Gabriel Iglesias

Gabriel Iglesias
Iglesias in June 2008
Birth name	Gabriel Jesus Iglesias
Born	(1976-07-15) July 15, 1976 (age 40) San Diego, California, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television
Nationality	American
Years active	1997–present
Genres	Observational comedy, Impressionist, Documentary, satire
Subject(s)	Mexican American culture, race relations, obesity jokes, everyday life
Website	Official website

Gabriel Jesus Iglecias (born July 15, 1976), known professionally as Gabriel Iglesias and comically as Fluffy, is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer and voice actor. He is known for his shows I'm Not Fat… I'm Fluffy and Hot & Fluffy. He employs storytelling, affected voices and sound effects in his act, whose other trademarks include references to his weight and his use of Hawaiian shirts. He has been called a "comedy genius" by Hector Saldaña of the San Antonio Express-News.

Gabriel Iglesias was born Gabriel J. Iglecias in San Diego, California, the youngest of six children to a single mother. He is of Mexican heritage. His mother placed a letter "c" in his surname in retaliation for his father's absence during his birth, though he does not use this spelling in his everyday life, preferring to use the one with the "s". He grew up in Riverside, Corona, Santa Ana, Baldwin Park, and Compton before settling in Section 8, low-income housing in Long Beach, where Iglesias spent most of his youth.

Before going into comedy, Iglesias worked for a cell phone company in Los Angeles. Although his family urged him to remain in that job for its financial security, he insisted on trying his hand at comedy. When maintaining both occupations proved too difficult to handle, he decided in 1997 to take the risk of doing comedy full-time, against the advice of his mother, who cautioned him against such a move. Iglesias nonetheless left the phone company, which eventually resulted in his being evicted from his home and losing his car. Despite this, he persisted with comedy.

Iglesias often references his weight in his comedy, often saying, "Oh, I'm not fat, I'm fluffy", a term he says was popular among overweight people in the 1940s, which he decided to use in his act. He also references different "Levels of Fatness" in his act, having once described "Five Levels of Fatness", and eventually adding a sixth, called "Oh, Hell no!" in 2009. He also employs voices, sound effects and storytelling in his act, and his other trademark signatures include his Hawaiian shirts and a "nice-guy veneer".