Gabriel Iglesias has visited the Valley many times before. Now the comedian is going to stay. “I will soon be a resident — I just bought a house in Avondale!” he says. While he’s headlined at the Tempe Improv and other comedy clubs around the country for several years, more people than ever know Iglesias this summer because of his appearance on the NBC reality competition “Last Comic Standing.” Easily the most polished comedian among the final contestants, he was disqualified on the July 11 episode for using his Blackberry. “Everybody was doing something sneaky, and I just happened to be the one that got caught,” Iglesias says. “Leave it to the Mexican to get caught!”Not that he was overly disappointed to see his time on the show come to an end. “They put all these rules and regulations on you, and I’m not used to having people tell me what to do,” Iglesias says. “I had to ask to go to the bathroom! I really didn’t like that.” With himself out of the mix, Iglesias believes the winner will be one of two contestants. “It’s going to come down to Josh Blue and Chris Porter,” he says. “I was actually hanging out with Chris Porter last night. I play poker with him.” As an established comedian, Iglesias certainly wasn’t in awe of the prize — $50,000 and a half-hour special on Bravo — for which the upstart comics are still vying.“The only thing I had to gain was the title and a big ego,” Iglesias says. “Comedy Central is already giving me a one-hour special in February, and the money will come. I’m buying houses — the money will come!”He did, however, stand to lose something had he triumphed on the show: A little personal freedom, due to the contractual obligations that come with winning.“Obviously, being disqualified, you’re kind of released from those obligations,” he says slyly.
East Valley Tribune
I wish he would’ve stayed on the show because he was funny as all heck.
