Maybe some people don’t know who Ralph Barbosa is, but the comedy world is about to learn
Ralph Barbosa may not be a household name in stand-up comedy just yet. But in the last week or so, one thing has become clear: People are starting to know who the f— he is.
For the Dallas-based comic, years on the grind are starting to pay off as he breaks into the national touring circuit and makes a return to L.A. this week for a string of sold-out shows at the Improv. Before that, he was in a suit telling jokes on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon, and late last year he made his HBO comedy debut in the third installment of Latin stand-up series “Entre Nos.” Before that, his “Don’t Tell Comedy” set garnered millions of views on YouTube. As a young comic starting out, he was the 2019 winner of the Funniest Comic in Texas competition, and in 2021 he went on to win the New York Latino Film Festival Stand-Up competition.
One might argue that would be enough to earn the 26-year-old some respect. But earlier this month it was the harsh comments from one of Latin comedy’s godfathers, George Lopez, that ironically boosted his notoriety to a new level.
In the controversial clip from a Feb. 6 episode of Lopez’s podcast “OMG Hi!” guest Steve Treviño spoke about the importance of lifting up new Latinx comics, shouting out Barbosa. After Treviño name-checked him, Lopez interjected, “Nobody knows who that motherf— is! Why do you keep bringing up his name?”
Though Barbosa may have shrugged it off at the time, the clip created a wave of backlash against Lopez for insulting him. Soon after that, Lopez apologized to Barbosa for his comments.
Though Gen Z comics like Barbosa may have different routes to success these days, one paradigm holds true: There’s no such thing as bad press — or bad podcast comments. Continuing to take things in stride has only helped his career take off.
Recently, Barbosa spoke with The Times about his early days in Dallas, the state of Latin comedy and the thing that actually annoyed him about the Lopez podcast episode. Hint: It wasn’t Lopez.
George Lopez faces backlash after taking shots at up-and-coming comic Ralph Barbosa.
When did you first notice your comedy career was starting to blow up?
Around November, my social media had grown quite a bit and I started getting booked more on the road. I also filmed a special with “Entre Nos” on HBO. That was taped last July, but in November there was a lot of promo for it and we did a promotional event for it at New York Comedy Festival. So with the Instagram kind of going up and TikTok blowing up and all the other stuff, it was kind of mindblowing that everything was happening all together. By December/January I was booking more gigs and I’d also got the word approved to do “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon. It was all happening back to back so fast. I went from the ground floor to the top of the building. Just a few months before that I was still struggling to make ends meet, running from open mic to open mic.
Can you talk a little about the scene in Dallas where you got your start?
Yeah, there’s a handful of clubs there — we have the Addison Improv, the Hyenas clubs. There’s also Back Door Comedy, which is a small little room where I got my start. [Its] Linda Stogner was the first person to give me stage time; all the comics in Dallas know Linda. It’s also a clean club [meaning you can’t curse onstage], which I feel helped me make my writing better. And now there’s the Plano House of Comedy, the Dallas Comedy Club and a few independent shows. There’s no shortage of stage time. It’s not like New York or L.A., where you can get up in front of some big names every night, but you can definitely stay busy, which is all I really needed.
What’s it like as a comic representing Dallas touring other big cities like L.A.?
When I started to travel, I always worried that my jokes wouldn’t translate. Because I was only performing in Dallas for a long time, so I thought, “What if my stuff’s not cut out for crowds outside of Texas or Dallas in general?” What I’ve been finding is that no matter where I go — whether it’s Milwaukee or Salt Lake City — tons of people can relate to my stuff even if they don’t go through what I’m talking about, a lot of people have still felt what I’m feeling. I think when it comes to comedy in general, the more specific you are, the more relatable you end up being.
What do you think about the state of Latin comedy right now and what kinds of opportunities are there for comics like you who haven’t been really recognized until recently?
I think it’s been dope. Edwin [Licona] at “Entre Nos” has been putting on a lot of Latino comics. I think back in the day, the big Mexican comics, they’d say Mexicans aren’t getting their shine. … But I think the way it is nowadays, you don’t have to be a Mexican comedian anymore, you can be a comedian who’s Mexican. I’m very proud to be Mexican. But with “Entre Nos” they put on more than just the Mexicans, they put on Latinos in general. I love the unity and the diversity in that. I love people who are funny being able to get put on no matter what color they are. There used to be a lot of spotlight on the white comedians, then the Black comedians and the Mexican comedians. Nowadays, there’s just so much more. Maybe it is a little tough for Hispanic comics, but I love that Latinos are helping Latinos and I love that I get to be a part of that.
On that topic, following the comments George Lopez made about you on his podcast about not knowing who the f— you are, you definitely got a lot of support from Latin comics and fans. Not surprisingly, his comments ended up helping your notoriety even more. And after the backlash he even apologized. Can you talk about how that all went down?
A lot of Hispanic people were really angry with George Lopez for what he said. When the guest [Steve Treviño] brought up my name on the podcast he said, “Who even knows who that is? F— him! Don’t say his name!” And a lot of Hispanic fans were very disappointed with him and said he doesn’t help other Latinos, he doesn’t help other Mexicans. But I don’t think he meant it in a personal, messed-up way. I know he didn’t. I think it was very heat-of-the-moment on the subject they were talking about on the podcast. Was it a little much? Maybe, but he apologized. He was very nice and kind to me, personally. Like a few days after that happened, he called me and he apologized privately.
I really appreciate that he did it privately. I think if he would’ve done it publicly it would’ve been more for the people, not really for me. So I really appreciate the fact that he called me and was like, “Hey man, this is George. I just want to say that I apologize for what I said. It was a heat-of-the-moment type of thing. I don’t mean to put you down at all, you’re a talented guy, I’m learning about who you are, and I don’t wish any bad upon you.” And I accepted his apology and told him he didn’t have to do that and it’s water under the bridge.
I joke a lot about my own culture, being Mexican and whatnot. I think a lot of the fans that were disappointed in him said, “Screw George, we support Ralph!” They don’t even realize who I am in general. They were just supporting me because they saw me as the underdog. But what people don’t understand is that I didn’t take it that seriously because at the end of the day, he’s a comic and I’m a comic, we talk crap to each other. As comedians we’re the last people whose words should be taken that seriously. It was definitely blown out of proportion.
From comics I’ve spoken to, it seemed like it had more to do with his track record of allegedly not supporting younger Latin comics. Everyone’s got different opinions on that, but it seemed like something that had been bubbling up for a while.
As far as whatever his reputation is about not helping people, that may be the case, but I don’t think it was the case on this one. I’ve heard stories about him wanting to be the only Latino comic on a show and not letting other Latino comics get work or whatever, but we’re so far apart generationally in this industry. But Steve Treviño could’ve said anybody’s name right then and it would’ve gone the same way.
It just so happens that your name got brought up and you’re literally having the biggest moment of your career right now.
I didn’t even think about it right away and think about it later, but if there’s anything that was messed up about that podcast it was Steve Treviño saying our generation of comics have it easier. He’s trying to say I had it easy, like I haven’t been working as hard as [the older comics] did for their careers. That kinda bugged me, looking back on it. The George Lopez thing didn’t bug me at all, Steve Treviño saying the new guys have it easier — who said it’s easy? Who said I’m not working?
Have you worked with Steve before?
I’ve never met him before in my life.
I think that was also the context that people missed from the clip, your name getting brought up and defended by a comic who you don’t know…
He messaged me just saying, “Wow, I had no idea this clip was gonna blow up like that … keep doing what you do.” And I was like, “Thanks. Man that means a lot. Thanks for standing up for the new guys.” And then he copied the message and put it in the comments of my video [on Instagram]. And once he did that, I was like, ah, he’s lame, he’s just doing this so that people can be like, “Hey, thanks Steve, you’re a great guy.” He’s lame as hell, he’s lamer than George Lopez in my book.
At the end of the day it’s a podcast, a few guys shooting the s—. It’s just comics talking about other comics, we’re the last people whose words should be taken seriously. Our job is to just joke and shoot the s—. But like they say, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
This is your second time in L.A. Is there anything you’re looking forward to sharing with a new audience for the second time around?
I’m excited about L.A. because they were the fastest shows to sell out — within a day we sold out 10 to 12 shows. I’m excited to go back and headline for a week straight. I’m a little nervous just because I’ve never been to a city where they show that much love. I just want to give them good shows. I hope to make them laugh a lot.
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