Jerry Rocha Talks About His New Comedy Special and How He Got Fluffy On Board
Jerry Rocha is a man of surprising contradictions. Born and raised near Dallas, he doesn’t come off as a stereotypical Texan, nor does he act like some douchey Hollywood type after making Los Angeles his home. And his act is widely relatable, but has an edge that wouldn’t lead you to believe that he’s the kind of guy who considers ComicCon better than Christmas. And while he’s an incredibly strong comic who is equally comfortable on the road as around the LA scene, you might never have heard of him before. Fortunately, Gabriel Iglesias decided to fix that and produced Jerry’s first special, The Gentleman Jerry Rocha, which aired earlier this month on Fuse TV.
The Interrobang talked to Jerry about the special and his comedy guardian angels Gabriel Iglesias and Mike DeStefano.
The Interrobang: It’s about time!
Jerry Rocha: Well, thank you. You have no idea the relief that flooded over me. I was on the road with Gabriel and he has a very set group of dudes he takes on the road with them, but every now and again when he has an opening he calls me up. So I had done a few shows with him and he pulled me aside and said, “Hey, do you have an hour?” There’s just no greater feeling than to have someone ask you that.
The Interrobang: I notice that Gabriel is very supportive of a lot of guys in the same position as you are, like “Here’s a guy who is awesome, why isn’t he bigger or better known?”
Jerry Rocha: Yeah, that’s kind of how Gabe very kindly opened up the special, telling the crowd he thought I was a guy who deserves to be seen. It was really nice, just such a good feeling. And it’s really cool to know this is actually going to exist now. And going on the road with Gabe is amazing. He takes such good care of everyone, we go out to eat, he’ll buy us new sneakers, it’s just so much fun. It is comedy heaven, nirvana, everything.
The Interrobang: I love how in comedy people become successful and then go and, in turn, help out younger comedians. Turning that around, who are some younger guys you have your eye on?
Jerry Rocha: There’s this kid in Dallas named Josh Johnson who I just gloat over every time I see him. He’s very young but he’s really, really funny and fun to watch. The minute I can help somebody out with something, he’s definitely it.
The Interrobang: How much overlap is this with your album Take That, Real Dad?
Jerry Rocha: Not much. I didn’t want it to have any, but Gabe had requested a couple of jokes from my CD and I was like, “If this dude is footing the bill, I’m not gonna say no!”
The Interrobang: Gosh, I guess it’s over two years ago the album came out now that I’m thinking about it!
Jerry Rocha: Yeah, almost three years now. It was funny because when I first did my CD, my initial thought was to do an EP digital release after and call it Some More Shit About My Ex, and just adding on to the stuff I had done about this awful relationship it turned into a new hour.
The Interrobang: Is that where the title came from? Sort of ironic, since you’re talking about your ex?
Jerry Rocha: After my CD came out, this comedian who is really just an acquaintance, after a show said, “Hey congrats on your new CD. Whose dick did you have to suck?” and I was like, “Really?” But so that turned into this whole bit about what if that existed, would you go do it? So there’s a lot of irreverant things like that, and that’s how I decided it would be kind of funny to call it The Gentleman Jerry Rocha.
The Interrobang: I know you to be kind of a big nerd, which is not something you’d expect from your onstage persona.
Jerry Rocha: I know, right? This is a guy who gets excited about buying action figures? So Fluffy was like, “I don’t believe in censoring, I want you to be yourself and say whatever you want to say. But I’m just telling you, if you don’t use the F word it’s gonna be easier to sell to a network. If you can do that, I’ll give you this Transformer.” It was this ComicCon exclusive toy a couple years ago, like two feet high. And I’ve never had an easier time not saying Fuck onstage. So then my girlfriend went and got all these other transformer figures that were to scale to this and made me this incredible display inside an IKEA shelf. She painted it, it looks like the Transformers home planet. Every day I geek out over it.
The Interrobang: And of course, we can’t do an interview and not talk about your friendship with Mike DeStefano. I know you guys were tight and his loss hit you hard. Is that something that’s still with you a lot of the time?
Jerry Rocha: Daily. There’s not a day that goes by that it doesn’t suck. But what’s interesting is I filmed my special at Levity Live and I remember thinking just before the taping, “I wish I could see Mike, I wish he could be here and if there’s anyone I would call up and thank…” and as I’m walking to go onstage, like the show had already started, I look up and Mike’s brother Joe walks into the club. And Joe looks just like him…all the fear and anxiety evaporated and it was instantly like everything’s gonna be okay. Who knows, maybe this was Mike’s way of giving me a thumbs up or something.
The Interrobang: Going way, way back, how did you get into comedy?
Jerry Rocha: I was always the class clown and I didn’t want to go to college. So I was on a date with my girlfriend and we would always go to this comedy club in Dallas called The Backdoor and there was a little sign that said, “Hey, do you think you’re funny? Try our open mic night.” And I thought, “Oh, okay.” I knew I was going to suck at the beginning, but it was one of those moments where I felt “Oh, this is it, this is what I want to do.”
The Interrobang: I’m sure along the way you’ve had the thought, “This is not it! What am I doing?”
Jerry Rocha: What’s funny is I’ve never had the “This is not it.” There’s been plenty of “Oooh, okay, well this is just going to hurt forever. I guess I’ll just live in misery.” But I was always happy when I was performing on a show.
Check out Jerry Rocha’s new special “The Gentleman” tonight on…Check out my good buddy Jerry Rocha’s first special, “The Gentleman,” presented by yours truly, tonight during the #FluffyTakeover, at 10/9c on Fuse TV! ;P
Posted by Gabriel Iglesias on Saturday, October 17, 2015
You can see Jerry at upcoming dates in Phoenix, Colorado Springs, San Francisco, San Jose, Houston, Fort Worth and Denver, get dates here. iFollow Jerry Rocha on Twitter @rochacomedy
Read more original interviews. And visit our home page for the latest comedy news, interviews, and more.
Latest posts by Amy Hawthorne (see all)
- Mike Cannon’s Field Guide to Doing Drugs - September 6, 2017
- Ryan Hamilton’s Long Road From VHS to Netflix - August 29, 2017
- Brent Morin Gets Unplugged at Just for Laughs Solo Show, Makes the Most of Rough Conditions - July 28, 2017
