If you’re a longtime comedy fan, you know Felipe Esparza. And depending on your age, you know him for different things. If you’re a little older, you know him from the early 2000s, when he plied his trade in small comedy clubs across the country. If you’re younger, you might know him as the winner of Last Comic Standing (2010), or that actor on Superstore, The Eric Andre Show and Gentefied, or the host of his own long-running podcasts, What’s Up Fool? and History for Foos. And if you just started watching him, you probably know him from his latest stand-up special, Raging Fool, which debuted this February.
It’s a diverse fan base, but one the comedian embraces. “Some people go to see me because of Superstore, like they want to meet me, right? But they don’t necessarily know that I’m a stand-up comic and also have a very big fan base with Generation Z and millennials because of The Eric Andre show,” he said in an exclusive interview with Las Vegas Magazine.
The Mexican American Esparza also draws fans from a wide variety of ethnicities and has performed stand-up specials in both English and Spanish. He gets different responses depending on the country he’s in.
“I was in Germany, in Berlin ... I was like the only Mexican in the room, and the rest were like German people and foreigners. And it was fun to do that show because I surprised everybody with my wits. You know, I killed it. Like they want to bring me back and headline me at that place,” he said.
A show in Australia was eye-opening for him. “I thought when I got to Australia, (it) was going to be like people who look like that movie, like people who eat alligators or eat kangaroos. (It) was a lot of Latino-Australians who live over there from Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay, and a lot of immigrants from El Salvador.”
Currently, Esparza is on his At My Leisure Tour, which has taken him to cities all over the globe since 2024, from the Midwest to Vegas, in all sorts and sizes of venues, from small comedy clubs to larger venues, like the David Copperfield Theater at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where he plays this week. Different venues require different skill sets onstage.
“Sometimes I gotta really work hard because there might not be a video monitor on both sides. But sometimes I do shows where there’s no video monitor, and I have to project larger and make sure that everybody sees my facial expression—180-degree angle, (so) everybody should see my expression. Then I have to look up for the people up in the balcony.” He hasn’t played arenas, yet, but is already planning for that 25,000-seat venue, envisioning shorter jokes and a presence that roams across the stage.
What kind of sage advice does Esparza have for fans who are lining up to see him in Vegas? “Get there early.”
9 p.m. Sept 12 and 10 p.m. Sept. 13, starting at $45. mgmgrand.mgmresorts.com
Feel like a true Vegas insider with the free Vegas2Go app! Discover the best of Las Vegas—right at your fingertips. From must-try restaurants and top shows to nightlife, attractions, and offers, Vegas2Go puts the city’s hottest experiences in the palm of your hand. Download for free on either the Apple Store or Google Play Store today.
