Gabriel Iglesias says he's not fat - just 'Fluffy'

FRESNO, Calif. - Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias was 11 when he saw the 1987 comedy film Eddie Murphy Raw and was introduced to the world of stand-up comedy.

"I remember renting and renting the VHS tape. Eddie had me in tears I was laughing so hard. It was then I started thinking about doing voices and characters," Iglesias says.

That's why it means a lot for San Diego-native Iglesias to put out his own film.

Just like Eddie Murphy Raw, his The Fluffy Movie, now playing in the Philadelphia area, is a full-blown comedy concert. It was filmed in San Jose, Calif., over two nights during his sold-out "Unity Through Laughter" tour, which took Iglesias to 23 countries and more than 400 cities.

"I wanted to do something really, really big and San Jose seemed the right opportunity to do that. Two of my shows were filmed and we went with the second performance," Iglesias says.

Iglesias, 38, made no changes to his regular material for the movie.

"I wasn't going to change something that had been working for the last year," Iglesias says. "There's certain material that played better and cuts were made when the film was edited, but, overall, it was my regular show."

The film runs 97 minutes.

Those who have seen Iglesias perform know his stand-up can run from one to two hours. The length varies by how well the performance is going. He says if the show is going badly, it's best to get off the stage as fast as possible. If things are going well, he will stick around and try new material.

Iglesias doesn't write down material. He prefers to go on stage and let the comedy flow freely. He guarantees all of the material in The Fluffy Movie has passed audience testing.

"It's all me in every show," Iglesias says. "I will talk about anything and everything, even how my parents met and how I came to be."

Iglesias is the youngest of six children born to a single mother. Before he got into comedy, he worked for a Los Angeles cellphone company. Once he gave up his day job - 10 years after seeing Raw - Iglesias started doing comedy full-time.

His TV and film career ranges from being on the Nickelodeon series All That to voice work in Planes and Planes: Fire & Rescue. He loves doing voice work because he can record a character's voice in a few hours or at the most a few days.

Currently, his focus is The Fluffy Movie.

It was Iglesias who gave himself the nickname "Fluffy." He often jokes that he's not fat, just fluffy.

The Fluffy Movie

Playing at: UA Riverview Stadium 17 and AMC Neshaminy 24.EndText