 10 years old. Seriously? 10 years old. Because of who? I saw Eddie Murphy Raw in 1987. And two weeks later, I did a school talent show. And I was just doing impressions of Eddie Murphy without

the cussing, obviously. And it went over very well. And right then and there, I was like, you know what? I want to be a comic. And I was always talking about this. What do you think the field, do you think when you first saw it, because I know my experience when I first saw comics was like, they got it figured out. They got a handle on this.

They have control. They can make people laugh. They know how to look at the world. They made me feel better. That's got to be the greatest job in the world. Yeah. And when I saw that, I'm like, wow, everybody loves him. The energy.

Everyone's happy. I wanted to be him so bad. And I'm like, this is what I want. And you weren't a fucked up kid? You know, I grew up in broken homes. I mean, I didn't grow up with my dad. I grew up with my mom. We didn't live in the greatest neighborhood.. I mean, I didn't grow up with my dad. I grew up with my mom. We didn't live in the greatest neighborhood.

But I mean, I didn't know I was poor. My mom was very conscious of the fact that she didn't want me to think that we were poor. She would just tell me stuff like, you were bad and that's why you didn't get what you wanted. Because you were bad. Not because we couldn't afford it. Right, right. And then later on in life. So you were bad a lot.

Yeah. She made me feel guilty a lot. But it kept me from knowing that we were financially not is a pretty broad scale of bad you know like i mean like you know you were bad you know you know real minor things oh you didn't clean your room you're bad that's like you're not getting anything i didn't get into too much trouble as a kid i mean there were rough neighborhoods and from time to time i was caught doing you doing maybe some graffiti or- Oh, yeah. You were a tagger?

Dumping over- Not even a tagger, because I didn't even have a name. It was just like- Fluffy. At the time, I didn't have Fluffy. That's a hell of a tag. Just drawing stupid little cartoons on a wall or something. It wasn't even like a professional with a can of Krylon or anything.

Yeah. It was just minor stuff. Yeah. But you didn't hang out with a bad crowd? I tried to, but my mom always kept me inside oh yeah that was that was her thing she would keep me inside no matter what she's like no you can't go play with sniper and spider get your ass in the house just because their names were sniper and spider oh man it was it was one of those neighborhoods where everybody had a nickname oh really what was going on down there uh well it

was on the border of uh east side and west side of long beach uh-huh and uh so all the gangs would always have their fights basically in my neighborhood were there big gang presence there uh you know as a kid for me i'd always hear the gunshots oh really i never saw anyone get shot i have no sense of that area yeah i mean i've been in neighborhoods where that's going on you're like what was that was that a celebration or someone yeah right cinco de mayo wait it's not cinco de mayo someone must be hurt it was it was it was a rough neighborhood uh the the neighbor's kid got killed uh i didn't see that but you know i remember the funeral gunned down uh no he jumped on the hood of a car and uh somebody shook him off and he wound up getting thrown he jumped on the hood of a car and, uh, somebody shook him off and he wound up getting thrown.

He jumped on the hood of a car too? He jumped on the hood of a car and then the guy just, you know, he drove and drove with him on the hood and then slammed on the brakes. Cause that was the fight? He was fighting a car? Well, whoever it was, it was in the car. I guess anytime you're mad enough to jump on the hood of a car, something went down. So you, but your mother was pretty. It wasn't like fighting Autobots or anything, you know?

No, I know. I know. How do you end up on the hood of a car moving? That's tricky. So your mother was always protective of you? Extremely protective of me. Always kept me inside. I mean, I was a little bit sheltered in the beginning.

She wouldn't let me see what was out there. And I love her more for that because she did keep me away from a lot of the bad elements. Yeah. It's hard to do that. And she definitely encouraged dreaming and just being happy that was her thing just you know whatever makes you happy miko you go and you you know whatever you want to do well how did she explain your dad um you know i didn't really have a lot of questions about my dad why why is that i guess because my mom really filled the shoes it wasn't like there was like oh man there's nobody here to

help me with this or that my mom had to to play double roles. Right. And it was to the point where I remember doing this a lot. On Father's Day, I would actually give my mom a Father's Day card. And I'd say, hey, thank you for being my mom and my dad because, you know, you were there. Yeah. And I didn't feel like I lacked anything. Right. But you never wondered or had a longing? I knew the story about my dad, him being a mariachi in Mexico.

And, of course, you know, the mariachi lifestyle. He's out there traveling the world, entertaining. about my dad him being a mariachi in mexico and of course you know the mariachi lifestyle he's out there traveling the world entertaining where'd your mom meet the mariachi i know you might have covered this but i think it's sort of interesting because mariachi music it's like you just think because as a comic i mean we both fucking know you've been living this life a long time you know what the road is but you know one of the things that you don't necessarily think is like mariachis are just these out of control fucking you know road warriors you know just these road pigs that are out there like you don't necessarily think is like mariachis are just these out-of-control fucking road warriors. Just these road pigs that are out there.

You can't see them turn up hotel rooms and flipping over benches. I'm sure they do. Hey, man. It's entertainment. That's why I have a strong connection to professional wrestling. Because it's like, yeah, it's entertaining, but I run into these guys all the time at the hotels and the airports. And it's the same lifestyle. It's the exact same lifestyle.

So where did she meet him? She met him in uh in tijuana at uh some nightclub was she living down there no she was living in san diego oh yeah she got into a big uh fight with her husband and it was one of those you'll never do better than me really and then freaking next thing you know she's across the border with her friends at some nightclub and that's where she met my dad my dad was performing that night. And they hooked up. And nine months later, I showed up. Out of spite.

Out of spite. You know what? Whatever it takes. I don't judge women. If you're not happy in your relationship and you take off. I'll show him. The ultimate, I'll show him. Yeah.

So what happened? How long did that marriage last? They hooked up. They didn't get married. No, no, but I mean with the other husband. Oh, the marriage fizzled a little bit after that. After you were born? Yeah, yeah, definitely.

So I didn't know this, that there was a lot of, you know, just friction with my brother and sisters towards me. I didn't realize that there was that little, that sense of... That you represented a betrayal? Yeah. So, I mean, later on in life, I kind of started catching it more and more. But, you know, as a kid, you don't look for signs like that.

You're just there and you're doing your thing. But there was. Yeah? There was. Yeah, they wound up getting a divorce and then my mom and dad hooked up for a couple years. Oh, they did? Yeah, yeah. They were living mom and dad hooked up for a couple years. Oh, they did? Yeah, yeah, they were living together.

And my dad wanted to actually take us to Mexico and have a life over there. And my mom was like, no, we're going to stay here. And he's like, well, I got to go back home. And she's like, well, you got to do what you got to do. So it wasn't like he just left and that was it. There was more to it. Yeah, he did try. And so my mom did tell me that.

So there was never this, oh, I hate my dad or how dare he. It was just, you my mom did tell me that so there was never like this oh i hate my dad or how dare he it was just you know that was his life over there yeah and nobody no there's not many people that are going to jump the states to go back to mexico you know he had a pretty good gig so i mean was he like is he a citizen here though as well no he was he's a citizen right so the choice between san diego and going to have a life in Mexico, I imagine, given what you wanted opportunities for you, was probably a big, easy choice. Well, he's good. And also, too, to his credit, I mean, he was very successful in what he did.

He came from a very big family. I mean, there was over 13 kids in that family, and most of them were musicians, and there was a few politicians and a couple of uh uh priests oh yeah family so everybody everybody got it all covered yeah they were they were covered so it wasn't like they needed to come here to the promised land to make it you know happen and stuff like that he had a good gig and what did you meet him uh as a kid i remember just little images of you know him trying to teach me how to play guitar or how to do the sign of the cross when you're in church and stuff.

But that was about it. Really? Yeah. And then 30 some odd years later, he shows up at the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach. And the manager, Richard, comes up to me and he goes, hey, are we picking up your dad's tab in the back? I go, what are you talking about? He goes, yeah, your dad's in the back of the room. I go, I haven't seen my dad in over 30 years.

I go, it's just some guy trying to get free food and free drinks. And he goes, okay, we'll cut him off. And then after the show was over, I go outside and I'm taking pictures and signing DVDs with the fans. And my dad gets in line with the fans. And then my manager goes to the back of the line. She comes to me. She goes, listen, Gabe, I think your dad's in the back of the line. And I'm like, shut up.

You too? How long ago was this? This was a couple years line. And I'm like, shut up. You too? How long ago was this? This was a couple years ago. And it turned out to be him. And I freaked out. And we wound up having dinner the next day there at the comedy club. How did you freak out? I did freak out.

I freaked out. Anger, sadness, weirdness? Everything. Because it's like, I haven't seen this guy in 30 some odd years. Did you cry a little bit? I got emotional. I got emotional. So, I mean, it was a combination of excited, upset, just real, just charged up.

I was rushed. I was like, I wanted to hit him and hug him. So, it was like, it was really weird, you know? Yeah. To have everything hitting you at the same. I mean, if I would have been stoned, forget it, man. Who knows what would have happened. Wow.

So, he's there. And were people around? Did you go inside? It was just, it was him his friend and uh my girlfriend and myself and i you know i didn't want to meet him alone so i had my girl there with me and plus uh you know he only speaks spanish and my spanish is pretty decent but you know to get into the real technical real deep where the hell were you type words uh i needed a little backup so my girl was there she watches a lot of telemundo and she translated your emotional yeah yeah anytime i had a like what kind of question you know what And she translated your emotional... Yeah, yeah. Anytime I had a...

Like what kind of question? You know, what was going through your mind during that time that made you want to leave? And so words like that for me, I was kind of like

trying to think, okay, I've never asked anyone something like that in Spanish. So I'm more like, hey, you know, ¿Dónde está el baño? You know,

¿Más carne asada? ¿Can I get un limón? ¿Una soda? I didn't know how to get real technical with the words. So this happened at dinner or right when he... the night he came? Well, the carne asada, can I get un limon, una soda. I didn't know how to get real technical with the words. So this happened at dinner or right when he, the night he came? Well, the night he came, I didn't see him or meet him that night just because it, he couldn't cut me off.

Holy fuck. I saw him from a distance. Yeah. And, you know, it's like, how do I meet my fans and just try to take the compliment? Keep it together. Hey, good show. Can you sign my DVD? Make it out to Charles.

That's my dad. You know, and then, you know, because I freaked out and somebody saw me and they go, are you okay? And I said, and I started repeating it over and over. I said, my dad's here. I was freaking out. I was like, my dad's here, my dad's here.

And they're like, well, that's good. Your dad's here to support you. And I'm like, no, I haven't seen him in 30 years. And they're like, awkward. That is crazy, man. So you planned dinner. We planned dinner for the next day and uh he answered a lot of questions and uh he told me i had two sisters in mexico and uh

you know just can we see each other again and and he told me he doesn't want any money he's he's doing very well he just wants to have a relationship that he didn't have wow and um it was kind of we saw each other a few times after that. You did? Yeah. Yeah. We had dinner and just trying to talk. And he really wanted me to go to Mexico. Still, you got to go meet your sisters.

I'm like, I don't talk to the ones I got now. I don't got time for new ones. But isn't some party you think that might be interesting? Yes. Have you spent time in Mexico? No, but you know what, man? There's too much stuff going on in Mexico. Yeah, I know.

It's scary. You don't want to get kidnapped? That's the last thing I want is to get kidnapped. For me, I'd rather go to Iraq than Afghanistan. I mean, you would be a target. Most likely. What part of Mexico do you live in? Agua Caliente. Mexico, which I think is

over towards the bottom of Texas. But it must be profound to just... Did you get some closure? Did it give you some peace? I did. I did. And I just appreciated the fact that he said that him and my mom were actually in love, which was nice.

He goes, you got to know. He goes, you were actually made out of love. It wasn't like we just hooked up and that was it. He goes, I loved your mom and she loved me. And I was just like, oh, my God. That's why I started getting all choked up. And I think that's probably what really pissed off my brother and sisters is that you know quite later they did well they didn't get conceived under the same circumstances

there wasn't love i think theirs was more like budweiser or something like that that guy was a monster huh the other husband yeah well i mean that i mean i can't even imagine what that would be like because you know i've had fights with my father you don't talk for that if i don't talk him for six months and then we get back together it's sort of like yeah but i mean but he missed your whole childhood yeah and so he must be proud he he is and uh you know i know he wishes he could have been there to see more but then he tells me he says look everything happens for a reason who knows what's to say that uh i wouldn't have done something that would have led you in a different direction and you wouldn't be here now you believe that i believe in the whole butterfly effect definitely something happens and it triggers it

but but you there was a part of you like well that's a good rationalization you know i mean hey i'm in an amazing place now and and uh you know if things would have been different than this would have been different so i can't get been different. So I can't get too upset. So he probably wanted me to be a singer. A singer or politician or a priest. It wasn't going to happen. Yeah. No.

I'll do mariachi music when I'm doing shots of tequila and I'm at some karaoke bar in frigging Fargo or something. Did you ever see him play? You never saw him play. I never got to see him play, but I have heard his music. I've got a lot of his old albums. Oh, he put out a lot of his old albums oh he put out a lot of records he put out yeah a bunch of you know it's not like they went global or anything right you know when you're holding a record and it's got his name on it that's pretty cool and

is he good he's pretty good yeah he's pretty good he's got a great voice yeah that's fucking amazing man it's amazing to know that you come from from actual from creative people from show business people i mean you know it's weird you know a people. I mean, you know, it's weird. A lot of that stuff you don't think it's genetic, but you're a hell of a showman. And you come from a guy who was an entertainer. He was an entertainer. And I have an uncle who was an actual comedian in Mexico. His name was Pompin Iglesias.

He did TV, film, stand- stand-up i mean you name it he did everything there is to do in mexico he had you know uh you know a bunch of sponsorships so he was always doing commercials for you know whatever products or cars or whatever and uh he was very funny did you ever look up his stuff yeah oh yeah you can google him it's really interesting that like you know because a lot of like uh, you know, white people, you know, make fun of Telemundo or whatever, or the sort of broad comedy, like, Contenflas, you know, from years ago. Oh, yeah. Right?

So, like, it's, there's a, it's an interesting, do you feel connected in any way to that tradition of delivery? You know, like, I'm not trying to- The old school delivery of the way they did it in Mexico, it's more long story with a big punch line at the end versus consistent joke, joke, joke, joke, joke. Like if I'm talking for three minutes and I don't get a laugh, you know what? I might need to shorten that talking and throw a couple of punches in there. Yeah.

That's a long time. But you do long form. I do long form, definitely. But there's laughs every 30 seconds. So the classic way would be to tell a really long story

and then go, whoa! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Hey, Pepito! Que buen hombre! It's funny, though. It is funny.

It is silly. You hear a lot of that in morning radio shows that they do here in LA. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, with just this long story and then at the end and then you hear the canned laugh track but you didn't really grow up with spanish in the house so uh from my mom i did i did until i was about six years old and then uh you know she wanted to make it you know she didn't want to make it hard for me in school so she said listen from now on i'm going to speak to you in

english because i want to make sure that you're you know you don't have any problems in school right because originally they stuck me in an ESL program. They put me in an English as a second language program when I was about five, six years old, because just, you know, my last name was Iglesias, and they'd hear my mom speaking Spanish, and they just assumed, oh, okay, he needs to learn English, because he only speaks Spanish. And I'm like, I spoke English. I was cool, but just growing up, my mom wanted me to make sure that I didn't have any issues. Right.

And when did you start actively pursuing the comedy thing? April 10th, 1997, I got pushed up on stage in Long Beach by a friend of mine. They needed an emcee. The emcee didn't show up, and I had always talked about wanting to be a comic. Yeah, yeah. And he goes, dude, man, they need an emcee. Just go up there, crack a couple jokes. This would be a good chance for you to get up there and i was scared yeah and he pushed me up there and i made fun of him for the crowd saw him push

me up there and i cracked maybe two or three jokes and i got laughs and uh that was it i got the bug right there and then somebody saw me and um they actually had a comedy room there at that same place on wednesday nights and he goes hey man you man, you do comedy? And I'm like, yeah. You know, real kind of like, yeah. I wasn't trying to tell him that was my first time. He goes, hey, man, you come back on Wednesday, man. I'll give you 20 bucks. You know, do 10 minutes.

And I'm like, are you serious? First paid gig already. And I didn't have 10 minutes, man. I had what I had at that moment. Nothing. Nothing. Yeah. So what'd you do?

I winged it. I winged it for 10 minutes. What, crowd work? A lot of crowd work. Yeah? A lot of crowd work. Yeah. A lot of crowd work. But, you know, I was being silly, making some voices and stuff, and it just, it worked. How old were you?

You got to figure, I was 20. And what were you, were you working after you graduated high school? What were you doing? Yeah, man. After high school, I had a couple jobs. I worked over at Robinson's May. It later became Macy's. I used to work doing telemarketing and stuff

like that. Answer phone calls, customer service, whatever they needed and stuff like that. Were you in hell? It was a good gig. I mean, I was in an office. I had a tie on. I'd show up to work and everybody was friendly. I'm talking to people.

All I'm doing all day is talking. So, I mean, for me, I enjoyed it. It was cool. I'm interacting with people. So I'm doing all day is talking. So, I mean, for me, I enjoyed it. It was cool. I'm interacting with people. So it was nice. From there, I went on to, I worked for a company called LA Cellular. Later on, they became AT&T. You remember the first cellular phone companies here in town? It was AirTouch at LA Cellular.

And I was selling cell phones inside of a Walmart in a kiosk. Oh, my gosh. So I did that for a couple years. And it was actually a pretty good gig. You figure I was selling cell phones inside of a Walmart in a kiosk. Oh, my God. So I did that for a couple of years. And it was actually a pretty good gig. You figure I was 20 years old. I was making probably $4,500 a month. I didn't have any responsibilities. Combination of commissions and just regular salary.

And it was a new thing, so everybody wanted one. Yeah, and I had a free phone that was unlimited. Yeah. So I didn't have to worry about that bill. My rent was $350. I had a roommate. We were stealing cable. I had a really cool black box that just, you know, we didn't have to worry about that bill. My rent was $350. I had a roommate. We were stealing cable. I had a really cool black box that just, you know,

we didn't have to worry about that. And this was in San Diego? No, this was in Long Beach, Signal Hill area. So, I mean, life was good. So to give up that $4,500 a month, because I was burning the candle at both ends. Once I started doing stand-up, I was finding every single little room I could hit.

What were those rooms then? Man, at the time, it was this place in Montebello called Wild Coyote. It had another name called Gotham and Prime Cut. I mean, every year, the guy would change the name. Well, what kind of rooms were those? I never heard of those. Ghetto, hood rooms, man. I mean, these were like, they were biker bars. Uh-huh.

But like, what kind of hood? They were Latino rooms? Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, I did all the Latino rooms early on. Yeah, that's all I knew. That's what I say. I don't know anything about that world. I mean, literally on my show, and to a fault, I mean, I've done 500 episodes. I've had Carlos in here. I've had Willie in here. Is this the room where he buried his soul to you?

Yeah. Okay. It took two episodes to do that. I heard him. I heard him. They bullshit the first episode. Okay, this is what I really meant to say. And then he just came unglued a little bit.

So I had Barsena in here and Trevino. Oh. Barsena is great though, right? That's as real as it gets. Yeah. That's his, you know exactly where you stand with Willie Barsena. You know? Was he a guy?

Love him or hate him? That's, you get exactly what you get. Was he a guy when you started? Yeah, actually that room that was in Montebello was his room. It was his room and Felipe Esparza's. And I would show up there on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Willie's like, hey, put up the fuck, bro. And I'd go up there, and, you know, hey, little chubbies, chubsy-wubsy.

He'd always call me chubsy-wubsy. Oh, boy. And I'd go up and do, you know, my five, seven minutes just being silly. But, like, I don't even know who the guys were. I don't even know who the guys are. I don't even know who the guys are. And I feel bad about it because there's a whole world of Latino comedy that I don't know who they are.

Who are they? Back in the day, there was a few. There was a handful. When I first started, there was a handful. There was a, everybody looked up to Willie. Willie Barsano was the guy just because, you know what? He had been on the Tonight Show. That was huge.

He had been on Leno's show like five, six times. I recognized Felipe Esparza because Felipe had been on the latino laugh festival on showtime so i remember those faces and then uh that's where i also met joy medina joy medina oh by the way probably gave me the greatest advice ever what as a comic when he saw me performing i was really really dirty yeah and he goes you know what bro he goes you're likable he goes just cut out the cuss words man and uh more windows and doors are gonna open for you uh-huh and that was the best advice i did i cut out all the you know all the f-bombs and stuff in my show and next thing you know you know i'm working everywhere and those and and like because because now who do you see like you know i know well i i think like obviously lopez was huge

and like because like it was always the guys it was was, it was like Paul Rodriguez, Lopez, Mencia, Pablo Francisco. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Freddy Soto back in the day. Oh, Freddy, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's cause there's like, to me, there's like, there's, it's, if you really think about the breakdown of, of, of what the country is, is like the Latino population is humongous. And it's the same with black comics too.

In me, it's sort of like, I don't know how to, how do I get to those guys? Do I just call, you know, like, and I know maybe it's, maybe I'm don't know how do i get to those guys do i just call you know like what like and i know maybe it's maybe i'm being lazy or what but it just seems complicated like there's a whole world of comedy out there that i don't fucking know anything about like the latino circuit i don't know any of those guys but there's a circuit right there's there's definitely a circuit i mean i like i said back then it was a handful so everybody knew who was doing what there was you know guys like guys that i would would roll around were like Willie Barsena, Felipe, Joey Medina, Alex Remundo back then, Gilbert Esquivel. Rudy Moreno always had a room.

There was guys like Sebastian Satina who had their own little comedy rooms and stuff like that. And what was the tone? Was it usually neighborhood-oriented, family stuff? That's exactly what it was. It was very local humor. You know, yeah, yeah. What about the security guard at King Taco? Oh, my God, that guy's got more ammunition than the federale in Mexico.

Really? I mean, stuff like that. It was very, very local. And there was no, like, you know, thinky guys or, like, you know, like weird guys? What's that guy up to? There was a couple heady guys, but nobody understood them. Nobody really wanted to deal with them. You know, like, oh, really?

You're trying to make me think? You know, talk about the Dodgers, bro. You know, talk about this. There's a lot of pressure. Yeah. I mean, and if all you're doing is this little area, then why try to think outside of that? But also just the fact that it was community driven in tone, that the relatable things were family issues, local issues. Like there was sort of a tone to the culture that people were looking to identify.

And there was a lot of Spanish involved, too. So there was, like my sets, there was a lot of Spanglish. Uh-huh. You know? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You'd say a joke, and then you'd just add a little, ¿Tú sabes lo que estoy diciendo, verdad? And they're like, ah, he's speaking Spanish.

You know, and if those white people were there, it was kind of like the Ricky Ricardo syndrome where, we don't know what he's saying, but's really funny when ricky snaps yeah you know so so that was part of it that was part of your act earlier yeah yeah i was doing a lot of spanish a lot of voices characters uh like i said it was dirty early on until i started changing that up and then the fluffy thing happened and i just wrote but you were always you were always heavy uh yeah yeah i really and you know when i first started i was um you bet you were bigger no when i first when i well no but you now you were good i'm down about

100 about 110 pounds fuck yeah i know uh how much did you get up to i got up to about 440 445 what the fuck yeah oh hey the road was good you know when i when i first started i was probably around around the weight that i am right now which is about 330 yeah and you know being a person who you're struggling every day to try to get just you know make ends meet in the beginning and then you get into this position where i what i can eat out every single day yeah i'm like why even cook at home and don't get me wrong it wasn't like i was eating at these great restaurants. Right. I was eating fast food and enjoying it every single night for 13, 14 years before my body eventually said, dude, really? Like, that's why when I watched that movie, Supersize Me, and the guy goes on and he's,

oh, 30 days, my body's like, oh my God, I can't take it. I'm like, dude, try 12 years, pussy. You don't know about putting damage on your body. Yeah. But did it get to a point where the doc was like, dude. Oh, that's exactly where it got. It got to the point where. 440. 440.

How did you walk? Was it hard to walk? You know what? Believe it or not, at 440, I was still pretty limber. I mean, I'm a big dude, but I'm pretty solid underneath, man. I can squat about 400. Oh, really? In addition to the weight

that i got going on uh yeah i work the leg press pretty good but um i had no problems getting around my knees started taking uh i needed surgery on my knees i messed up my knees really bad started getting cortisone shots on a regular basis and then um i'm type 2 diabetic and my sugar was like 300 plus every morning did you get that or were you always that no no no i got that from all the years of yeah you know eating shit eating everything man yeah and then so between the all the eating and then the drinking and then just uh it just escalated to where it was like you know what this is not going to end well if i keep this up and i'm going somewhere really good and if i want to enjoy it i better do something about right you don't be that have that thing yeah finally get to the top of the world and be like i can't i need a chair freaking die in the toilet

yeah that's just what i need yeah but okay so you're doing all the latino rooms when you're starting out you're 20 years old and you're getting your chops in place so when did you cross over there was uh there was a couple tv shows out back then that that really you know showcased comics there was a the show on comedy central called premium blend yeah and uh for latinos there was a show on the galavision network called que locos que locos was a spanish uh the galavision network was spanish speaking but the comedy show was in english and george lopez was uh was a host and i got to appear on the show many times so it's like the latino def jam That's exactly what it was. Right.

That's exactly what it was. And the network would rerun that show five times a day. And they'd also run commercials for a tour. And so I was always on TV. At what age? 21, 22. So you're two years in. Yeah.

And you're getting this. Getting all this. Yeah. Traction. Because you're on five. There's. And you're getting this. Getting all this, yeah. Traction. Because you're on fire. There's that kid. Mm-hmm. There is a kid.

And it was always the chubby kid with the Hawaiian shirt who makes noises. Real friendly. But was that a choice you made early on? Or just because of that, you're like, I better keep the Hawaiian shirt on. You know what? Like I said, the whole fluffy thing, the Hawaiian shirt, and the shorts. Those three things. From the beginning.

From the beginning. You just the shorts. Those three things. From the beginning. From the beginning. You just knew that. It was branding. That was one thing I learned. I don't know anything about that. Well, when I was working over at Robinson's May, I'd always hang out with these guys from the marketing department. And they're always talking about branding and branding and branding. And anytime there's a product, there's a way that you brand it.

You've got to be consistent with it. And if you change it, you've got to consistent with it and if you change it you got to slightly change it you can't do too much otherwise uh you know you can't go from a ford explorer then all of a sudden you chop it up and now it's a different car you got to slowly modify it right you know and that's why they said when i started growing a goatee i had to introduce this really slow because a lot of fans turned on me for it they're like wait wait wait why you growing facial hair really always been the clean cut and i go i'm just trying to go a different look and they say that if you have facial hair it thins down your face i'm just trying to slim down my face you had to you had to you had to do that on stage yeah you had to say i explained yeah

and so the same thing with the weight because i think they like when you're a heavyset guy and you got a boyish face they kind of have this it's cuter to them they don't want to think you're an adult man i'm like what is he growing Is he growing? Because kids hated it. Adults were like, yeah, you look more grown up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the kids were like, ugh. Yeah. And then going from 440 to 330, people are going, wait a minute, you're changing your image.

You're not fluffy no more. I'm like, relax. I'm 300 pounds. If I lose another 100 pounds, I'm still going to be 200 something pounds. People actually said that to you? Yes. They're more concerned about the image than my health. Your fans.

You're like, if you lose too much weight, you're not going to be that kid anymore. You're not going to be fluffy no more. I'm like, are you kidding me? Oh, that's crazy. weight where you're not going to be that kid you're not gonna be fluffy no more i'm like are you kidding me oh that's crazy like this is all i'm gonna talk about but that really happened people are like why are you getting so skinny why are you losing weight and i'm like because i'm diabetic because i want to live i want to enjoy the check so you had to address that on stage too yes i had to address that so you learn from these guys you're working with for macy's about branding branding marketing and then also too that's really where it happened. Back in the day, yeah. And you were able at that point

to have the foresight because I never- You knew you were in show business and you knew that in order to get the big payoff that people got to know you. They got to know you. And that means you got to stay the way you are. That's something you put together.

Yes. Like I said, there was a lot of comics that we'd see that would always change their image they were inconsistent they'd you look at them on three different shows and all three different shows they they had different looks one time they have really long hair one time short hair uh one he's wearing a jersey in one he's wearing a leather jacket in another he's wearing a just a regular button up in this one so there was no consistency right there you notice that yes yeah and you're like i'm the

hawaiian shirt shorts i'm fluffy you know you're gonna change you're gonna change your image you you gotta stay consistent all right so right out of the gate you're doing that and now legally you're two years in how much material you got uh two years in 20 maybe maybe 20 30 minutes but now you got 20 to 30 minutes and you're becoming a known comic in at least a Latino community. Very known in the Latino community. I mean, obviously when I go places like Richmond, Virginia. No, but I mean like early on

because of the Galavision. How many of those did you do? I want to say about five. And so that means that you're like on TV every day. And also the fact that they had me on their tour. Mike Robles, who was the executive producer of the show at the time, he had put together this comedy tour called the Que Locos Comedy Tour. And he had Willie Barsan on it.

He had Carlos Oscar, Gilbert Esquivel, Felipe Esparza, and myself. And so they'd run ads during the day. Every hour you'd see this commercial that would pop up and how many millions of people watch that millions of people watch that um couldn't tell you but it was enough to where i'd pull into a burger king and they'd flip out yeah fluffy yeah i was very much from the get-go just a worker i was getting up anywhere and everywhere and i hit the road early on yeah uh joy medina got me my first gig on the road in uh bart reed's comic strip in el paso texas and i became a regular there and i was

performing there about four five times a year doing uh you know emceeing and stuff like that right and then i just picked up more gigs also san antonio right didn't you do a lot a lot of work in san antonio texas was big texas was very big on. Yeah. I got to play comedy clubs there before I got a chance to touch a Laugh Factory. Huh. Okay, so you go on the Loco Tour. And how were those crowds? Oh, they were insane. Obviously, it was 100% Latino crowd.

And so all that stuff that I was doing, speaking in Spanish, making local references to certain things, things that only Latinos knew. It was killing. And so once you started doing the bigger gigs and hosting in Texas, was it still primarily Latino, correct? Yes. When you ask about when did I finally make that jump and crossover, it had to have happened after the tour went away. And then I started trying to do my own shows with a promoter and, you know, we do California and we do Arizona, Nevada, Texas. And I'm like, when are we going to go start playing? You know? No, no, no. Hey man, this is your- Why push it?

And the crazy thing is that I was getting paid very well to do these theaters in the Southwest. And I'm like, you know what? I'm telling the manager, listen, I gotta, I gotta break out. I gotta be able to play some of these other markets. And so, uh, she was like, well, look, you're going to take a serious pay cut and you know, you're going to go from a theater. You got to go back to a club and a club that you might not even fill. And I'm like, well, I gotta, I gotta break the markets. That was one thing early on too, that I heard from a promoter. He says, you got to break a market. Anytime you break a market, you're going to take a hit, but you got to go in and get people to know you so they'll talk about you. So when you come back, you start building it up, building it up.

And did that happen? Yes, it did. One of the first places we went was West Palm Beach, Florida. To the improv? Yeah. Were you doing spots in town yet? In spots? In LA, yeah. Yeah, but it was the Latino night. and keep now were you doing spots in the in town yet uh in spots where you're in la yeah

yeah but it was you know it was the latino night it was it was uh monday night at the laugh factory right where jamie you know takes off and he lets you know all the mexicans in the building nobody has point of view so uh yeah that was only getting a couple little spots there but i had nothing consistent going on in la but when we started doing the shows in Florida, I mean, I was lucky to get in a room that sat 350. I was lucky to get 50 people. How did that hit your ego? It did. It did.

And I kept thinking, I was like, all right, do I want to do this and kind of just start over? And were the 50 people, people that knew you, were they 50 people people that knew you were they mostly latino people that knew you there were some latinos in there and some people that just they saw the video of the upcoming act you know they always last week so so when you went did you start to pull the spanish out or no i did i did i messed up and um i didn't know any better i uh i went over there and i'm just trying to do the same thing that i was doing everywhere else and then when you you start getting the looks and you realize, you know what, they don't all understand this, that you need to do material that is friendly enough for anyone to enjoy. Because I started running into a situation where I had more white people than Latinos at the show.

And that was new to you. And that was very new to me. So did you feel like, it must've been a weird feeling because when you're entrenched in the community, then all of a sudden, you draw this line because in your mind, it's like, well, we got our people here. So now you're like, it's almost like I'm behind enemy lines here. I'm like, I got to find out how they think. Yeah, they're just looking at me like I'm some Mexican. So then I'm sitting there and I'm picking apart my act.

I'm like, oh, my God, I can't do this joke. I can't do this joke. And I can't do this joke. This is not going to work. And this is not going to work. So now you got 12 minutes. Yeah yeah i find myself doing 12 minutes of crowd work to try to compensate and um you know i was always rolling with the same crew same group of guys that i've been rolling you know for the last uh 15 years comics they had to learn as well

like which guys like martin moreno yeah uh first took him. So these are your feature and your opener? He's my MC. I alternate middle acts all the time. But Martin's been the one that's been there since day one. And he's the same. He's doing Spanish. Yeah, both of us. I mean, he's doing jokes about Walker.

So at least you got a friend. Yeah. About what? Walker, Texas Ranger. Remember the. Yeah. He'd do jokes about gang members. Yeah.

He's Cholo's right. And he's talking like that and we're in Richmond, Virginia and the people are like I'm sorry. No. We don't have that here. Yeah.

So did you bomb? I bombed. Really? Oh yeah. I had my sets where I was like oh my God. Horrible. Horrible.

They weren't horrible. They weren't horrible. No it's a horrible feeling. It is a horrible feeling. To sort of be like this rock star in the Latino community and then you're like standing there in front of 50 white people sweating, and you're like, what'd I do?

But you always knew in the back of your head, I could live forever on that circuit. But I knew eventually that's going to run out, man. You're going to burn your markets out, and then what? If you only got 12 markets that you hit, and you can only hit them once every 18 months. Yeah. Well, so how did you start to change?

I started doing more clubs, more clubs that were not in Latino. How did you start to feel your, like, what was the disposition? Because now, like, when I watch your stuff now, you have a full identity. You brought your family into it. You're dealing with things that everybody can relate to. But at some point, you had to sit down and go, what is common? What do we all share that they're going to fucking understand?

Everyone understands family. So if I pull the Spanish out of this and I explain it correctly, they'll understand it. Absolutely. Is that what happened? Yes. Yes. I pulled out the Spanish, and I just started talking about things everyone can relate to.

Everyone can relate to a situation with a relationship. Everyone can relate to a family event. Everyone can relate to having that crazy friend who, you know, oh, man, hey, you know, that one guy at the office or somebody that. Right. Stuff like that people can relate to. People can relate to a story of a fish out of water. So telling stories about going to places that I've never been and and saying well this was my mentality when i went in because this is what i learned and then as it turns out this is the way that it is and so people you know they

were uh they were intrigued by that it was it was cool and it was stuff that everybody can relate to everybody can relate to being the new guy somewhere and not knowing what's going on and do you think that you know because of the way you know you kind of make you know your disposition you know but also your brand that you know you're this you know heavyset guy that wears his short yeah fluffy that it was disarming like it like there's nobody you're not gonna get right no one you're not gonna get on stage and we would go like fuck this guy like this guy you know like you you're like everybody wants to give you a hug right yeah it's the greatest feeling i mean people still to this day bring me cakes and they bring food to the shows and sodas. Can we take you to the house?

And I'm like, that's for people to want to do that. I mean, that's a whole different level of connection with the people. How long did it take you to build the act that could play anywhere? Got to figure by 2005, we were basically going anywhere in the US. So that's- 2005, 2006. So almost 10 years. Yeah.

It took a long time, a lot of work. So, all right. So now, when do you start becoming this? Because now, at some point, you got regular spots at the improv and regular spots at the Laugh Factory. I was getting, anytime I wanted to do a Monday night, I had, you know, just make a phone call to show up there. But it wasn't like I could get a whole week at the improv and regular spots at the laugh factory i was getting anytime i wanted to do a monday night i had you know just make a phone call to show up there but it wasn't like i could get a whole week at the laugh factory um same thing with the comedy store i'd have to show up at one o'clock in the morning to wait for somebody to you know and you were selling out

in texas yeah but you know it didn't it didn't it didn't translate to to stage time here right it was like okay well you're on the road you a road comic. Was there a point where you got the respect you wanted here? Like in the world of Hollywood and the comedy? There was, this was probably about five years ago when it finally started happening, where I'd walk into the comedy store and they'd say, hey, you want to go up? And I'm like, I don't have time to wait till one.

Like, no, we'll bump the next guy if you want to go up. I'm like, you serious? Yeah. Like, yeah. It's a big day, right? So that was pretty cool. Yeah. And then you got those comics that never leave that building and give you that dirty look. Yeah, like who you serious? Yeah. Like, yeah. It's a big day, right? So that was pretty cool. Yeah. And then you got those comics that never leave that building.

I know. They give you that dirty look. Yeah, like, who the fuck? Him? Really? Him? Where's he been? I've been here every night for five years.

Yeah. Hanging out here waiting for, what is the name? William Apervaia that would show up. Oh, no. Only comics know who he is. Yeah. But did you have a crew here? Did you hang out with Carlos or those guys?

I'd run into Carlos every blue moon when there'd be some major event. Because despite whatever his horrible legacy is in terms of the community, he was a real businessman too. When I talked to him, it was like, holy fuck. Very, very business. We have the same agent. a real businessman too i mean like you know when i talked to him it was like very very business we have the same agent and um he anytime i'd hear about menci on the road it was very much it was a business you know he'd he'd uh he'd do his thing the thing with the computer with the and then the recordings the recordings that was fucking genius like that actually like that you'd

have them available by the end of the night yeah recording cds from that same show take home the same cd that you just heard take home the same show you just heard. And then when he finally figured out how to put it on a flash drive, that changed everything because he could do it in a second. I never had that kind of thinking. Do you do merch? My merch is very, very impressive. I took a huge page out of the WWE handbook.

I study wrestling because wrestling is probably the biggest form of entertainment out there with just the level of production the level of intensity and the the marketing and the merchandise cm punk's out there oh oh really yeah sweet i'm freaking geeking uh i'm a huge cm punk fan yeah i i'm not a wrestling guy but he was a fan of my show and his buddy cole cabana you know does a'm not a wrestling guy, but he was a fan of my show. And his buddy, Colt Cabana, does a podcast kind of like this show. And he was a fan of my show. So I interviewed Colt in Chicago. And then Colt set me up with Punk, and he came in. Oh, sweet.

So I had to be schooled. But it was interesting to talk to him. I want him to come back really bad. Yeah, you think he's going to come back? I think he's eventually going to come back. What else is he going to do? He's showing up at Black Hawk games that aren't, you know. Oh, he's just living come back? I think he's eventually going to come back. What else is he going to do? He's showing up at Blackhawk games that aren't, you know. Oh, he's just living the life?

He's just, yeah. He's like, fuck it. He's really building it. This is a hell of a fucking script. If it is, if it's an angle, then they got us all. It's a long one, man. They got us all. So, okay, so you put all this, you've had a childhood love of wrestling your whole life?

Oh, yeah. I've been watching wrestling since 85. Hulk Hoganogan and under the giant that was a that was it right there i was hooked after that and you know knowing full well like the people that love wrestling they don't they know exactly what it is i know exactly what it is i watch it for what it is it's a it's a nice glorified male soap opera and it's it's entertainment i watch it for that so what did you pull from the from how did you design your big show man well first of all the show um my show now i mean i got you know screens and i got all kinds of stuff all over the stage gobo lights you know it's it's a it's a rock show it really is i saw that in some of the clips from the new movie it's you know we bring a nice production

to the show and and uh the video screens and the merchandise is is huge i mean uh we've got a a whole truck dedicated to just merchandise what do you sell you name it i mean i've got like 15 different t-shirts there's hats bumper stickers uh three different types of bobbleheads action figures cups um how beanies uh lanyards we sell uh cardboard cutouts. And it all sells. Everything sells. Everything sells. And I've even got stores in the malls, too. You do? Yeah, a little kiosk that I set up. It's the fluffy shop. Where you just pay the mall for the permit?

The little kiosk. You get the little carts and stuff. When you go to a town, you mean? No, I have one set up at Lakewood Mall. I had a couple that were scattered around town, but I usually wait until the holidays to bring out more carts. Huh. So that's a big part of your business.

Yes, merchandising. You love it. It works. Yeah, it's a huge part of the business. And that started to pick up when you got bigger and bigger. When I started doing the big tours. In 2010 is when the first we got sponsorship through, God, what was the cell phone company? It was a new cell phone company it was a new

cell phone company at the time and comedy central yeah and so they put this whole fluffy shop tour together and uh they let me call it the fluffy shop tour it was like i wanted to name my my merchandise company yeah so that was the name of the tour was the merchandise company fluffy shop tour and we went everywhere and they were running ads for it and uh the merch just started picking up and when when was the year where you saw the the the crowd changing where you were successfully playing to everybody what is the percentage now it was definitely uh past 05 yeah um and right now i think it's it's it's right it's pretty even really it's pretty even that's amazing man certain cities it's a little bit more like san antonio sure it'll go from 50-50 to like maybe 70-30.

Yeah. And now you've toured the world and you got this movie, which is a concert movie. Concert movie. Which people, like only a few people do those. So I'm in pretty good company. Yeah, you are. Pretty good company. You've been with Pryor and Eddie Murphy and some people have done movies, but a lot of

people just do a special, but this is going to be in theaters. And it's called, what is it, Fluffy the Movie? The Fluffy Movie. The Fluffy Movie. Yeah. Everything I've ever done always incorporates the word. And what's the angle? Well, the first seven minutes is a, it's a mini film about the night that my mom and dad met and how I came to be about.

A comedy film? A comedy film, yeah. Sure. And right after that, the concert starts. It leads into the concert, and it's about, I want to say, 97 minutes. Only shot in one place? We shot it in San Jose. Yeah, any time you bounce around and you start showing multiple locations,

it gets a little too weird. To me, when I watched Chris Rock do that, I was like, wow, this is amazing. It's showing that he's doing the exact same joke the exact same way in 50 cities. It almost destroys the illusion of what we do. It's like that exact same joke in a different clothing. To me, it was like, why would you do that? It undermines the mystery of what we do. Because not unlike-

You just telegraphed it. It's going to be the same here. It's going to be the same there. Right. And not unlike wrestling I think people want to believe like he's just making it up you know what I mean

like there's it's happening now so if you show you know if you play your hand like that holy shit this guy didn't change nothing no matter where he goes

it's crazy I thought that was a crazy misfire he should have just kept it in one why not he should have just kept it and it got me dizzy bouncing back and forth with it.

Yeah. But you did tour all over the world, right? Yes. And how did that go for you? The first time I played Canada, I was really nervous just because it was that same feeling of when I first went to Florida. I was like, are they going to get it? Are they going to understand it? So I'm second guessing everything.

Are there Mexicans in Canada? Exactly. Yeah. But at the time when i went to canada i had already gotten past that you know yeah sure that uh you know that latino things let me just try to relate to whoever i'm there with and uh it was just for laughs it's montreal and i'm like oh great yeah here they speak french so now i'm like okay uh what's gonna happen but they got it right oh that's such a hip crowd yeah but also that it's

like family man it's next door yeah they know they. But also, it's like family, man. It's next door. Yeah. They know what's up. It's next door. And when you go to other parts of the world, you realize just how close Canada is and how it's just the same. It's the exact same thing. Did you go to London?

I got to perform in London. London. How was that? That's not an easy crowd. No, but when I got there, I already had the fan base and YouTube stuff. So when I got there, the fans were solid. They were here to see Fluffy. It wasn't like, who are we going to come see here?

It was just nothing. They were excited. They're chanting Fluffy. They're already wearing the t-shirts before I even walk out on stage. So you have a YouTube channel? Yeah, I have a YouTube channel. And how do you treat that? What do you do my youtube channel i basically up to uh update content stand up content um i don't try to do anything that's real uh but you don't want to tip all your bits

so you just you're selective or how does it work well i put stuff that's already out okay you know anything that's new doesn't come out until it's already been put either in a you know on cable or right put on somewhere else right okay or if i do a late night talk show or something, I'll put snippets and bits like that. Sure, sure, right. Oh, that's good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so I mean- And that gives you global exposure.

Yeah, I mean, if it only plays in the US, it's not going to do me any good when I go anywhere else. So I want to make sure that everybody can see it. Have you had to sweat one out recently? What do you mean? A show? When you've gone somewhere? Have you had any tricky ones where you're like, yeah, he's gone somewhere as if you had any uh tricky ones

where you're like yeah it's not you know had it sort of like all right well i guess they're not getting it completely uh not recently uh it's been very very good very very uh consistent the last uh year or so but i have had a couple corporate gigs that didn't go exactly the way i wanted them to um i did a show for uh it was uh they were raising money for battered women and so there was this function that they did in florida and they uh the floor it was it was at the hard rock and the floor was all people for this benefit and the balcony they opened it up to my fans to buy tickets so when i walk out on stage i'm getting roars from the balcony but the floor is just very polite and very you know round tables and the people that paid the big money people to pay the big money for this fundraiser just there because they have to yeah yeah and i had to follow

a lady that went up there and told this 15 minute long horrific story about how she survived domestic violence and then they played a video after that and then here's gabriel iglesias to make you laugh and i'm like are you freaking kidding me it's i gotta i gotta follow this classic story you know yeah oh man it was brutal and you couldn't make you couldn't make light of it no no you couldn't there's nothing you could say i mean you just got to go out there and go hey you guys were here for a great cause and you know you got to really kiss up and do as much positive crowd where i could way to survive and hey you guys this is a night for you know to build up the you can't go up and go like i don't think she's gonna laugh i don't think that's gonna happen yeah

yeah you can't go up there and start cracking jokes like that but it was crazy because as soon as i walked out the balcony's going crazy yeah they want me to do a regular show yeah and then the floor they made it clear you can't talk about certain things during your show and i'm like it was very frustrating because i'm killing upstairs, but I'm getting nothing downstairs. That's the nature of that kind of gig. And then people are ignoring me. And my problem is I look at all the people.

Sure. And it started bugging me. People started turning their backs to me so they could eat, so they could do everything else. And I'm like, really? Yeah. And then I just snapped at one point. I snapped and I'm like, hey, you guys, I'm trying to do this for you.

We want to make this happen. I says, at least show me a little bit of respect. At least look at me. If you're not going to laugh, at least look at me. And you could feel the people on the side of the stage like, get him off. Get him off. He's going rogue. And I just started cussing up the storm.

I'm like, this is bullshit. I don't need to do this. I says, you know what, you guys? And to the people upstairs, I apologize. I go, I want to give you guys a great show. I go, but this is not going the way it's supposed to go. And you snapped, man. I snapped.

And then I says, you know what, you guys? I says, you guys offered me a lot of money to play this show tonight, and this is what I want to do. I want to finish my set, but I want you guys to keep all of it and apply it to your cause because I think that's the most important thing tonight. And I said that, and the whole floor stands. It gives me a standing ovation. And I'm like, no, you don't understand. I'm still going to do five more minutes. Sit down so I can finish performing.

I'm doing this because I'm bombing. Yeah, basically. Yeah, dude. Basically. I learned that from Jay Leno. We did a gig together at the Laugh Factory for a group that's kind of like PETA. Uh-huh. And Jay went up there and started doing jokes about his cats and

they did not feel him and at the end of his set he goes you know I'd like to I'd like to get donate ten thousand dollars to your cause and then everybody stood up and I'm like oh my god he just straight pulled that good closer right yeah great closer took him the butt and now here you go here you go I just killed I just fucking did it I went into the Jay Leno vault right then and there great pull that one out but I mean uh i try not to do those corporate games because you know they don't make it fun for you they put too many rules on you and then putting you in a situation where you gotta right fight yeah if you believe in the cause just give them money and yeah it makes it difficult yeah so what do you do do you do uh you perform for the troops i've done i've done a couple of

uso tours i did the uh uso i did the USO. I did the Air Force Reserve. Right. Those are great. And they appreciate the hell out of it. When you show up there, they're like, wow, you brought a piece of home here. Yeah. It must feel great. They fly us out there on these massive C-17s and they land in these combat zones. And you're just like, oh, my God. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Freaking out. Yeah. But they all went well? Yeah. Yeah. They all went really good. So where are you going now? What's the plan?

The movie opens. The movie opens July 11th. Well, you can do Howard. What do you do? They're talking about Howard. Yeah? I'm a little nervous, man, because Howard has a, he's got a good talent for finding stuff. I never, I did it for the first time last year when my show came on.

I'd never done it. I was nervous. Yeah? Yeah, but like sometimes it's not, you know, depending on what kind of comic you are, you know, like, what's he going to find? He's not you you know as depending on what kind of comic you are you know like what's he gonna find he's not he's not the national security administration do you know like i bet you with howard in like between me and you i bet you you know he says uh so your mom fucked a guitar player that's why you're here something like that you know what i mean it's not you know it's not gonna be right it's not gonna i mean what's he gonna get like i was like he's gonna find something and now i get on there he's like so

you're a jealous bitter guy i'm like yeah i can talk about that that's it that's all you got no problem it's probably not gonna be that bad that's funny well because you know it's just that whole it's the mystique it's it's howard yeah yeah but you like you know like yeah i was completely consumed with like what if he finds out that one thing? There's a couple people that know that thing. He'll probably talk to them. What if he's the one that knows that thing? Yeah, well, if someone gave him that information, that's going to be bad.

But I think he's a pretty great guy. You know, he's not, you know, you're not, he's not there to make controversy out of you. He likes comics. So. Let's see what happens. So you're not going to be doing any shows? Not, well, I got a couple shows that I'm doing this month. I'm going to be doing any shows uh not well i got a couple shows that i'm doing uh this month i'm going to be in texas back to texas i'm playing san antonio

and houston san antonio houston and laredo uh-huh now now you're gonna have your dad up for the premiere i thought about it i i really thought about it especially the fact that uh i have somebody in the movie playing him um haven't reached out to him yet but i i think i i think i have to i think i own that yeah so i think i'm gonna i'm gonna you know invite him fly him out it's like it's a it's a complete uh sort of like not only is it you know respectful and and shows some sort of sign of closure but it's victorious i mean you know it's a it's a feel-good story and this special is different than anything that i've done because i get very very personal with it and really tell some stories about my past and just my, you know, growing up and some of the stuff that I've been doing lately, dealing with the diabetes and the reason why I had to lose weight and, you know, my family situation. So it's different than what I've done.

And you have kids. I have a son. Now, has he met your dad? Yes, he did. He met him. But you know what? met him but you know what he's you know he's a teenager and he had his ipod on and he's like hey what's up oh yeah that's what he meant you got a teenager yeah well he's technically my stepson but i mean i've had him for 11 years now so uh-huh and what's he what's he does he like what you do he loves what i do uh i don't think

he wants to get into it but he he definitely loves it anytime i hey you want to go on the tour bus you want to come on the road yeah i'm there to come out on the road? Yeah, I'm there. Good. Now, does he watch my show? Not really. Does he hang out with the guys? Of course. Right, right.

All right, man. Well, it's great talking to you. I'm glad we finally did this. Finally. Thank you. Yeah, man. That's it. That's our show, folks.

I enjoyed that. He's a very sweet guy, man. And he's a big act. And I don't mean that derogatorily. He's large, but he's not as large as he used to be, which we discussed. But he's very popular. And I want to thank him for coming. And what else do I want to do?

Go to WTFpod.com. Get the app. Get the free app. Upload to the premium. You can stream every episode of this show. It's quite an archive there. I'm proud of it. Enjoy. Okay? Enjoy it.

What else have I got to tell you? Oh, yeah. You can go... What else can you do at WTFpod.com? Get some Just Coffee. You can check out the merch. There's t-shirts. There's things there. You can kick in some money for the patent troll issue, which I think I'll talk at length about another time. Maybe on Thursday. You can leave a comment.

Yeah, whatever. Okay, alright. Now I'm kind of buzzed out. Boomer lived! The End 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 talk 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. It's a night for the whole family. Be a part of Kids Night when the Toronto Rock take on the Colorado Mammoth at a special 5 p.m. start time on Saturday, March 9th at First Ontario Centre in Hamilton. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will get a Dan Dawson bobblehead courtesy of Backley Construction. Punch your ticket to Kids Night on Saturday, March 9th at 5pm in

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