The following is an extended version of the interview that appears in our March 2019 print issue, heading to newsstands now.
Photo courtesy Marleah Leslie & Associates
With a three-project deal from Netflix, a world tour and two animated films on the way, 2019 might be the year of “Fluffy,” aka stand-up comedian Gabriel Iglesias. The 43-year-old Iglesias has appeared in the films “Magic Mike” and “Magic Mike XXL” and on television in “Modern Family” and “Narcos.” And those who don’t recognize his face may be familiar with his voice from the animated films “Show Dogs,” “Ferdinand” and “Coco.” He’ll stretch his vocal talents again in “Blazing Samurai,” an animated film inspired by Mel Brooks’ 1974 comedy “Blazing Saddles”(Brooks also lends his voice to the film). Iglesias’ Netflix stand-up special “One Show Fits All” premiered in January, and a second standup special drops in 2020.
This summer, Netflix debuts “Mr. Iglesias,” a sitcom starring the comedian as a high school history teacher assisting gifted but misfit kids with unlocking their full potential. We chatted with him via phone from his home in Long Beach, California, before he embarked on his world tour, “Beyond the Fluffy.”
Richmond magazine: When you perform in Richmond, can people expect to hear some of your classic stand-up, or do you have some surprises planned?
Gabriel Iglesias: For me, I don’t like doing a show that people already know. It’s one of those things where I feel weird when they know the joke, and they can see it coming. That doesn’t sit well with me, so I want to make sure that they get a new experience.
RM: “Mr. Iglesias,” in which you star as a high school teacher, will be airing on Netflix this year. Is this something you came up with?
Iglesias: The producer of the show[, Kevin Hench,] will tell you that he created everything, but he was definitely inspired by all my stories. Originally I was supposed to be a mechanic, but I thought that was too stereotypical, I thought we’d go with this idea better. I was actually going to be a schoolteacher [in real life] in the Long Beach Unified School District. I took a class called Exploratory Teaching, and I was offered a full scholarship, everything was paid for as long as I agreed to come back and teach for a couple of years in Long Beach Unified. Comedy kind of stepped in there, and I went that route. So this show is basically me playing myself in an alternate universe where I would have actually become a teacher.
RM: Who are your co-stars?
Iglesias: Sherri Shepherd, Oscar Nunez from "The Office," Christopher McDonald — you might remember him as Shooter McGavin in Adam Sandler’s movie "Happy Gilmore" — and then Jacob Vargas, who has been around forever; he’s been in 10 bajillion movies. So everyone on this show has got some serious credits under their belt. I think I’m probably the least experienced one out of all of them when it comes to acting.
RM: You gave a fantastic performance in "Magic Mike."
Iglesias: Well, thank you. Something tells me you didn’t watch that movie for me though [laughs].
RM: "Mr. Iglesias" on the surface is obviously a comedy, but do you add any dramatic elements?
Iglesias: All the topics that we cover — we cover stuff from bullying, teacher strikes, opportunities, honors programs — it’s multicultural, so there are a lot of topics that we cover, but we don’t forget that it’s a sitcom so there’s a lot of laughs, but we make some good points in there which is very, very nice.
RM: Do you have a date for the show?
Iglesias: It’s going to be in the summer. I don’t have a specific date, but it will be in the summertime. So the special comes out first, and then once the heat from the special goes down then, boop, we got a series for you, and then once the heat from the series goes down, boop, we got a new special for you, and hopefully there’s a Season 2 that follows, and we’ll just ride that out until Netflix gets tired of me.
RM: So this is a pretty big year for you between the tour, the sitcom and the comedy specials?
Iglesias: I know, right. I bought a house like three months ago, and I still haven’t slept in it. It’ll hopefully be ready by the time the tour is over.
RM: It’s no secret that your fans love to give you gifts, as you’ve joked about it in your stand-up.
Iglesias: I get a lot of gifts: food, drinks, alcohol, clothes, T-shirts, hats, trinkets. What did I get this past weekend? Baskets, I get gift baskets.
RM: Are they the racist gift baskets?
Iglesias: Yeeeeep.
RM: Your racist gift basket prank went viral back in 2010, and since that time I know you have received plenty of those baskets. Is it getting old, or is it still funny?
Iglesias: People still bring the baskets, because it’s fresh to them. For me, I’m like, “Oh, here we go.” It’s always a fun experience to see if anyone has come up with a new idea of something to put in the basket. Yeah, I’ve gotten the applications for citizenship, I’ve gotten baskets that had taco shells or [religious] candles or Mexican CDs. The best one so far: A guy gave me a lawnmower and he was very, very proud of that.
RM: You have been the victim of a celebrity death hoax, so did you do anything dramatic to let people know you were in fact, still alive?
Iglesias: I’ve had a few hoaxes now. That first one was the big one, because it made it to TMZ. Since then, there’s been a few people that have tried to kill me off. It’s pretty evident once I go online, so I’m able to address it much quicker, but that first one when TMZ put it out there, that was the one where it was like, “Woah!”
RM: In 2017, you had to cancel some of your shows and take some time off to deal with alcohol abuse as well as mental and physical health issues. Have you been able to bounce back?
Iglesias: Taking the time off was necessary because, and the drinking thing was just a little part of it, it was more so having to deal with stuff that was happening at home. I was dealing with a lot of that, that was the main thing that was going on in 2017, and so to get through that, it’s hard. Every night to go up onstage, you want to make people laugh, but if you’re not in a good place, you’re not going to be an effective comic. … I was not a happy person. I was not happy at home. I was not happy on the road. There was a combination of things where it was the perfect storm for me to say, “OK, I’ve gotta go away for a little while.”
RM: So it sounds like that time was essential then to be able to work on yourself.
Iglesias: Yes, very much, but you’ll be happy to know that I’m in a really happy place now [laughs]. Yeah, I needed some time, but you know what was actually reassuring to me was seeing other comics going through similar situations. I heard a situation about this one comic who was on a sitcom and he was not happy, and the things he was saying were things I was saying, and I could totally see what he was talking about, and I’m like, “Wow, I know that I’ve been there, I totally understand what he’s going through right now.” So for me, that was reassuring that OK, I’m not alone, stuff like this does happen, you’re OK.
RM: What was the response from fans? Were fans supportive of you taking a step back and working on yourself?
Iglesias: You’ve got to figure I’ve been doing this now for almost 22 years. I’ve never taken a break. I’m not one who cancels shows, I don’t do that, nah, that’s work. Plus you’re letting people down. People make plans, they buy the tickets, they make plans, they got to get sitters, they go shopping for clothes, all the different things you have to think about going into going out and making a night. That’s someone’s night that they’re planning, and for you to cancel, that just messes everything up. So there was a lot of fans that were supportive, but there was also a lot of fans that were upset. ... Some people are like, “You know what, this is just another person, they probably wanted to go to the Bahamas.” They assume that it’s not as bad as it is and so they get upset, and the problem is that you lose those people as fans, because they don’t trust you. I had a lot of people tell me, “Hey, you know, you messed up my plans.” So I was like, “Oh, dang, sorry, I was in the middle of something pretty bad, but you know I get it, I’m sorry.” And I don’t want to get online and go back and forth with people, either, so you just learn to let it go.
RM: When you perform in Richmond, what do you hope fans come away with?
Iglesias: Hopefully a lot of merchandise — shirts, hats, beanies, old CDs, DVDs [laughs]. No, like I said, it’s going to be a new show. It’s going to be a new show, and if people want to hear these old bits, they can go on Netflix or check out the stuff that’s online, but they can expect a new show. In addition to that, there’s a big set piece on the stage, and I have support acts. I have a comic named Gina Brown who just signed on to be on the tour, and my friend Alfred Robles is hosting, so it’s a three-comics stage show with giant screens and music. I tell people it’s like WWE meets the Food Network.
RM: What’s next for Fluffy?
Iglesias: Between the specials, the movies, the animated films, the series and just weekend to weekend going on the road, hopefully I can move into my house sometime this year [laughs]. You know, I’ve gotta spend some time with my son, spend time with my dogs, and just keep doing what I’m doing.
Comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias performs at the Altria Theater on March 14 at 8 p.m. as part of his “Beyond the Fluffy” tour. $42 to $67. altriatheater.com.
