Gabriel Iglesias’ latest Netflix comedy special, Stadium Fluffy, sees the comic play to a sold out Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Not only has he entered an elite group of stand-up superstars that are able to garner an audience on that scale, but he became the only comedian to ever fill a baseball stadium. The Dodgers fan is checking off what was obviously a massive bucket list item here, but he actually didn’t come across the idea all on his own. In fact, he credits fellow comedian Kevin Hart for the lightbulb moment, after Hart filled Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia for Kevin Hart: What Now?
I caught up with Iglesias to talk about all things Stadium Fluffy, when he volunteered this bit of information regarding his fellow stand-up superstar:
I'm trying to make comedy more amazing. And I think that by doing something like Dodger Stadium, people are going to see that and the fact that it's going to live on that platform, you know, like I said it hopefully it inspires someone else to do it. Because I know Kevin Hart doing the football stadium is what inspired me to want to do Dodger Stadium, because I saw it can be done. And I think once people see something can be done, then it's like, all right, all right, let's let's make it happen.
So the two both broke new ground with their respective sports fandom. For Iglesias, the moment was so monumental that he even considered retiring afterward, worrying that the only way he’d be able to outdo himself would be by going to space. Just the name of Hart’s film alone, What Now?, implies that he feels the same way. Once you play to a live audience of that magnitude, what’s next? Obviously for Hart, it’s inching closer and closer to that billionaire status he desires so greatly.
Fluffy, on the other hand, seems adamant about inspiring others to follow in his footsteps, the way he did Hart’s, thus putting the artform of stand-up comedy on a level that is usually reserved for other forms of performative entertainment. He went on to explain:
They give a lot of praise to actors and musicians and Broadway, everything else but for some reason comedy doesn’t get that same level of love and respect because it’s seen as something that anyone can just do. So the fact that it’s being presented like this, a comedian filled up a stadium and did a concert and it’s being televised… like really? For me that’s awesome because it’s making people talk about comedy in such an amazing light.
It means so much to Iglesias, in fact, that he had to shell out a bunch of his own money in order to keep the Stadium Fluffy show running to the length he desired. Iglesias has a history over at Netflix after his show Mr. Iglesias was cancelled after three seasons, but there seems to be no bad blood between him and the streamer, as you can watch Stadium Fluffy on Netflix right now! If stand-up isn’t your jam, no worries, as they’re also releasing a slew of awesome movies and TV shows in 2022.
