Gabriel Iglesias
"The Fluffy Shop" Tour
Kalamazoo State Theatre
April 11, 7 p.m., $34.50
kazoostate.com, (269) 345-6500

It all began with a broken heart.

Before he was a nationwide comedy sensation known as "The Fluffy Guy" and recognized everywhere as the billowy Latino in the Hawaiian shirt, Gabriel Iglesias was a "loser" by his own admission. Thirteen years ago, the then 20-year-old Iglesias found himself dumped by his girlfriend. The night she ended their relationship was the first time he ever tried stand-up.

"The night of all the drama, my buddy and I went to a bar, and [he] asked the manager, 'Hey, can my buddy get a spot on stage?'" recalls Iglesias during a recent phone interview from Orlando, Florida, one of the 50 cities he is visiting on his current tour.

The manager agreed, not knowing that a celebrated career was about to launch. Following that night, Iglesias went on to do some 200 performances in the next eight months.

"I was getting up everywhere — bars, barbeques, birthday parties — you name it."

Ever since, Iglesias has been a comedic converter, turning the everyday — even the painful — into hilarity onstage. The self-proclaimed "King of Embellishments," Iglesias admits his strength is in his storytelling, which he jazzes up with his spot-on impersonations and sound effects. Though by principle he avoids politics and religion (the dinner table taboos), he's not afraid to toe the line when it comes to race and health issues.

"Did you know there are now six levels of fat?" he asks in his most recent stand-up special, "The Fluffy Shop" Tour." "Big. Healthy. Husky. Fluffy. Damn! And Oh Hell No!"

His mildly offensive shtick succeeds, though, because of his self-effacing, put-the-crowd-first personality. Whenever his mostly clean routine strays into iffy territory, like with his racist gift basket story, he usually asks for the crowd's permission to proceed. His main goal is to have them leaving happy.

"If he anybody catches heat, it's usually me," Iglesias points out.

The loveable big guy is no longer performing at barbeques and birthday parties. After his fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants first year, he became a cast member of Nickelodeon's sketch comedy show "All That" in 2000. From there, he continued his move to a more central position in comedy's limelight, appearing on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," NBC's "Last Comic Standing," Comedy Central's "Premium Blend," and BET's "Comic View."

Currently, Iglesias is on his "Fluffy Shop" tour covering 50 cities in four months, including a stop at the Kalamazoo State Theatre on April 11. The one-hour televised premiere of his "I'm Not Fat...I'm Fluffy" routine aired on Comedy Central last November to four million viewers and its DVD sales quickly topped Amazon's charts.

As for the whole "fluffy" thing, Iglesias insists it's the new politically correct term for "fat," though he credits his mother with the coinage. It's also an unexpected source of pride.

"I've dominated the word on search engines. Search fluffy and I beat out everything you might consider fluffy — even pancakes and pillows."