Rodriguez: stand-up comedy still 'my bread-and-butter'

By: JAMES CURRAN - Staff Writer | Wednesday, October 25, 2006 12:51 PM PDT ∞

On one hand, Paul Rodriguez is thankful to be listed alongside legends such as George Carlin and Richard Pryor, but there's a problem with Comedy Central listing him as one of the top 100 stand-up comics of all time.

"Not that I wonder about something so pompous as a legacy, but I'm not ready to go yet," said Rodriguez, who will perform Friday at Pechanga Resort & Casino. "I'd rather be a George Burns than a Chris Farley."

Rodriguez returns for at least his fourth appearance at the casino, his first coming long before Pechanga opened its glitzy high-rise hotel. Although his career hasn't burst as dramatically as the locale, the 51-year-old comic has steadily carved a niche in comic lore. His work includes ---- in addition to stand-up ---- off-Broadway theater, dramatic film, comedy albums and a groundbreaking situation comedy.

"But stand-up is my bread-and-butter," he said. "I'm realistic."

Rodriguez said career longevity was created primarily from two basics. One came from paying attention to the people who forged a path ahead of him, such as Pryor, writer Carl Reiner and a dear friend in producer Norman Lear. The other basic can be a challenge to attain, even though it sounds simple.

"You have to have a point of view," Rodriguez said. "It doesn't have to be right, but it has to be a point of view. It can be lunacy, like Andy Kaufman. It can be about not having respect, like Rodney Dangerfield.

"I was 'the Mexican guy,' but I had to reinvent myself. If you just come out and talk about low-riders ... language that only your people will understand, you'll bomb badly."

Lear took particular notice of the comic as a younger man. After Rodriguez honed his skills on the club circuit, Lear hired him to warm up studio audiences and then as the star in a short-lived sitcom "a.k.a. Pablo." Considering that Desi Arnaz was the second star of "I Love Lucy" and that Freddie Prinze was a co-headliner of "Chico and the Man," it could be argued that "Pablo" was the most prominent sitcom role for a Latino comic up to that point in television history.

Lear was undeterred that "Pablo," which ran only in 1984, didn't have longevity.

"I always felt like I let him down," Rodriguez said. "If you can't succeed with Norman Lear, you'll never succeed. But he wrote me a nice letter. I framed it. It said 'My dearest, darling Paul,' the only man who ever called me that. He said 'It wasn't time yet, but you wait, another show just like it will come.'"

Rodriguez points to "The George Lopez Show" as that program. Both "Pablo" and "George Lopez" ran on ABC.

Lear's sitcoms were recognized for having a liberal slant. Rodriguez admits to having left-leaning beliefs, but he added that with age, certain conservative ideas crept into his act. His act will neither favor nor assail the current hot topic of illegal immigration.

"Even in some Mexican circles, there's a belief that there's too many of us here," he said.

For that matter, Rodriguez also believes class envy has been taken to an extreme in the United States.

"America has the fattest poor people in the world," he said. "We should be proud of that."

Not that Rodriguez has abandoned core beliefs. During an interview, he sounded like a man who was re-examining them. For instance, one of his biggest critical successes occurred by recording performances at San Quentin State Prison. It was an idea he admits "I ripped off Johnny Cash.

"My mentality was this is the toughest crowd ever," he said.

However, while he won over the crowd, Rodriguez was taken aback by the post-show response.

"I got letters from people ... a mom whose daughter was killed and raped," he said. "She saw the killer in the audience, laughing. 'What are you doing with that scum?' That hurt."

Rodriguez said the show was actually borne of a humble idea.

"So many specials are shot in places like Vegas," he said. "I was looking for a place where I wasn't such a big name, where the venue could be the star."

Since then, Rodriguez has been more apt to select entertaining American troops ---- including in the Middle East ---- when he has an urge to perform in unusual locations.

Not hogging the spotlight has been helpful in another aspect of Rodriguez's career. He readily admits his work on "Pablo" was lacking, at best.

"I didn't have respect for acting," he said. "I had done 36 films, none the world will remember. I said I've got to take this more seriously. I told my agent I'd do anything as long as the casting is good."

On a particularly talented cast, Rodriguez befriended a then up-and-comer, Russell Crowe. An eventual Academy Award-winner for best actor, Crowe told him acting starts by holding an audience with the eyes. Rodriguez took that tidbit and practiced for hours in front of a mirror.

"I started getting callbacks," he said. "Some small roles, but ones I can be proud of."

He said he's certain that any gains as an actor will never lead to acceptance speeches at award shows. He still finds that listing on Comedy Central's top 100 ---- Rodriguez is No. 74 ---- an odd enough reward.

"I shouldn't be up that high," he said. "I'd be comfortable with 102, 103, but I'm not calling Comedy Central to complain."

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