{"id":504227,"date":"2026-10-22T13:22:36","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T13:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/504227\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T13:22:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T13:22:36","slug":"with-10-cats-and-a-cowboy-hat-alfred-robles-is-building-his-comedy-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/504227\/","title":{"rendered":"With 10 cats and a cowboy hat, Alfred Robles is building his comedy career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Being in comedy requires a certain kind of toughness, but not usually the kind that goes along with wearing a tejana. It\u2019s not every day you see a stand-up comic saunter onstage looking straight from the rancho to make a room full of people laugh all their problems away. But for the last 20 years, Alfred Robles has applied a different level of work ethic to funny business. <\/p>\n

Though he didn\u2019t exactly grow up on a farm (though there are some in East L.A., we checked<\/a>), Robles descends from a long line of Norte\u00f1os who wore their tejanas proudly. As he says in a recent meeting with The Times, he had to keep the tradition going. \u201cI just felt it, bro. It\u2019s time for me to take over. It\u2019s my cape, bro. It\u2019s my hat. I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the tenacity of a farmhand, his desire to grow in stand-up caught the attention of one of his idols, Gabriel Iglesias, a.k.a. \u201cFluffy,\u201d who took him on the road to snap photos for him during meet-and-greets with fans in return for scraps of stage time. Building on that ground-level experience, Robles, 45, worked the L.A. stand-up circuit relentlessly for decades and in recent years not only grew into a national headliner but has also produced two specials this year alone \u2014 one half-hour on Hulu (\u201cLOL Live With Alfred Robles\u201d in September) and his first full hour aptly titled \u201cEl Cowboy\u201d premiering Friday on YouTube. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll the hard work is finally paying off, bro,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s like when a construction worker, builds a big house. They know the house is not theirs, but they built it, bro. They want to show it. Look, look what I built. This is what I built.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though his stage presence could easily veer into a machismo-heavy persona, Robles sets himself apart in comedy by being the opposite. In \u201cEl Cowboy\u201d you get to learn about his experiences as a cat dad, being his mom\u2019s caretaker and a proud recipient of a prostate exam. On the road, he\u2019s also become a master of getting his fans to open up onstage about their deepest hopes, dreams and fears. Sure, it often results in laughter from the crowd, but that\u2019s beside the point. Robles has learned how to show a softer side even as he endearingly ends every other sentence with the word \u201cbro.\u201d For Robles, stepping away from toxic cultural stereotypes as a Mexican man is what allowed his career to grow to the point where now he\u2019s no longer taking photos for Fluffy. Earlier this year he opened for his comedy mentor in a historic, sold-out show at SoFi Stadium \u2014 the largest comedy show in L.A. history. A feat like that definitely deserves a tip of the hat. <\/p>\n

Having watched you perform around the L.A. scene for years, seeing you blow up and opening for Gabriel Iglesias and Jo Koy at SoFi Stadium<\/a> earlier this year was pretty cool. <\/p>\n

That was pretty amazing. One of the best comedy experiences ever, bro. I\u2019m a big Rams fan, so I was at the Super Bowl there, and then I saw Paul McCartney there, so just performing there was dope, man.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t get any bigger than that. <\/p>\n

No man, and that kind of sucks because like, what\u2019s next, bro? <\/p>\n

Well, you\u2019ve been working hard since then. This new special \u201cEl Cowboy\u201d is going to be your second one this year. The title obviously denotes your look onstage rocking the tejana. What do you think the hat says about your approach to comedy?<\/p>\n

Well, let me tell you something about my tejana \u2014 my cowboy hat. The part of Mexico that I\u2019m from is northern Mexico, so everybody wears boots and everybody wears a tejana. My dad wore one and my grandpa wore one, and I said, you know, it\u2019s time, bro. Pass it down. It\u2019s time to do it. I just felt it, bro. It\u2019s time for me to take over, bro. It\u2019s my cape, bro. It\u2019s my hat. I love it.<\/p>\n

\"Comedian <\/p>\n

Alfred Robles\u2019 comedy special, \u201cEl Cowboy,\u201d is out Oct 23. <\/p>\n

(Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

You have something going on in your life that many people can relate to \u2014 being your mom\u2019s caretaker. <\/p>\n

Man, I didn\u2019t want that job, bro. To be honest, yeah, because I have two older brothers, bro, and it\u2019s kind of crazy because I look like my dad, the guy that left my mom. So my mom, she always throws it on my face. \u201cYou look like your dad!\u201d But it\u2019s cool, man. Of course, I love my mom. I make fun of her a lot, but it\u2019s dope, man. It\u2019s a good thing because my mom, she\u2019s 84, and she\u2019s at that age where she believes everything I tell her. So I could be lying to her, bro. [Laughs].<\/p>\n

Has she ever seen you perform or any of your specials? <\/p>\n

My mom has only gone to one show and that was when we did Dodger Stadium with Gabriel Iglesias<\/a> [in 2022]. That\u2019s the only show she\u2019s gone to, bro. She didn\u2019t even tell me she was going. She told me she didn\u2019t want to go.<\/p>\n

She snuck in?<\/p>\n

Yeah, and it\u2019s crazy how I found out. Shout-out Gabriel\u2019s photographer Troy Conrad. He took a picture and he was all like, \u201cHey, there\u2019s a lady out there that says that\u2019s your mom. And she says she\u2019s here with your brother. And I took a picture and I said my mom says she\u2019s not coming. [Conrad said] \u201cAh, dude, she\u2019s your mom.\u201d [I said] \u201cLet me see the picture,\u201d and it was my mom, bro. She just didn\u2019t want me to know that she was there. That\u2019s the only show she\u2019s gone to, bro.<\/p>\n

\"Comedian <\/p>\n

Robles credits star comedian Gabriel Iglesias\u2019 hands-on mentorship with helping him move from taking photos at meet-and-greets to earning stage time and learning comedy\u2019s business side.<\/p>\n

(Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Speaking of Gabriel Iglesias, a.k.a. \u201cFluffy,\u201d <\/a>he\u2019s been a huge mentor to you. He also makes an appearance in your special, which he produced. Talk about your relationship with him and how you guys first connected.<\/p>\n

I met him at a bar show in the city of Montebello, and he was still doing bar shows, and I met him. And he just gave me advice. He was like, \u201cHey, you\u2019re a funny guy, but you cuss a lot, bro. You stop cussing, and you\u2019re gonna go far.\u201d I\u2019m all like, \u201cBro, that\u2019s all I have, bro.\u201d And I took his advice, and like a year later, he started taking me on the road. And it\u2019s crazy how I started with him because he was all like, \u201cI\u2019m gonna take you on tour with me, but you\u2019re not gonna have a regular spot. You\u2019re not gonna go up on stage every day. He says, \u201cI want you to help me.\u201d He goes, \u201cI want to do meet and greets and take pictures for the meet and greets, and then we\u2019ll go from there.\u201d So that\u2019s how I started, bro, taking pictures for him for his meet and greets, and then I just started working the ranks, and then he\u2019ll give me five-minute spots, and I started doing good. And he goes, \u201cHey, man, you\u2019re killing, bro. You\u2019re having good sets. Next time I\u2019m gonna give you eight minutes. You\u2019re not gonna take pictures anymore.\u201d That\u2019s how he sold it to me. He was all like, \u201cI\u2019m not gonna give you stage time, but you\u2019re gonna help me if you want this.\u201d I wanted it, bro. That\u2019s all I wanted to do was be a comedian.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s real mentorship, because you get to learn from the ground level.<\/p>\n

Yeah, and that was good to have someone like that on my side at a young comedy age, bro. I learned a lot, business wise. I remember he goes, \u201cNow that you\u2019re making money, now get an accountant, you\u2019re not gonna know what to do with your money. You\u2019re just gonna waste it. Just get an accountant.\u201d And I did, bro, right away.<\/p>\n

But sometimes it is a little bit of fun to waste it. What was the first thing that you blew a bunch of money on?<\/p>\n

A \u201963 Impala, bro! That\u2019s one of my cars I always wanted since I was a kid.<\/p>\n

\"Comedian <\/p>\n

Robles\u2019 material draws on caring for his mother, candid audience confessions and Latino men\u2019s reluctance to seek medical care \u2014 turning laughs into an appeal to get checked.<\/p>\n

(Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Gabriel should appreciate that. He\u2019s a car guy.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m just happy my mom\u2019s older and she can\u2019t drive, so I don\u2019t gotta buy her anything.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re good at getting your fans to open up to you onstage \u2014 whether it\u2019s a match-making segment or just bringing them up to talk about their lives in front of thousands of strangers. Was that a skill you learned over time?<\/p>\n

Bro sometimes it gets too deep for me as well, bro, I don\u2019t even know what to say and I was hey, let me just give you a hug, bro, you need a hug. One time this guy came up on stage … and granted \u2014 I don\u2019t know what they\u2019re gonna tell me. Like when you see shows on TV, like \u201cJerry Springer,\u201d everything\u2019s written, so he knows what\u2019s gonna happen. He knows about the story. I don\u2019t know anything, bro. So [the guy tells me onstage] \u201cDude, I own my own business, and I was setting a deal up with this lady, and she took me out to dinner, and I didn\u2019t tell my wife, and my wife thought I was cheating, and my wife shot me two times on the back, bro, on accident.\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cWait, wait, wait. \u2026 What do you mean \u2018on accident?\u2019\u201d His wife was there [at my show], bro. She said, \u201cI shot him two times!\u201d<\/p>\n

And they\u2019re still together going to comedy shows? That\u2019s real love.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s attempted murder, bro! Just telling the whole world … I\u2019m like, \u201cbro this is gonna be online.\u201d Then he wanted me to feel his scar on his back. He was picking up his shirt. He was asking me to feel it, bro. I don\u2019t want to feel it, bro. I don\u2019t want to be a witness.<\/p>\n

Now your show suddenly becomes a piece of evidence.<\/p>\n

Yeah, but you know what? He felt comfortable enough to share that story with me. So that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about, bro. Being comfortable and just sharing something with strangers. I think stuff like that just makes you feel better inside, man. Because if you tell a homie, your homie\u2019s only gonna have your side. I think strangers are like in the middle, so hey, bro, this could be good or it could be bad, and we\u2019re gonna tell you the truth. So I guess that\u2019s what they like, bro. Because even the crowd gets involved and they start yelling stuff out too. Sometimes you need that.<\/p>\n

In your special, you mentioned issues that befall a man of a certain age, like going to get a prostate exam.<\/p>\n

Dude, that was my first physical ever two years ago. I think it was about two years ago already and that was one of the roughest things I ever got through, bro. It was a prostate exam, I wasn\u2019t even prepared for that. Because I didn\u2019t know that was going to happen.<\/p>\n

It seems like getting stuff like that done is harder for men in Latin cultures and it\u2019s great that you\u2019re somebody who\u2019s been through it and can talk about what you experienced.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s what I feel about our culture, bro. Our Latino Mexican American culture is that we never want to go to the doctors, and we\u2019re all macho, bro. And we\u2019re all like, I\u2019m not gonna let the doctor check me. That check is gonna save your life, bro. I make fun of it, and at the end I say go get checked because getting checked is gonna save your life, bro. I\u2019d rather have a finger in my butt than dying, bro. All day, bro \u2014 give me five fingers!<\/p>\n

\"Alfred <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather have a finger in my butt than dying, bro,\u201d Robles says about getting a prostate exam. <\/p>\n

(Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Currently you\u2019re on your tour, which is called Vatos With Gatos. What are the qualifications for a good cat dad?<\/p>\n

Oh, dude, right now I have five cats, and me and my girlfriend we feed five strays outside. So we have five cats living outside, and then five cats inside, bro. So we have 10 cats.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a full house!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny because when my girlfriend moved in with me, she had three cats, and I had three cats. One passed away. We only have five now, but we\u2019re like the Brady Bunch but we\u2019re cats, bro. Being a cat daddy, man, you gotta scoop up the litter, you gotta feed them. You got to clean the couches all the time. That\u2019s what I do, bro. I don\u2019t mind saying I pick up my cat stuff, bro.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s something that you\u2019re most proud of about this new special coming out? <\/p>\n

Talking about my mom, and just having my first hour special, dude. All the hard work is finally paying off, bro. And showing it to people. It\u2019s like when a construction worker builds a big house. They know the house is not theirs, but they built it, bro. They want to show it. Look, look what I built. This is what I built. The jokes are not mine. The jokes are for you guys, but I\u2019ve built it, man. That\u2019s what I\u2019m proud of, bro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Being in comedy requires a certain kind of toughness, but not usually the kind that goes along with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[194986,194985,180762,2241,123695,192132,6135,48,52,51,47,50,49,194987,11468,38738,1860,114062,194988,315,72],"class_list":["post-504227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-alfred-robles","tag-bro","tag-certain-kind","tag-comedy","tag-cowboy-hat","tag-gabriel-iglesias","tag-guy","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-mexican-man","tag-mom","tag-picture","tag-show","tag-special","tag-tejana","tag-time","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}