Early life

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.

Career

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".

In 2000, he appeared in season 6 of the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series All That, co-starring with Amanda Bynes and Nick Cannon.

In 2007, Iglesias voiced an entire Mexican family in "Padre de Familia", a sixth season episode of the Fox TV animated comedy Family Guy. That same year, he began voicing a recurring set of identical twin characters on The Emperor's New School, a Disney animated series that he describes as his favorite voice work.

Iglesias was a contestant on the fourth season of reality TV series Last Comic Standing in 2006, surviving elimination to become one of the final eight comics. He was disqualified at that point for having used a smuggled BlackBerry to communicate with family and friends, which violated the rules of the show.

In November 2009, Comedy Central released the DVD of the show Gabriel Iglesias: I'm Not Fat... I'm Fluffy.

In 2011, Comedy Central debuted Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand Up Revolution, a standup showcase series which Iglesias produces and hosts. Hector Saldaña of the San Antonio Express-News praised Iglesias and the other comedian he assembled for the show, calling it "one of the all-time funniest comedy package tours" and Iglesias a "comedy genius".

Iglesias has hosted/co-hosted six episodes of Equals Three, more than any other guest.

Iglesias made a guest appearance on the YouTube show Epic Meal Time in the April 3, 2012 episode "Fast Food Fluffy Cake". Later that year he played a strip club DJ and drug dealer in the 2012 film Magic Mike.

Iglesias voiced Ned and Zed in the 2013 DisneyToon Studios film, Planes. In 2014 he voiced characters in the animated films The Nut Job, and El Americano: The Movie.

Iglesias is currently featured in the new reality show "Fluffy Breaks Even" which is currently shown on Fuse TV.

Awards and honors

On February 10, 2012, Iglesias was presented with several awards by the city of El Paso, Texas, including the key to the city, a resolution from the El Paso County Commissioners, Congressional Recognition from Congressman Silvestre Reyes, and the Beacon of H.O.P.E Award from the nonprofit organization Operation H.O.P.E, during a luncheon fundraiser that raised an estimated $5,000.

Personal life

Iglesias lives in Whittier, California. In The Fluffy Movie, Iglesias describes how at his heaviest, which he states was 445 pounds (202 kilograms), he was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, and with his blood sugar spiking to over 300 regularly, was given two years to live by the doctor. He said the shock of being told he had two years to live prompted him to reevaluate how he took care of himself, stating he wanted to be there and take care of his family. Iglesias described the struggle to incorporate a healthier lifestyle, and was told by a specialist that because of his heavy touring schedule, bariatric surgery would not be a viable option for him. Iglesias said that he began incorporating a weight-lifting regimen and DDP Yoga, and his friends on the road kept him honest by making him stick to a high-protein diet, which helped him shed over 100 pounds (45 kilograms).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Entre vivos y plebeyos	Piarta	Short film
2003	El Matador	Gabe
2004	Days of Santiago	Coquero
2006	The Surfer King	Aokee
2012	Magic Mike	Tobias
2013	Planes	Ned Zed	Voice
2014	The Nut Job	Jimmy	Voice
2014	A Haunted House 2	Miguel
2014	The Fluffy Movie	Himself	Stand-up comedy film
2014	The Book of Life	Pepe Rodríguez	Voice
2015	Magic Mike XXL	Tobias
2016	Norm of the North	Pablo and Stan	Voice
2016	El Americano: The Movie	García	Voice
2017	Blazing Samurai	Chuck	Voice

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	All That	Various Characters
2000	Premium Blend	Performer	Season 3, Episode 8
2002	My Wife and Kids	Nabu	Season 2, Episode 17
2003	Comedy Central Presents	Himself	Stand-up special
2006	Last Comic Standing	Himself	Contestant
2006-2008	The Emperor's New School	Guaca
2007	Live at Gotham	Himself	Host
2007	Hot and Fluffy	Himself	Stand-up special
2007	Family Guy	Mexican No. 5	Voice Episode: "Padre de Familia"
2009	Just for Laughs	Himself	Performer
2009	I'm Not Fat... I'm Fluffy	Himself	Stand-up special
2011-2014	Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand Up Revolution	Himself	Creator, writer, executive producer
2012	The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange	Chicken Krazy Klaus Mr. Cash and Smash Mr. Juicy Fun	Voice
2013	Aloha Fluffy: Parts 1 and 2	Himself	Stand-up special
2015	Fluffy Breaks Even	Himself	Reality series

Discography

• Hot and Fluffy (2008) Image Entertainment
• We Luv Fluffy (2009)
• Aloha Fluffy (2013) Comedy Central

[ Source: Wikipedia ]