In addition to a $250,000 cash prize and nationwide exposure that has gotten him recognized from coast to coast, what else did comedian Felipe Esparza get for winning the most recent season of the NBC television show “Last Comic Standing”?
The commitment to play 95 shows by Feb. 20.
“Every day I’m in a different town, I forget where I’m at,” Esparza said during a phone interview last week from Newport, Ky., where he was preparing to perform at the Funny Bone Comedy Club. “If I don’t write down the number of my hotel room, I forget what number I’m in. I know I’m staying at Motel 6 or the Comfort Suites because the card has Domino’s on it.”
This tour is by far the longest for Esparza. In addition to 65 shows as part of the Last Comic Standing Tour, he’s headlining 30 dates of his own, including the D.C. Improv on Wednesday. He says this gives him 45 minutes to work with, as compared to the 20 he might get for an LCS performance.
“I get to play more with the audience and come up with different material,” Esparza said of his own shows.
Esparza recently won season seven of “Last Comic Standing,” after he had tried out previously for the show without success. For the successful tryout, he says he kept things low-key by riding his beach cruiser from the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles to West Hollywood for the audition.
“Winning has changed the lives of everyone around me within a five-mile radius,” Esparza said. “I get recognized every day.”
Raised in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles, Esparza fell in love with comedy at a young age, and his favorite comedians are George Carlin, Rodney Dangerfield and Paul Rodriguez. Esparza has a number of television appearances to his credit, has finished production on two films this year, and recently released a comedy album titled “Rebound Material.” He writes a lot, and is influenced by television as well as everyday life for his material.
“People get scared in my neighborhood when they see graffiti,” he said. “I don’t get scared. I welcome it. I get happy. When I see graffiti in my neighborhood, I see my rent staying cheap for the next 10 years.”
Esparza is no stranger to D.C. He’s played the Improv twice, as well as the Warner Theatre last month.
He says he plans on donating part of his winnings from Last Comic Standing to Homeboy Industries, which helps people get off the streets and “move beyond gang life,” according to its Web site.
“Here’s a guy who rode himself on a beach cruiser, and walked out with $250,000,” Esparza said. “Is that an American story, or what?”
