Grade: A
Gabriel Iglesias was greeted with chants and raucous applause upon the opening of his 2016 stand-up comedy film “Gabriel Iglesias: I’m Sorry For What I Said When I Was Hungry” — which took place in Chicago. Iglesias, who is also referred to comically as “Fluffy,” lights up the show with his unique descriptive comedy and his archetypical Hawaiian attire — not to mention his wacky expressions.
Iglesias loves to share his everyday experiences and his descriptive comedy makes each joke easy to follow. His humor is one that is relatable and that is based on a select group of topics such as food, his family, everyday life and his Mexican heritage. Unlike many stand-up comedians, Iglesias gives extensive recognition to those who make his shows so meaningful, including one of his friends who was the only person to call him after his first celebrity death hoax.
Iglesias calls himself a people-pleaser and remarks that his job gives him the unique ability to change people’s moods and give the gift of gut-busting laughter. While Iglesias’ humor samples from a variety of different topics, he lets his stances on certain issues be known heartfeltly but respectfully. Iglesias cites the problem of American children succumbing to the comfortable lives they lead, without acknowledging those in third-world countries that do not receive the same privileges, using his own son as an example (or the butt of his joke).
Iglesias uses much of his stand-up routine to present himself as just a regular guy — and for the most part, it works. He does not seem like a hot shot who is just doing the gig for the money; his comedy is genuine and even somewhat caring at times. For this reason, it is safe to say that this is a special that is safe to watch with your kids as it features very little profanity. Even Iglesias, at one point during the show, thanks parents for trusting him enough to bring their children to watch him perform. But, of course, it’s hard to argue that a comedian is vulgar if they spend 10 minutes making jokes about restrooms.
Each comedian must have their own brand to make it into the big-time — especially bid they are established enough to be honored by Netflix with their own original film. Iglesias’ brand of humor is one that lends itself to current issues in society and in everyday life as well as one that is family and friend-oriented. He’s a down-to-earth comedian, but of course that must be the case with a great nickname like “Fluffy.”
Popular comedians should take note of Iglesias’ methods because he garners an audience that is widely diverse and (most likely) does not give a lot of backlash for his jokes. It’s hard to be mad at a stout comedian who shows up onstage in a shirt with dragons on it and makes jokes about police officers driving Toyota Prius’ after all. If there were at least three more people like Iglesias, the comedy scene would be immensely more successful.
