Gabriel Jesús Iglesias (born July 15, 1976) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He has produced a number of stand-up specials for television outlets such as Comedy Central and Netflix, including I'm Not Fat… I'm Fluffy, and Hot and Fluffy. As an actor, he has appeared in numerous live-action and animated TV shows and films, including starring in the sitcom Mr. Iglesias on Netflix, playing Tobias in the 2012 movie Magic Mike and its 2015 sequel, and providing the voice of Speedy Gonzales in Space Jam: A New Legacy. He was also the host of the shows Stand Up Revolution on Comedy Central and Fluffy's Food Adventures on Fuse.
| Gabriel Iglesias | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Iglesias in 2018 | |
| Birth name | Gabriel Jesús Iglesias |
| Born | July 15, 1976 San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Medium |
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| Years active | 1997–present |
| Genres | |
| Subject(s) | |
| Signature |  |
| Website | fluffyguy |
In 2018, Iglesias was one of the top 10 paid comedians in the world.[1]
Early life
Iglesias was born July 15, 1976,[2] in San Diego, California,[3] to Esther P. Mendez and Jesús Iglesias.[4] His mother Esther raised him as a single mother.[5] He is of Mexican heritage. He lived in Riverside, Corona, Santa Ana, Baldwin Park, and Compton before settling in Section 8 low-income housing in Long Beach, where Iglesias spent most of his youth.[3][5]
Career
Iglesias worked for a cell phone company in Los Angeles and in 1997 went into comedy full-time, though it resulted in him being evicted from his home and losing his car.[5][6]
Iglesias often references his weight in his comedy, often saying, "Oh, I'm not fat, I'm fluffy", elaborating that there are five levels of fatness, "Big", "Healthy", "Husky", "Fluffy", and "DAMN!!!"[6] In 2009 he added a sixth level, "Oh hell, no."[7]
In 2000, he appeared in the sixth season of the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series All That, co-starring with Amanda Bynes and Nick Cannon.[6]
Iglesias was a contestant on the fourth season of reality TV series Last Comic Standing in 2006, surviving elimination to become one of the final eight comics. He was disqualified at that point for having used a smuggled BlackBerry to communicate with family and friends, which violated the rules of the show.[6][8]
In 2007, Iglesias voiced an entire Mexican family in "Padre de Familia", a sixth season episode of the Fox TV animated comedy Family Guy. That same year, he began voicing a recurring set of identical twin characters on The Emperor's New School, a Disney animated series that he describes as his favorite voice work.[6]
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In 2011, Comedy Central debuted Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand Up Revolution, a stand-up series that Iglesias produced and hosted, running for three seasons before ending in 2014.
Iglesias hosted/co-hosted six episodes of Equals Three, and played a strip club DJ and drug dealer in the 2012 film Magic Mike.
Iglesias voiced Ned and Zed in the 2013 DisneyToon Studios film, Planes.[9] He also voiced characters in the animated films The Nut Job (2014)[10][11] and El Americano: The Movie (2016).[9]
Iglesias is featured in the reality series Fluffy Breaks Even, which premiered on Fuse on October 1, 2015.[12] The show was renamed Fluffy's Food Adventures upon its third season renewal in January 2017.[13] From 2019 to 2020, he played Gabe Iglesias, in Mr. Iglesias, a Netflix original series about a teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. In 2021, he voiced the character of Speedy Gonzales in the film Space Jam: A New Legacy and Picchu in Maya and the Three.
In 2022, Iglesias was the first comedian to sell out Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The concert was released to Netflix on October 18, 2022, as Stadium Fluffy.[14]
Influences and style
Iglesias' comedy influences are Paul Rodriguez, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, and Bill Cosby.[15] He is known for his trademark Hawaiian shirts.[16]
Regarding how novice comedians can widen their fan base, Iglesias stated in a January 2016 interview:[17]
In the beginning, work as clean as you possibly can and stay away from topics that could be controversial or offensive. For example, don't talk about politics, don't talk about religion. Stay away from sports. Talk about things that are relatable to everyone. The more relatability you have, the bigger the fan base you're going to have.
Awards and honors
On February 10, 2012, Iglesias was presented with several awards by the city of El Paso, Texas, including the key to the city and the Beacon of H.O.P.E Award from the nonprofit organization Operation H.O.P.E.[18]
Personal life
Since 2010, Iglesias has lived in Whittier, California.[19] He was in a long-term relationship with Claudia Valdez, with whom he has a self-proclaimed stepson named Frankie whom he calls his son.[20][21] According to a June 2020 People article, he and Valdez divorced in 2017, which led him to cancel some performances, and to quit drinking for two years. Despite the breakup, he still maintains a close relationship with Frankie, whom he helped raise.[20]
Health
In The Fluffy Movie, Iglesias describes how at his heaviest, which he states was 445 pounds (202 kilograms), he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and with his blood sugar spiking to over 300 mg/dl (16.6 mmol/L) regularly, was given two years to live by his doctor. He said the shock of being told this had prompted him to reevaluate how he took care of himself and explained that he decided to lose weight in order to ensure his continued presence in the lives of his family. Iglesias described the struggle to incorporate a healthier lifestyle, relating how he was told by a specialist that his heavy touring schedule precluded him from being a candidate for bariatric surgery, and how he instead resorted to weight-lifting, Diamond Dallas Page Yoga, and a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, which helped him shed over 100 pounds (45 kilograms). Iglesias has also struggled with depression and alcoholism, which he attributes partly to burnout from his heavy touring schedule.[21]
On July 15, 2021, his 45th birthday, Iglesias tested positive for COVID-19, and cancelled his remaining shows at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts as well as the taping of his upcoming comedy special.[22][2]
Filmography
Film
| † | Denotes productions that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Entre vivos y plebeyos | Piarta | Short film | |
| 2003 | El Matador | Gabe | ||
| 2004 | Days of Santiago | Coquero | ||
| 2006 | The Surfer King | Aokee | ||
| 2012 | Magic Mike | Tobias | ||
| 2013 | Planes | Ned and Zed | Voice | |
| 2014 | The Nut Job | Jimmy | Voice | [23] |
| A Haunted House 2 | Miguel | [24] | ||
| The Fluffy Movie | Himself | Stand-up comedy film | [25] | |
| The Book of Life | Pepe Rodríguez | Voice | ||
| 2015 | Magic Mike XXL | Tobias | ||
| 2016 | Norm of the North | Pablo and Stan | Voice | |
| El Americano: The Movie | García | Voice | [26][27] | |
| 2017 | Smurfs: The Lost Village | Jokey Smurf | Voice | |
| The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature | Jimmy | Voice | ||
| Coco | Clerk | Voice | ||
| The Star | Rufus | Voice | ||
| Ferdinand | Cuatro | Voice | ||
| 2018 | Show Dogs | Sprinkles | Voice | |
| 2019 | UglyDolls | Babo | Voice | |
| 2021 | Space Jam: A New Legacy | Speedy Gonzales | Voice | |
| 2022 | Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank | Chuck | Voice | |
| 2023 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever | Officer Vasquez | Voice |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | All That | Himself / various characters | 13 episodes | |
| 2002 | My Wife and Kids | Nabu | Episode: "Table for Too Many" | |
| 2002-2003 | The USO Comedy Tour | Himself | Stand-up special; Episode unknown | |
| 2003 | Comedy Central Presents | Himself | Stand-up special; season 7, episode 1 | |
| 2006 | Last Comic Standing | Himself (contestant) | 4 episodes | |
| 2006–2008 | The Emperor's New School | Additional voice | Voice; 4 episodes | |
| 2007 | Gabriel Iglesias: Hot and Fluffy | Himself | Stand-up special | |
| Family Guy | Mexican No. 5 | Voice; episode: "Padre de Familia" | ||
| 2009 | Gabriel Iglesias: I'm Not Fat... I'm Fluffy | Himself | Stand-up special | |
| 2011–2014 | Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand Up Revolution | Himself (host) | 19 episodes; also creator, writer, executive producer | |
| 2012 | The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange | Chicken / Krazy Klaus / Mr. Cash / Smash / Mr. Juicy Fun |
Voice; 3 episodes | |
| 2013 | Gabriel Iglesias: Aloha Fluffy | Himself | Stand-up special | |
| Key & Peele | Himself | Episode: "Joke Stealing" | ||
| 2014 | Scooby-Doo! Ghastly Goals | Professor Perez | Voice; television special | |
| Gabriel Iglesias Presents Rick Gutierrez: I'm Not Mad. I'm Just a Parent | Himself | Television special | ||
| 2014–2015 | Cristela | Alberto | 13 episodes | |
| 2015–2017 | Fluffy's Food Adventures | Himself (host) | 20 episodes; also creator, writer, executive producer | |
| 2016 | Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade | Cholly Bear | Voice; television special | |
| Gabriel Iglesias: I'm Sorry For What I Said While I Was Hungry | Himself | Stand-up special | ||
| 2017 | Narcos | Dominican Gangster | Episode: "The Cali KGB" | |
| 2017–2019 | Funny You Should Ask | Himself | 35 episodes | |
| 2018 | Modern Family | Jorge | Episode: "Daddy Issues" | |
| 2019 | Gabriel Iglesias: One Show Fits All | Himself | Stand-up special | |
| 2019–2020 | Mr. Iglesias | Gabe Iglesias | 21 episodes; also executive producer | |
| 2020 | Unleashed | Himself (host) | 10 episodes; also executive producer | |
| 2021 | Ridiculousness | Himself (guest) | Episode: "Gabriel Iglesias" | |
| Monsters at Work | Gary | Voice; 2 episodes | ||
| Hell's Kitchen | Himself | Chef's table guest diner in the blue kitchen; Episode: "More Than a Sticky Situation" | ||
| Maya and the Three | Picchu | Voice; 4 episodes | ||
| 2022 | Gabriel Iglesias: Stadium Fluffy | Himself | Stand-up special | [28] |
| StoryBots: Answer Time | Mr. Karate Guy | Episode: "Dizzy" | ||
| 2023 | The Santa Clauses | Kris Kringle | Main cast; season 2 | |
| Barmageddon | Himself | Episode: "Gabriel Iglesias vs. Jelly Roll" | ||
| 2024 | WWE Rivals | Himself (host) | Season 4 | |
| 2024 | Pupstruction | Felipe | Voice; episode: "A Bright Idea/The Friendliest Frog" | |
| 2024-present | Primos | Tio Gustavo | Voice; recurring | |
| 2024-present | Everybody Still Hates Chris | Romeo (voice) | Voice; Episode: "Everybody Still Hates Drew’s Brother" |
Discography
- Hot and Fluffy (2008) Image Entertainment
- I'm Not Fat, I'm Fluffy (2009)
- We Luv Fluffy (2009)
- Aloha Fluffy (2013) Comedy Central
- I'm Sorry For What I Said While I Was Hungry (2016) Netflix
- One Show Fits All (2019) Netflix
- Stadium Fluffy (2022) Netflix
References
External links
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