Still making ’em laugh: Gabriel Iglesias takes over Comedy Central, SiriusXM with new special

For his new stand-up comedy special, Gabriel Iglesias is so big he needs three Sundays to air all of “Aloha Fluffy” on Comedy Central — April 7 and April 14 — with the entire stand-up performance airing at once on April 27, 2013.

Iglesias also has served as host of two seasons of stand-up showcases on Comedy Central: Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand-Up Revolution.

The cable channel has been good to “Fluffy” from the beginning, dating back to 1997. In a “Town Hall” Q&A for SiriusXM that debuts today as part of SiriusXM’s “The COMEDY CENTRAL Radio Preview Weekend,” Iglesias told fans and listeners about being discovered and landing his first TV gig.

“The first person who saw me and said, ‘You know what, there’s something we can do,’ is my former manager. Her name is Pat Buckles. She saw me perform at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, and she goes, ‘You know, I think you’re very funny. And there’s a show that’s coming up on Comedy Central. The show’s called Make Me Laugh.’ And I go, ‘Oh, OK. All right. Well how does it work?’ It’s basically a show. I don’t know. Maybe now and then they’ll air it on the network. You’ve got 30 seconds to a minute to make somebody laugh, and if you can do that, then the person loses money. So the person is being paid not to laugh. And, so, they booked me for that. And I went out there, and I was able to make the first person laugh. So she booked me again for a second show. I did the same thing. And they booked me for a third. So the first time I got on TV was Comedy Central. First show, second show, third show, on a show called Make Me Laugh. Oh yeah! It was great! It was a beautiful December. All my bills were paid. Rent was covered. I thought I made it! Shoot. It don’t get better than this! A little bit after that, we started working together. She helped to launch my career, get me going. It’s one of those things…I said former manager, and there’s no ill will. We got as far as we did. I’m very grateful for all the help that she’s given. So the person who discovered me first was Pat Buckles.”

For more of “SiriusXM’s Town Hall with Gabriel Iglesias,” you’ll hear the comedian dish with his touring partner and friend, Martin Moreno, about corporate gigs, a drunken strip-off onstage at the Orlando Improv, dealing with obesity since childhood, playing with voices, his first performance at age 10 in a school talent show, using his stepson for material in his current act, and what he’d be doing if he weren’t a stand-up comedian. The Town Hall debuts at 5:30 p.m. Eastern today on SiriusXM (go here for rebroadcast times: www.siriusxm.com/townhall).

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The satellite radio network’s Comedy Central Radio preview weekend kicked off last night with a live call-in show featuring Iglesias and Moreno. It continues throughout this weekend, broadcasting specials from Amy Schumer, Donald Glover, Anthony Jeselnik, Dave Attell, Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Daniel Tosh, Pete Holmes, John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show and Iglesias. Check out the Comedy Central takeover of SiriusXM’s Raw Dog schedule here.

In “Aloha Funny,” Gabriel Iglesias talks about his longtime lady, who may be Mexican, too — but as he is quick to point out, he has “Dated The Rainbow.”

But his family and his lady has to be supportive to let Iglesias travel the world. He explains in this clip, in which he describes his 15-year-old stepson as his son:

Part one of “Gabriel Iglesias: Aloha Fluffy” premieres on Comedy Central on Sunday, April 7, at 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific, with part two debuting the following Sunday — and a special encore of the entire special airing Saturday, April 27, at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT.

The full DVD with extras of Gabriel Iglesias: Aloha Fluffy will go on sale April 9, 2013 via Amazon, iTunes and other platforms. Pre-order and buy it now:

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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