Duke City will play host to comedy's royal family

by Marcella Ortega

Daily Lobo

When I got a hold of comedian Paul Rodriguez, he was sitting by his pool watching his white gardener work.

"Well, I couldn't have a Latino gardener - pshh," he said.

The Crown Royal Latin Kings of Comedy, which include Frank Lucero, Manny Maldonado, Dennis Gaxiola and Rodriguez, will perform Friday at the Kiva Auditorium at 401 Second St. N.W.

"The group that I travel with are the three amigos," he said. "Manny Maldonado - come this time next year, he'll be through the roof. People will be paying 50 bucks to see him."

Rodriguez said Gaxiola uses profanity in his act.

"He drops a couple of F-bombs," he said. "I only use F when I say Ford, feria, feo or flaca. The F-word - I think people only deserve that when I pay my taxes."

Rodriguez, known as the Richard Pryor of Latino comedians, wanted to be a lawyer before he got into comedy.

"I don't have a degree," he said. "I never would have passed the Bar (Exam) in the first place. I didn't know if I was funny enough to make a living. I know I was trying to be funny. It runs in my family - that and diarrhea. We were always trying to make each other laugh."

Rodriguez said one of his biggest influences is his sister.

"I know all the comediennes - Whoopi Goldberg, Ellen DeGeneres - and with all due respect, they don't hold a candle," he said. "My sister is the funniest woman on the planet. But, she's painfully shy. The first time I went on 'The Tonight Show,' she wrote a couple jokes for me."

Rodriguez said it wasn't easy making a name for himself, but he held on to his goals.

"Anyone who tells you they didn't need to struggle to fulfill their art is crazy," he said. "I got in (entertainment) for the same reason everyone gets in - 'cause you want attention from girls. You want to get lucky. You want to get on stage and say, 'Look at me.'"

Rodriguez got lucky - he has two sons, but they don't live with him.

"I told this girl, 'I want you to have my kids. They're in the car,' and she took them," he said.

Rodriguez said the most important thing he has learned in 27 years of comedy is not to steal other people's jokes.

"Not me," he said. "Other people steal other people's jokes. I have so many jokes. I don't need to steal. Unfortunately, most of them are in my pants."

Rodriguez said he looks forward to New Mexican food, women and inside jokes.

"Nobody gets a joke outside of New Mexico," he said. "'Red or green?' I ask someone out here in California, and they think I'm talking about the traffic lights. You've got to know what a luminaria is. Over here, they think you're putting dog poo-poo in the bag and trying to start it (on fire). They don't have that tradition."

The Crown Royal Latin Kings of Comedy

Kiva Auditorium

401 Second St. N.W.

Friday 8 p.m.

$35-$40