In his time slot in the San Antonio TV market, he beats "American Idol." Forbes just named him to its latest "Celebrity 100" list. Life's good.

Which partly explains the tremendous reception George Lopez received at the first of two well-attended shows at Majestic Theatre on Friday.

But ABC's "George Lopez" is one thing, and George Lopez the veteran stand-up comedian is something else. Onstage, he is emancipated from censors, a script and a set.

And in that nakedness, he trumps the TV persona. As Forbes noted, in 2005 Lopez made $8 million of his $12 million income via stand-up.

Now Lopez is not shy about letting his fans know that on TV, he is one of only three Latinos that has ever made it with their own sitcom — the other two being Desi Arnaz and Freddie Prinze.

Let's face it, those two icons (groundbreaking as they were) were quaint onstage compared with Lopez. His vernacular is of the real world, something that could never be said for Arnaz or Prinze even in their own time.

If you have any doubts, check out Lopez's brutal, all-too-real take on the differences between white parenting and Latino parenting. The setup included him whipping the tar out of a prop chair and a microphone stand.

"Kids today couldn't last one day in any of our childhoods," Lopez said, referring to his upbringing where terror ruled. "The belt and fear is how they raised us."

Lopez effortlessly gets past what could be cringe-inducing moments in a lesser comic's routine, with bug-eyed mugging, pratfalls and buttery barrio speak.

The result: hilarity ensued in a world where Benadryl is called "goodnight juice" (perfect when a child refuses to go to sleep) or where his own grandmother referred to him as "Boogie Nights" and "Shaft" for walking a black girl home.

"We're different people entirely," Lopez explained, only slightly tongue in cheek — whether about racism, alcoholism, ridiculing the Minutemen on the border or health choices.

Lopez, 45, has become the gold standard in Latino comedy by digging outrageously close to that which rings true within the nastiest of stereotypes. He does it by holding the mirror up to himself and his old world.

How does he judge his success? He peered into the front rows and pointed.

"That's how you know you've made it: when you've got a whole row of güeros (fair-skinned persons)," Lopez said.
hsaldana@express-news.net

George Lopez performs today at Municipal Auditorium at 4 p.m.

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