Friday, Aug. 1, 2003 | 8:37 a.m.
Lisa Ferguson's Laugh Lines column appears Fridays. Her Sun Lite Column appears Mondays. Reach her at [email protected].
When it comes to playing tough crowds, it seems Willie Barcena has performed for some of the toughest.
Upon joining the ranks of stand-up comedy a decade ago, the Mexico-born, East Los Angeles-bred Barcena says he fought an uphill battle in an effort to have his working-class brand of humor heard.
From butting heads with L.A.-area comedy club owners over his choice of material to trying mightily to make audiences laugh in one of the city's most infamous neighborhoods, the comic -- who headlines through Sunday at The Improv at Harrah's -- has learned to roll with the punches.
Barcena, during a recent call from his home in an L.A. suburb, explained of some club owners he encountered early in his career: "When they see a Hispanic comic, they automatically think they know what you should be doing" in terms of jokes. "They own a comedy club; they really know nothing about comedy ... It's like, just because you bought a baseball team doesn't mean you know how to play baseball.
"I knew I wasn't happy with what they were asking me to do, which was stereotypical Hispanic humor. I knew the world was bigger than that ... So, what I did was, I just didn't play the game."
Instead, Barcena headed to rough-and-tumble South Central Los Angeles to perform at the area's lone comedy club, the Comedy Act Theater. At the since-shuttered club, he says, "You had a lot of freedom to be what you wanted to be."
On the other hand, "It was a little rough because the audience is not really patient if you're not funny right away. There's not really a lot of room to grow; there's a lot of room to boo you."
The only way to exit the stage following performances was to head directly into the audience, Barcena explained, so, if a set wasn't strong, "You're getting booed from the first guy to the last guy out the door."
Meanwhile Barcena -- who, in his pre-comedy days held a slew of odd jobs, including working as a limo driver, security guard, plumber and roofer -- also scheduled his own stand-up shows at L.A.-area diners and cafes. "I just did it my way," he says.
Much the same way he has approached comedy. Barcena, who was raised with two sisters by his single-parent mother, says, "What I focus on is this: If you really get to the core of America, America is a blue-collar place. People come here and they work their (butts) off, and the push their kids to do better than the last generation.
"The pretty people with no problems, the people that are on 'Friends,' that's probably one percent of America," he contends, "whereas regular people ... all we are is atmosphere. So what I try to do is make those people that are pretty and perfect and rich the atmosphere, and highlight us working people."
Barcena's style and tenacity paid off: He's made nine appearances on "The Tonight Show" and forged a friendship with host Jay Leno who, nearly two years ago, attempted to help the comic -- who also appeared on the series "Moesha," "The Keenan Ivory Wayans Show" and "The Wayans Brothers" -- develop his own sitcom for NBC.
The show failed to take shape, the 36-year-old Barcena says, due to a poor plot concept. "It was just something that wasn't progressive. That would have been perfect ... with 'Chico and the Man,' or something ... Jay was the first one to call me and say, 'This isn't good.' "
So, it's back to the drawing board for Barcena. The father of two boys (ages 6 and 8) says he's again searching for a sitcom in which to star -- preferably one in which he could play "a regular Joe with problems." In the meantime he's working on a follow-up to his 1999 CD, "Hey, They're Just Jokes," and expects to the finish the self-titled disc in a few months.
He also has dusted off and is retooling the script for "Cry Like a Man," the one-man show he penned five years ago. Barcena previously performed it once at a small L.A. theater. "People loved it, but it was kind of like cheating, because I did all my jokes."
The revamped version of "Cry" features more dialogue and storytelling, he says. "I feel a hundred percent better about it."
Each Monday for nearly three months, Barcena has performed the work-in-progress show for sparse audiences at Ha Ha Cafe Comedy Club in North Hollywood, Calif.
"Every week I get about 11 or 12 people in there, and it's a good barometer for me to find out where the weak spots are, where I can tighten it."
The stage show's premise could also work as a sitcom, he says. Barcena is confident that later this year he'll be ready to invite TV industry insiders to performances, in hopes that someone will spot its prime-time potential.
Until then, he's back to playing tough -- albeit tinier -- crowds.
"The first Monday, I had four people and two walked out. The second week, I had six people and two walked out," he says. "The last time I had 11, and they all stayed. It's getting better."
Out for laughs
All of the tickets for the Tuesday taping of NBC's "Last Comic Standing" finale at Paris Las Vegas have been scooped up.
Those who failed to score seats can wait in a stand-by line, which will begin forming at 9 a.m. (admission, however, is not guaranteed); the taping begins at noon. Call the hotel-casino's box office, 946-4567, for more info. The show, during which the reality series' winner will be named, will air from 8 p.m to 10 p.m. Tuesday night on Channel 3.
A trio of laughable guys from the Game Show Network series "National Lampoon's Funny Money" (airing at 7 p.m. nightly on Cox cable channel 68) will rule The Improv at Harrah's stage Aug. 19 though Aug. 24. Host Jimmy Pardo co-headlines with Graham Elwood (one of the show's rotating comics), while "Funny Money's" creator/executive producer Marc Price -- best known as geeky neighbor Skippy on "Family Ties" -- rounds out the lineup.
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