Comedian Johnny Sanchez, who starred in “Happy Feet” and was on Mad TV for two seasons, performed at CSUB in the Icardo Center on March 12.
Sanchez grew up in Tulare. He is “glad I grew up in Tulare. It was the right balance. There was a nice mix of everybody. You had African Americans, your Latinos, your Asians and of course a lot of Portuguese. If I were to start a family, I would prefer to come to this small town. It was nice to come back.”
In his youth, he would take many trips to Bakersfield and brag to his friends about “the bars, the night clubs and strip clubs” he went to. Sanchez said, “It was a really big deal. There just wasn’t as much to do over there. We just felt the girls in Bakersfield and Fresno were a beat above the girls in Tulare. I guess because we knew all of them. You go to school, you used to cruise Mooney Boulevard in Visalia. You get to know everybody. It was just something fresh and new to come to Bakersfield. Honestly, it was really a big city.”
Like many comedians, Sanchez’s entrance into comedy happened by chance.
“About 18 years ago, a friend of mine moved to L.A. to become a musician and he needed a roommate. He goes ‘why don’t you try stand up like you always wanted to.’ So I did. I was working at the Louis Rich Turkey Plant in Tulare. I put in my two weeks notice and was gone. I started doing open mic nights around town. Somewhere around year four or five, I got picked up as a regular by The Comedy Store on Sunset (Boulevard).”
Sanchez had many positive things to say about The Comedy Store.
“It’s the best place in the country. That’s where all the honing came in, every night, six to seven nights a week. The Original Room, which is where you have to play, is the toughest room in the country. It’s like the gym. It’s a good sweat work out. I got my name up on the wall with greats, Eddie Murphy and all that stuff. It’s an honor that I started at that club.
“Then little by little,” Sanchez explains, “the television things came, Latino Laugh Fest on Showtime, Premium Blend on Comedy Central.
“Then around 2000, I got my half hour special. Then I did a lot of touring. I toured with Louis Anderson and Paul Rodriguez. I had done so many characters that by the time I auditioned for Mad TV, it was instantaneous.”
Sanchez was on Mad TV for seasons 13 and 14.
Sanchez enjoyed his performance at the Icardo Center. “It was a lot better than I thought it would be. This is my first time doing a gymnasium. The crowd was there. I normally don’t do that long. I did an hour and 15 minutes here. I usually go about 45 minutes. It’s one of those things, nobody’s rowdy, nobody’s heckling, I liked the slow laughs. The silent moments are really nice. It means everyone’s focused and following your little trail. I said to myself that this is a crowd that will stick with me. This was a lot of fun.”
CSUB student David Hall came out to the show. “I saw posters around campus. I don’t come out often; having something at Cal State like a comedy show is really cool. I thought it would be fun to bring a friend and laugh.”
Jeanette Madrid another student at CSUB came to the show to “laugh and have fun.”
Sanchez considers himself a “cross-over comedian. For Latino comics, it’s not only about tortillas and burritos. I do it a little bit, but then I move on,” said Sanchez.
Sanchez also said that other Latino comics go overboard with jokes specifically for the Latino culture.
“Even guys that are friends of mine, I go really? An hour on your tia, tio and tacos. But some of them feel like they have to, that they’re obligated to do that. I don’t think that’s necessary.”
Sanchez added, “I don’t only do Latino shows. I do Des Moines, Iowa, Minneapolis and Kentucky. There are certain Latino comics that can’t do that. Because they have material only geared toward Latinos.”
Sanchez feels that comics need material that appeals to everyone. Otherwise, “what are these people in cowboy hats going to relate to?”
Sanchez said, “I feel like I’ve gone all the way across the board.”