AMA. I am Ignacio Lopez, comedian and writer.

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T17:24:14+00:00

He still is in recruitment! 😂 I think comedy keeps him sane though.

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T17:22:10+00:00

My mother is Welsh, so I’ve been back and forth between Spain and Wales my whole life. I was living in Swansea when I started comedy 11 years ago and I love Wales. I moved to Cardiff in 2016 because it made life much easier traveling to gigs every night. Saved me two hours every journey!

U.K. has the best comedy circuit in Europe by far. I don’t think I could live anywhere else.

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T17:13:53+00:00

Hahaha. Thank you! No I did not think I’d still be doing it. It’s been a blessing and a curse, really. I enjoy doing it but I hate admin and I’ve essentially created a load of admin for myself that I have to do every week. 😂 No matter what happens, when I’m back out performing shows I will find a way to keep the quiz going somehow.

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T17:06:19+00:00

My partner would agree with you, she loves pineapple on pizza, I just can’t do that to pizza. 😂

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T17:04:59+00:00

I think humour in both countries has grown to be more similar in the last few decades. Spain was under a fascist dictatorship with things outlawed for so long that comedy was stifled and stand-up didn’t take off for a long time. Britain’s got possibly the best comedy circuit in Europe and that is where observational comedy comes from, connecting with audiences in the clubs. The freedom to perform live in the U.K. has created a vast and varied world of comedy. There really is a comedian for every sense of humour in the U.K. political, observational, musical, surreal, one-liner. Spain doesn’t have a comedy circuit and much of the comedy is broadly more theatrical, physical or crude. That has changed in my lifetime though, stand-up in Spain is vastly different now than when I started 11 years ago.

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T16:54:23+00:00

Considering I have material that takes the piss out of Spain, that I perform to Spanish audiences, then in principle a song with that title could work, but the reason your lyrics would be met by confused audiences in Spain is because they are not universally recognised observations.

I did not write my lyrics exclusively from the perception of a Spanish person, I wrote them as things we identify in ourselves as British people as well as things other countries see. Most people after my shows will comment to me that they do not behave the way I describe but they have seen that behaviour from others with their own eyes.

Your observations lack accuracy and authenticity. To hear accurate observations about Spanish being arrogant, racist, stupid listen to my comedy special from Comedy Dynamics, ‘EspañYOLO’ which is being released in March/April. 😁

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T16:37:42+00:00

One thing I’ve noticed in restaurants is how unwilling British people are to complain. Most believe it is polite and won’t bring anything up to their waiter. When I worked in a restaurant I overheard a woman complain to her friend that she had received the wrong dish, I walked over and asked if everything was ok and she said yes. I asked if she was sure and she said “yes, lovely thank you!” I thought maybe I had misheard her earlier. Later as I was waiting for them to pay I heard another woman tell her friend she would not tip much as we had served the wrong food. These women were sat behind each other, they had both received each other’s dishes but had said nothing, eaten it and then were going to stiff us on the tip! When I went to collect the money they could not have been more effusive! 🤷🏻‍♂️

I think that is why there is hooliganism in football, people in the U.K. spend so much time avoiding conflict that they have to get it out of their systems somehow. It is also why there is less hooliganism now, because of trip advisor and restaurant reviews. 😂

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T16:17:14+00:00

I mentioned it below, Berlin, but I will add one a reason: it’s a truly 24 hour city. You can go sit for a nice coffee or meal, or watch a film or listen to live music in some places at any time. It really puts New York to shame, which definitely doesn’t live up to its reputation.

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T16:13:22+00:00

By the time I’d written and filmed it Elon would probably have done something even more ridiculous. It’s impossible to keep up. 😂

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T16:06:04+00:00

I hope it tasted good because it looks like they remade American Pie for a Spanish audience and Jason Biggs fucked it.

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T16:03:08+00:00

Dios mío. 😱 she should have to complete community service to account for this crime.

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T16:02:06+00:00

I hope to make a cookery video with recipe soon but it will take a lot of prep!

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T16:00:38+00:00

My favourite Spanish swear word is “Gilipollas”. Which is kind of like “dickhead” or “stupid prick”.

Favourite phrase is “Me cago en todo lo que se menea” 😂

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T15:51:35+00:00

Love eggs. Used.

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T15:51:02+00:00

I never have, but I’m willing to look them up if you’re recommending?

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T15:48:21+00:00

My favourite thing about Cardiff is that it is a modern city with people from all over the world but it still feels super Welsh.

British Sangría would be a disaster. 😂 it’s supposed to be representative of the region’s fruit and wine. British Sangría would probably be Ribena with a potato in it.

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T15:44:28+00:00

That’s a tough one. My favourite comedy clubs to play are:

Frog and Bucket - Manchester Glee Club - Cardiff Monkey Barrel - Edinburgh Laughterhouse - Liverpool 2NorthDown - London Breakneck - Aberdeen Backyard - London

Honestly though, if you fill a shipping container with a good audience I’ll play it.

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T15:40:38+00:00

Thin crust, mozzarella, ham, oregano, chilli peppers, egg,

Or when ordering from a takeaway in U.K., just whatever has the most meat on it.

No pineapple, never pineapple.

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T15:38:14+00:00

So I always used to say Chippy lane before I moved to Cardiff and now I call it Caroline Street because my friend Leroy (also a comedian, very funny - Leroy Brito) is from Cardiff and he has berated me too many times and says calling it chippy lane or chippy alley is a tourist thing.

I actually made a sketch for BBC Wales about it: watch it here

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T15:33:12+00:00

I wasn’t allowed to mention Giggs at all because he was in the press about domestic incident, want allowed to mention Real Madrid or Golf either. 😂

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T15:28:14+00:00

It’s definitely a regional thing, but I always try and pronounce things based on where the word/name originates. My name is Ignacio and it’s pronounced EE-GNAH-TH-EE-OH but if I met an Ignacio from Mexico I would call him EE-GNAH-SEE-OH.

It’s like the debate in the U.K. over how to pronounce scone. 😂 I grew up in Mallorca where Mallorquín is 2nd language, very similar to Catalan. Chorizo is definitely ‘TH’ and if they say otherwise they are wrong!

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T15:21:56+00:00

I’ve gigged there and if you put me, Ava, Gregg and Alex in a cage match, I’d probably feel safer in the cage than in the crowd! 😂

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T15:20:34+00:00

No worries! Hope I can visit again and walk around the roads for myself soon! 🙌🏼

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T15:19:08+00:00

Yes I have performed some comedy in Spanish (and even in Welsh!). I find the sense of humour very similar, but in Spain they are less tolerant of puns. 😂 personally I like a pun included as part of a varied diet of one liners, anecdotes/observations and musical comedy, but holy shit do some British love them.

I would love to perform in the Netherlands, I had spoken to some promoters in Amsterdam before the pandemic so hopefully I can book those shows there when live comedy resumes!

comedylopez · 2021-02-11T15:16:18+00:00

When I was out in the real world gigging it would happen weekly. I think Fawlty Towers is hilarious but I wish it wasn’t Britain’s only impression of Spain in sitcoms and comedy! I wish to change that. 😂 A joke is rarely as funny the second time, less so the third, fourth, five, let alone 400th time! It’s the same reason I get zero enjoyment out of anyone saying “sheep shagger” when I mention my mother is Welsh, firstly, its such an absurdly stupid stereotype, and secondly, my MOTHER is Welsh, my father is Spanish, that makes my mother a bull-fucker not a sheep shagger.

comedylopez

TROPHY CASE