Felipe Esparza
{{Short description|Mexican-American stand-up comedian (b. 1976)}}
{{Infobox comedian
| name = Felipe de Jesus Esparza
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| birth_place = Sinaloa, Mexico
| medium = Stand-up
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| spouse = {{marriage|Lesa O'Daniel Esparza|2012}}{{cite web |title=Basically how it happened... Happy 7th anniversary to my wife (& partner for the last 15 years) @lesainla. Let's keep going! |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CXciwS8rIDI/ |website=instagram.com}}
| children = 4
| notable_work =
| website = {{URL|felipesworld.com}}
}}
Felipe de Jesus Esparza is a Mexican-born American stand-up comedian and actor. He began performing stand-up in 1994. He won Last Comic Standing in 2010. Felipe is currently on tour for his comedy show, "At My Leisure". In addition, Felipe hosts a weekly popular youtube podcast named "What's up Fool?"
Early life and education
Felipe Esparza was born in Sinaloa, Mexico. He lived on his mother's family's ranch in Sinaloa before moving with his family to live with his aunt in Tijuana, where they lived for about two years. His father had left the family to go to the United States alone. Eventually, before President Reagan's amnesty law, Esparza, his two brothers, and his mother illegally immigrated to the United States, traveling in the car of a "coyote" smuggler. During the trip, they were stopped at a checkpoint in San Clemente, California, and he was held in a holding cell with his brothers, separate from their mother, for a short period of time. The family was deported. They attempted the trip again, but they were stopped and deported again. They tried a third time, using the passports of cousins who lived in California. They changed cars twice and were driven to Carson, California. They were then moved to the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, where his father was living.{{cite podcast |url= http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/felipe-esparza |title=JRE #1150 - Felipe Esparza |website= The Joe Rogan Experience |host= Rogan, Joe |date= July 31, 2018 |access-date= January 2, 2019 }} Esparza was raised in the Aliso Village housing projects of Boyle Heights.{{cite web |url= https://felipesworld.com/ep-94-author-paul-hunt/ |title= Ep 94 – Author Paul Hunt |date= March 18, 2018 |website= felipesworld.com |access-date= January 2, 2019 }} He attended Theodore Roosevelt High School.{{cite podcast |url= https://tigerbelly.libsyn.com/episode-163-felipe-esparza-is-carnage-asada |title= Episode 163: Felipe Esparza Is Carnage Asada |website= TigerBelly |host= Lee, Bobby; Kuhn, Khalyla |date= October 10, 2018 |time= 00:58:54 |access-date= January 2, 2019 }}
Career
Esparza began performing stand-up in 1994 after a stint in drug rehab. He won Last Comic Standing in 2010.
Felipe's international comedy tour "At My Leisure" launched in 2024 and will continue through 2025.
He has a popular podcast "What's up fool?"
He has also acted in various TV shows and films.
Personal life
Esparza has been married to Lesa Esparza since 2014.
He has been vegan since 2011.{{cite web|url=https://lasvegasmagazine.com/interviews/qa/2018/feb/16/felipe-esparza-treasure-island-last-comic-standing/|title=Q&A: Felipe Esparza|last=Kelemen|first=Matt|date=February 16, 2018|website=Las Vegas Magazine|access-date=January 2, 2019}}
Works
=Comedy specials=
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Title !Distributor |
| 2012
|They're Not Gonna Laugh at You |
| 2017
|Translate This |HBO |
| 2020
|Bad Decisions |
| 2025
|Raging Fool |
Three Netflix comedy specials: "Felipe Esparza: Bad Decisions" which are in English and Spanish, the third currently on Netflix is "Raging Fool" (2025).
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role |
|---|
| 2003
| El matador |
| 2009
| The Deported | Fernando |
| 2010
| I'm Not Like That No More | Felipe Valenzuela |
| 2015
| The Fix | Pablo |
| 2016
| She's Allergic to Cats | Tow Truck Driver |
| 2018
| Taco Shop | Mugres |
| 2020
| Cabbie Steve |
| 2023
| Security Tech #3 |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 2014-2015, 2020–present
| Himself/Hannibal's co-co-host/Co-host | 6 episodes |
| 2015
| The Shop | Felipe | 7 episodes |
| 2016
| Campus Law | Alan | 2 episodes |
| 2016-2018
| Cody | 5 episodes |
| 2020
| Crazy Dave | Recurring role |
| 2023
| Mexican Officer (voice) | Episode: "Casa de Darby" |
| 2025
| Primos | Churro (voice) | Episode: "Summer of Silencio" |
| 2025
| Bob | Episode: "Grief" |
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Last Comic Standing}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esparza, Felipe}}
Category:Mexican male comedians
Category:Comedians from Los Angeles
Category:Last Comic Standing winners
Category:Mexican emigrants to the United States
Category:People from Boyle Heights, Los Angeles
Category:Mexican expatriate male actors in the United States
Category:Hispanic and Latino American male comedians
Category:American male comedians
Category:Hispanic and Latino American stand-up comedians
Category:American stand-up comedians
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{{Mexico-comedian-stub}}