George Lopez
AVA Amphitheatre, Tucson, AZ, USA, June 1, 2019
by Mary Andrews
George Lopez is celebrating 40 years as a stand-up comic with his ‘The Wall’ tour this year. Lopez was originally scheduled for this performance in May, but a lightning storm caused the performance to be postponed. Over 4400 fans filled the venue and the show went on without a hitch.
Lopez’s set started with the ever-familiar “Low Rider “theme song playing in the background. The stage was bare except for a stool that was seldom used and a microphone. He was dressed in his standard suit and tie, but he added a magenta hat to his ensemble. From there, no holes were barred for the next 75 minutes.
Once Lopez thanked the Mariachi Americana Band for starting the festivities, he was firing on all cylinders delivering his one-liners like a gun. His humor is road-tested and razor sharp.
In 2002, Lopez joined the scant number of Hispanic stars to create, write, produce and star in a major network situation comedy called simply, George Lopez.
The George Lopez show remained on primetime for six seasons and then went into syndication. That was not the end of Lopez’s television career with appearances on HBO, a late-night talk show on TBS, and another sitcom for FX called Saint George. His vitae of television and movie credits are extremely impressive.
Comedy is one of the few places you can have free speech today. Lopez utilizes that freedom to the max. There was a frenetic speed of his delivery when he hit subjects of family, his parents, childrearing, kids, respect, and the Latino way of life in general.
“Kids these days aren’t as tough as they used to be.” He even gave no mercy to Starbucks or his wife’s private parts during delivery.
Lopez has a strong brand and a distinctive voice built over decades of being in show business that translates well on the stage. One would expect that a tour entitled “The Wall” would be loaded with material about President Trump and his immigration policies. That was not the case.
He did speak about immigration and if you had to pick his final opinion about immigration, it would be that the Latinos are important for this country.
It was apparent that President Trump was not his choice for the presidency.
The ‘gringos’ might need to learn colloquial Spanish for Lopez’s live show. Much of his routine was geared toward the Hispanic members of the audience. The Latino heritage is what he knows best so it makes sense.
Along with his strong opinions, there were Spanish words thrown into his English routine that ‘gringos’ should know. The words are thrown in very quickly and at times slurred. They generally elicit a lot of laughter from the Spanish members of the crowd. Words like “puto,” “porcina,” and “Chinga tu madre” seem to have multiple meanings when you look them up but the fans got the idea. The laughter was nonstop.
Bryan Kellen opened the show and he was the perfect awarm up comic for Lopez. Kellen is a former contestant on The Last Comic Standing is a best described as a self-deprecating, physical and observational comic. He has been a regular opening act for George Lopez over the last few years.
The reason that Lopez has kept him on the bill is that he’s very funny. His warm-up was greater than 30 minutes. The fans were howling at some of his gags. He performed a modified version of his “Running Man” routine that was hilarious. The man was seldom still during his set.
Lopez says things on subjects that only he could get away with. That is what fans expect. After all, he is George Lopez.
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