Being in comedy requires a certain kind of toughness, but not usually the kind that goes along with wearing a tejana. It’s not every day you see a stand-up comic saunter onstage looking straight from the rancho to make a room full of people laugh all their problems away. But for the last 20 years, Alfred Robles has applied a different level of work ethic to funny business.
Though he didn’t exactly grow up on a farm (though there are some in East L.A., we checked), Robles descends from a long line of Norteños who wore their tejanas proudly. As he says in a recent meeting with The Times, he had to keep the tradition going. “I just felt it, bro. It’s time for me to take over. It’s my cape, bro. It’s my hat. I love it.”
With the tenacity of a farmhand, his desire to grow in stand-up caught the attention of one of his idols, Gabriel Iglesias, a.k.a. “Fluffy,” who took him on the road to snap photos for him during meet-and-greets with fans in return for scraps of stage time. Building on that ground-level experience, Robles, 45, worked the L.A. stand-up circuit relentlessly for decades and in recent years not only grew into a national headliner but has also produced two specials this year alone — one half-hour on Hulu (“LOL Live With Alfred Robles” in September) and his first full hour aptly titled “El Cowboy” premiering Friday on YouTube.
“All the hard work is finally paying off, bro,” he said. “It’s like when a construction worker, builds a big house. They know the house is not theirs, but they built it, bro. They want to show it. Look, look what I built. This is what I built.”
Though his stage presence could easily veer into a machismo-heavy persona, Robles sets himself apart in comedy by being the opposite. In “El Cowboy” you get to learn about his experiences as a cat dad, being his mom’s caretaker and a proud recipient of a prostate exam. On the road, he’s also become a master of getting his fans to open up onstage about their deepest hopes, dreams and fears. Sure, it often results in laughter from the crowd, but that’s beside the point. Robles has learned how to show a softer side even as he endearingly ends every other sentence with the word “bro.” For Robles, stepping away from toxic cultural stereotypes as a Mexican man is what allowed his career to grow to the point where now he’s no longer taking photos for Fluffy. Earlier this year he opened for his comedy mentor in a historic, sold-out show at SoFi Stadium — the largest comedy show in L.A. history. A feat like that definitely deserves a tip of the hat.
Having watched you perform around the L.A. scene for years, seeing you blow up and opening for Gabriel Iglesias and Jo Koy at SoFi Stadium earlier this year was pretty cool.
That was pretty amazing. One of the best comedy experiences ever, bro. I’m a big Rams fan, so I was at the Super Bowl there, and then I saw Paul McCartney there, so just performing there was dope, man.
It doesn’t get any bigger than that.
No man, and that kind of sucks because like, what’s next, bro?
Well, you’ve been working hard since then. This new special “El Cowboy” is going to be your second one this year. The title obviously denotes your look onstage rocking the tejana. What do you think the hat says about your approach to comedy?
Well, let me tell you something about my tejana — my cowboy hat. The part of Mexico that I’m from is northern Mexico, so everybody wears boots and everybody wears a tejana. My dad wore one and my grandpa wore one, and I said, you know, it’s time, bro. Pass it down. It’s time to do it. I just felt it, bro. It’s time for me to take over, bro. It’s my cape, bro. It’s my hat. I love it.
You have something going on in your life that many people can relate to — being your mom’s caretaker.
Man, I didn’t want that job, bro. To be honest, yeah, because I have two older brothers, bro, and it’s kind of crazy because I look like my dad, the guy that left my mom. So my mom, she always throws it on my face. “You look like your dad!” But it’s cool, man. Of course, I love my mom. I make fun of her a lot, but it’s dope, man. It’s a good thing because my mom, she’s 84, and she’s at that age where she believes everything I tell her. So I could be lying to her, bro. [Laughs].
Has she ever seen you perform or any of your specials?
My mom has only gone to one show and that was when we did Dodger Stadium with Gabriel Iglesias [in 2022]. That’s the only show she’s gone to, bro. She didn’t even tell me she was going. She told me she didn’t want to go.
She snuck in?
Yeah, and it’s crazy how I found out. Shout-out Gabriel’s photographer Troy Conrad. He took a picture and he was all like, “Hey, there’s a lady out there that says that’s your mom. And she says she’s here with your brother. And I took a picture and I said my mom says she’s not coming. [Conrad said] “Ah, dude, she’s your mom.” [I said] “Let me see the picture,” and it was my mom, bro. She just didn’t want me to know that she was there. That’s the only show she’s gone to, bro.
Speaking of Gabriel Iglesias, a.k.a. “Fluffy,” he’s been a huge mentor to you. He also makes an appearance in your special, which he produced. Talk about your relationship with him and how you guys first connected.
I met him at a bar show in the city of Montebello, and he was still doing bar shows, and I met him. And he just gave me advice. He was like, “Hey, you’re a funny guy, but you cuss a lot, bro. You stop cussing, and you’re gonna go far.” I’m all like, “Bro, that’s all I have, bro.” And I took his advice, and like a year later, he started taking me on the road. And it’s crazy how I started with him because he was all like, “I’m gonna take you on tour with me, but you’re not gonna have a regular spot. You’re not gonna go up on stage every day. He says, “I want you to help me.” He goes, “I want to do meet and greets and take pictures for the meet and greets, and then we’ll go from there.” So that’s how I started, bro, taking pictures for him for his meet and greets, and then I just started working the ranks, and then he’ll give me five-minute spots, and I started doing good. And he goes, “Hey, man, you’re killing, bro. You’re having good sets. Next time I’m gonna give you eight minutes. You’re not gonna take pictures anymore.” That’s how he sold it to me. He was all like, “I’m not gonna give you stage time, but you’re gonna help me if you want this.” I wanted it, bro. That’s all I wanted to do was be a comedian.
That’s real mentorship, because you get to learn from the ground level.
Yeah, and that was good to have someone like that on my side at a young comedy age, bro. I learned a lot, business wise. I remember he goes, “Now that you’re making money, now get an accountant, you’re not gonna know what to do with your money. You’re just gonna waste it. Just get an accountant.” And I did, bro, right away.
But sometimes it is a little bit of fun to waste it. What was the first thing that you blew a bunch of money on?
A ’63 Impala, bro! That’s one of my cars I always wanted since I was a kid.
Gabriel should appreciate that. He’s a car guy.
I’m just happy my mom’s older and she can’t drive, so I don’t gotta buy her anything.
You’re good at getting your fans to open up to you onstage — whether it’s a match-making segment or just bringing them up to talk about their lives in front of thousands of strangers. Was that a skill you learned over time?
Bro sometimes it gets too deep for me as well, bro, I don’t even know what to say and I was hey, let me just give you a hug, bro, you need a hug. One time this guy came up on stage … and granted — I don’t know what they’re gonna tell me. Like when you see shows on TV, like “Jerry Springer,” everything’s written, so he knows what’s gonna happen. He knows about the story. I don’t know anything, bro. So [the guy tells me onstage] “Dude, I own my own business, and I was setting a deal up with this lady, and she took me out to dinner, and I didn’t tell my wife, and my wife thought I was cheating, and my wife shot me two times on the back, bro, on accident.” I’m like, “Wait, wait, wait. … What do you mean ‘on accident?’” His wife was there [at my show], bro. She said, “I shot him two times!”
And they’re still together going to comedy shows? That’s real love.
That’s attempted murder, bro! Just telling the whole world … I’m like, “bro this is gonna be online.” Then he wanted me to feel his scar on his back. He was picking up his shirt. He was asking me to feel it, bro. I don’t want to feel it, bro. I don’t want to be a witness.
Now your show suddenly becomes a piece of evidence.
Yeah, but you know what? He felt comfortable enough to share that story with me. So that’s what it’s all about, bro. Being comfortable and just sharing something with strangers. I think stuff like that just makes you feel better inside, man. Because if you tell a homie, your homie’s only gonna have your side. I think strangers are like in the middle, so hey, bro, this could be good or it could be bad, and we’re gonna tell you the truth. So I guess that’s what they like, bro. Because even the crowd gets involved and they start yelling stuff out too. Sometimes you need that.
In your special, you mentioned issues that befall a man of a certain age, like going to get a prostate exam.
Dude, that was my first physical ever two years ago. I think it was about two years ago already and that was one of the roughest things I ever got through, bro. It was a prostate exam, I wasn’t even prepared for that. Because I didn’t know that was going to happen.
It seems like getting stuff like that done is harder for men in Latin cultures and it’s great that you’re somebody who’s been through it and can talk about what you experienced.
And that’s what I feel about our culture, bro. Our Latino Mexican American culture is that we never want to go to the doctors, and we’re all macho, bro. And we’re all like, I’m not gonna let the doctor check me. That check is gonna save your life, bro. I make fun of it, and at the end I say go get checked because getting checked is gonna save your life, bro. I’d rather have a finger in my butt than dying, bro. All day, bro — give me five fingers!
Currently you’re on your tour, which is called Vatos With Gatos. What are the qualifications for a good cat dad?
Oh, dude, right now I have five cats, and me and my girlfriend we feed five strays outside. So we have five cats living outside, and then five cats inside, bro. So we have 10 cats.
That’s a full house!
It’s funny because when my girlfriend moved in with me, she had three cats, and I had three cats. One passed away. We only have five now, but we’re like the Brady Bunch but we’re cats, bro. Being a cat daddy, man, you gotta scoop up the litter, you gotta feed them. You got to clean the couches all the time. That’s what I do, bro. I don’t mind saying I pick up my cat stuff, bro.
What’s something that you’re most proud of about this new special coming out?
Talking about my mom, and just having my first hour special, dude. All the hard work is finally paying off, bro. And showing it to people. It’s like when a construction worker builds a big house. They know the house is not theirs, but they built it, bro. They want to show it. Look, look what I built. This is what I built. The jokes are not mine. The jokes are for you guys, but I’ve built it, man. That’s what I’m proud of, bro.
The post With 10 cats and a cowboy hat, Alfred Robles is building his comedy career appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
