Gabriel Iglesias said he was running out of names for tours, but the “Beyond the Fluffy World Tour” was not running out of puns at a packed H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center on St. Patrick’s Day.

Going into the show, I had high expectations, since “Fluffy” had just released another Netflix exclusive, “One Show Fits All,” in his line of comedy specials. He plugged the show a few times during the night, but made it a point to not use any material from the special and keep it completely fresh. 

From his witty one-liners and impressions to full-length stories covering everything from encounters with WWE wrestlers to embarrassing moments on stage, Iglesias kept the Shippensburg audience interested the entire night.

Since it was a tour, Iglesias had opening acts with him as well. Alfred Robles and Gina Brillon served as great warmup acts before “Fluffy” took the stage after a brief intermission. The audience was excited for the opening acts, but the tension and anticipation in the auditorium was evident as everyone waited on the edge of their seats to see the main man step on stage.

Right from the start, Iglesias poked fun at Shippensburg and how he had to make sure his manager was not stuttering when he first said the name of the town. The whole room was rolling with laughter as “Fluffy” described his surprise as he first saw a horse and buggy in town. And then another came. And another. Iglesias said he felt like he was transported back to the pre-1900s.

He also made fun of the terrible Yelp reviews many of the restaurants in town received, saying how he and his crew eventually settled on eating at CJ’s, which was met with a roar of approval from the crowd. Iglesias said he had an impromptu meet-and-greet with several fans while at the restaurant — something he does not mind doing.

One of the most hilarious moments of the night was when Iglesias was feeling out the audience and loosening it up for the material that would be coming the rest of the night. 

He later talked about different ethnicities and races having different music to party to. He went on to play a few seconds from songs he said were stereotypical songs representing whites, blacks, Mexicans and Asians. When he got to the “white song,” he played a few seconds of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.”

After he cut off the song, there was a collective groan that resonated around the auditorium. Iglesias knew the crowd wanted to hear more and proceeded to dip into an impersonation of a rural Pennsylvanian, grumbling and complaining about making the trip all the way from Perry County for his favorite song to get cut off, sending the audience into another lengthy fit of laughter.

Overall, Iglesias did a great job of keeping a steady pace and covering a variety of topics, even doing a Q&A session at the end of the night to give the floor to the audience. “Fluffy” went an entire hour over his contractual agreement, showing the audience his timer on the stage continuously ticking up past time. 

The crowd was grateful and did not want him to go, and Iglesias was happy to oblige. Even with the horse and buggies and lack of five-star places to eat in town, Iglesias said he might want to return to the small town he did not even know existed before he arrived.

Share