Many people easily associate the term “fluffy” with comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias. He’s been widely known nationwide for 20 years now. He has gone from doing comedy specials on Comedy Central to doing them on Netflix and having his own major social media presence. In this time, he has evolved from simply telling stories just to make the crowd laugh to sharing his life with the audience along with making them laugh at the same time.

He speaks Spanish in his act but translates the parts that are part of the story and not just emotional bursts of it. That way the audience feels included while being educated on the language. They aren’t told about the educational benefits of it, but one can’t deny you learn while watching him.

Gabriel is not PC, but neither is he insensitive. He walks the line as best as he can, trying to be sensitive to the feelings of others while “telling it like it is,” something a lot of people can relate to. He has done things others would do knowing their friends would be okay with, only to have the results blow up in his face after sharing it, namely his “Racist Gift Basket” joke, though the friend he pulled the prank on took it well. Mind you, the practical jokes comedians play on each other is a tale so long it would make a series of books.

Gabriel is a comedian that you feel like you can sit down with at a restaurant even as you watch him on TV or in a stadium. He brings an intimacy to his shows even as he makes you laugh so hard your ribs hurt. He is just as funny in bars I am sure. His storytelling is in that intimate way of a friend talking to you in a bar about something that happened.

While there are other comics still doing stand-up that started in the mid to late 90s like Iglesias, none of them have evolved as much as him. Some have even gotten stuck in a rut. Others have evolved, just at a slower rate. There are other comedians more evolved, but they are either from the early 90s or earlier.

Iglesias is in a business that won’t be taken over by machines any time soon as well, something he seems to know in how he paces himself with his specials and albums.

He carries himself respectfully while conducting crowds in the manner of a rock star at times. Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias is probably one of the great comics to start at the end of the 20^thcentury and come into his own, as well as flourish fully in the early 21^stcentury as one of the greatest in history. He has already conquered the stage, and where he chooses to go next remains to be seen.

*Tips his hat and walks out the door with headphones in, laughing.*