Saturday, February 27, 2010

Laughter as Medicine

Laughter as Medicine

George Lopez at the Las Vegas Hilton

By Chris Carney

Photo by Carlo Dalla Chiesa

George Lopez
Where: Las Vegas Hilton
When: 8 p.m. March 5-6
Cost: $75 and up
Info: (866) 80-SHOWS

It is often said that humor is a defense mechanism against a crappy world. Take a small sampling of the early life of George Lopez and you'll come to realize just why he is so popular, enduring and hilarious.
While still an infant, his father abandoned him, and at the age of 10 his mother followed suit. Lopez could have used his life as an excuse, but instead he chose to use his experiences as the basis for his extremely popular comedic career.
He has toured the country for decades, had numerous stand-up specials, his own sitcom and, the Holy Grail for any entertainer, his own late-night show, Lopez Tonight on TBS.
Although much of his comedy is based on the Mexican- American experience, he has used this backdrop to examine the human experience. He pokes fun at family dysfunction, language confusion and stereotypes with a wit that speaks truth without demeaning.
Since beginning Lopez Tonight his comedy has morphed a bit. It has become more all-inclusive while still being rooted in the world of that young Mexican-American boy who once wondered if the American dream were true. As Lopez found out, it can be.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Sailing Back Into Stand-Up

Sailing Back Into Stand-Up

Sinbad at Treasure Island

By Chris Carney

Sinbad
Where: Treasure Island
When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19
Cost: $45 and up
Info: (866) 80-SHOWS

To us normal folk, the ticket-buying public and the comedy-special-watching folk, the world of stand-up comedy seems vast and foreign. But for those who've slogged their ways upward from the trenches to comedy fame and fortune, the roads taken are often quite similar.

This is as true for ever-present '90s comedy powerhouse Sinbad as it is for many of his comedy brethren. Born in a small town in Michigan, the man who would become Sinbad had numerous career dead ends, including a stint in the Air Force, which didn't quite go as planned.
It wasn't until he went on Star Search, where he defeated fellow comedian Dennis Miller, that his career really got the boost it needed. From there he had a recurring role on A Different World, was part of the cast of numerous Hollywood films and eventually earned himself the comedian's crown jewel, a self-titled sitcom, The Sinbad Show.
While the show earned some accolades for its positive portrayal of African Americans, it eventually went the way most comedian-based sitcoms go: off the air.
But Sinbad persevered. Numerous film roles, including Houseguest and Jingle All the Way, followed. Sprinkled throughout his silver screen work were HBO specials and extensive touring.
Sinbad surged to the top of the stand-up circuit, bartered that success into a successful acting career and eventually saw the fickle public move on to the next new flavor, and he has returned to his first love. And we are better for it.

Published in Las Vegas Magazine 2-14-2010