INTRO Elana McDermott PHOTOGRAPHY EstevanOriol.com

CLICK HERE TO ORDER A COPY OF ISSUE #44 FEATURING JOEY MEDINA

Joey Medina has been a lot of things: professional boxer, police officer, producer, director… Through it all, one thing has remained constant; the man is funny. Medina may be one of the top Latino comedians in the U.S., yet his biggest priority is making sure he pays homage to his roots and the people that propelled him into the spotlight. Through it all Medina is as insightful as he is funny. He points out that ladies love a funny man and people everywhere eat chicken. But what the hell do these two facts have to do with each other? You’ll have to ask the source…

You were featured on the Latin Kings of Comedy. What was that experience like?
It was great…being featured in a film that we all knew was going to be very successful and then automatically getting the title of Latin Kings of Comedy. It was a huge thrill and it was a big thing for us, especially for Alex Raymundo and myself.

Why you two especially?
Cheech and Paul and George were pretty much already the Latin Kings of Comedy. But for two guys who were a lot less known, younger and newer, to be given that title and given that position—the pressure was on.

I’m going to ask you to go out on a limb here, who is the funniest of all the guys on the DVD?
I think George Lopez had the most response. Actually on the focus group they had George Lopez and myself were the top two. That was really nice.

You’ve also done radio. What are the challenges for radio versus stand up?
Obviously, the freedom of speech is a lot less on the radio, and I share the microphone with other people so that’s the challenge.

Working with so many talented comics, there must be a lot of backstage antics. What’s wildest thing you’ve ever seen backstage?
Oh, I’ve practically seen orgies backstage. It’s funny because I think out of all entertainers, comedians have the least amount of groupies, but we’re fun guys so sometimes that turns out good. There was a time when I ended up going back stage and there were a few comics and several other people as far as females are concerned and they just went crazy. It was a great night—we didn’t have to go anywhere after the show.

You were a champion boxer at one point, was there a specific reason why you didn’t pursue boxing further?
I fought for the Arizona title, which I won. And then I fought for the NABF title…I guess I was fighting for so long that I just got burned out. When it comes to boxing, something that challenging where you put your physical being on the line every time you step in the ring, you really need to be into it. There just came a point where I didn’t want to do it anymore. That’s why I decided to step out.

With your boxing skills you could probably kick most comedians asses, huh?
Yeah, pretty much. [Laughs] But I’m so beyond that. I’m the most relaxed person in the world. But the thing is, I can do it. I know it’s still there.

Is there any particular comedian that you’d like to use your boxing skills on?
[Laughs] Oh, I’m sure there are plenty. But I have a very strict policy where I don’t talk smack about other comics. I get very upset when I see other comics doing it, especially Latino comics talking bad about Latino comics. There’s no reason for it and it hurts the main cause. George, Paul, and Carlos, the three top guys out there, they don’t like each other and they don’t say the greatest things about each other—which is their personal choice, but I thinks it’s wrong. I respect all three of them. I think they are amazingly funny and very talented. But seeing that, I came up with my philosophy of not doing it. Now personally, of course I have negative feelings towards other people, but I keep that my personal opinion. We can’t spread hate we gotta spread love.

What happens to a lot of Latino talent is when they break into mainstream they don’t want to go back to the Latino things anymore. They’re like, “I don’t want to go to the Latin Grammy’s, I want to go to the regular Grammy’s.”

I did a show once on a black night at the Laugh Factory. It was the first night that Dave Chapelle came back from Africa. Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, Eddie Murphy and a host of other black celebrities were there and I’m thinking, “Oh my god. Latinos would never do this.” It made me feel ashamed that Latinos won’t do that. It’s a shame you don’t see the really famous entertainers at all these places and all of these things. In the long run it helps the cause…but what happens is that the bigger they get, we lose them and then we have to start all over again. I’m saying, do the Grammy’s but also do the Latin Grammy’s. Never forget your foundation or who you are. Never forget the people that loved you even when you weren’t on ABC or on a top rated show.

You have traveled around the world on comedic tours, what changes in your act from country to country?
Nothing. I think if anything, anytime I go somewhere I tend to localize the material. I realized something: you go to any country in the world and there’s always a dish with chicken. The same f–kin’ chicken we eat everyday; they just serve it different. They put a different glaze on it, a different sauce, different garnishes. But its still f–kin’ chicken. So everyone in the world loves chicken and everyone in this world loves to laugh—so it’s the same thing with jokes, you’ve just got to serve them differently.

I’m sure you’ve used your comical talents to score with the ladies. What is the best line you’ve got?
No one said it better than Marilyn Monroe, “If you can make a woman laugh then you can make her do anything.” I’ve turned women who were innocent into freakazoids. [Laughs]

Are there any subjects that should be off limits in comedy?
None whatsoever. If you can make it funny it shouldn’t be off limits.

Then what did you think of the whole Kramer/Michael Richards fiasco?
It’s real simple. He wasn’t a comedian. That’s the problem. Many comics say “nigger” in their acts. But he was not a comedian. He was an actor doing a monologue on a stage and he got interrupted, freaked out…and that was wrong. Every comic out there will tell you the exact same thing I’m telling you. A real comedian would have handled it in a way different way.

Is Ricky Martin gay?
Absolutely. And if he’s not gay, he’s on the waiting list.

What about George W. Bush?
Is he gay? No, he’s not gay but he’s definitely an asshole. Actually, if he was gay he’d probably be a better president.

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