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Actor, Comedian Rodriguez To Perform At Hard Rock

The Associated Press

Rodriguez has entertained an estimated million concertgoers and appeared in more than 30 films.

By SARAH HOYE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 29, 2008

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TAMPA - Prepare for the New Year tonight with laughter by catching actor and comedian Paul Rodriguez perform his standup routine at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Rodriguez will work his hardest to tickle your funny bone in the Hard Rock ballroom for one night only.

"There is nothing like doing standup," Rodriguez said in a phone interview. "No matter how many times you do it, 10 minutes before they bring you up, I am so scared. It's the adrenaline rush."

Although the funnyman has been on tour with "The Original Latin Kings of Comedy," which can get raunchy at times, Rodriguez said his performance in Tampa is safe for the whole family — ages 12 and up, of course.

"I'm going to do this [standup] until the wheels fall off," he said. "It's very therapeutic, it's venting."

Making people bow at the waist is no laughing matter. Rodriguez has a packed schedule including work on two comedy television series picked up by VH-1 and UPN, plus comedy series "The Laugh Factory: Very Funny," to air on TBS.

Since starting in the comedy business more than 25 years ago, Rodriguez has entertained an estimated million concertgoers and appeared in more than 30 films, including "Ali" and "The World's Fastest Indian." He appears annually on HBO's "Comic Relief."

"I have a lot of child support to pay, so I have to work," he said. "No matter how bad the economy gets, people need a laugh, and I'm here to give it to them."

When you think you have things figured out, you don't, he said, and added that no one knows what will happen in the New Year.

"Look, the Mayans said the end of the world is coming in 2012, and I believe it," he quipped. "Cheech and Chong got back together, we have an African-American president, and Tiger Woods got dropped from Buick."

Tickets are $50. On Tuesday, Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers will be in concert at the Hard Rock; tickets to that show are $60. A ticket package for both shows is available for $90.

Paul Rodriguez: 8 p.m. Monday; $50; Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, 5223 N. Orient Road, Tampa; (813) 627-7625.

Reporter Sarah Hoye can be reached at (813) 259-7832.