- Al Madrigal
Al Madrigal (born 1971) is an American
comedian andactor . He has appeared in two short-lived television comedy series and has been a fixture on thestand-up comedy circuit. He is among the most prominent members of theLatino community to achieve recognition in the mainstream U.S. comedy scene.Early life
A native of
San Francisco, California , Madrigal grew up in the city's Inner Sunset District, where his neighbors included future comediansMike Pritchard ,Margaret Cho and the Meehan Brothers. He attended theUniversity of San Francisco , but left the school two credits shy of receiving a degree. Madrigal worked for 10 years in a human resources staffing agency run by his family. In 1998, he decided to pursue a full-time career in comedy. [ [http://www.latinostandup.com/pages/almad.html “Al Madrigal,” LatinoStandup.com] ]Comedy career
Madrigal appeared in San Francisco's
comedy club s, both as a solo performer and as a member of the sketch group Fresh Robots, which he co-founded. In 2002, he enjoyed his first major exposure in two comedy festivals: Sketchfest in San Francisco, as part of Fresh Robots, [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2002/01/03/DD29268.DTL&type=printable "Jokers Run Wild," January 3, 2002] ] and the "New Faces" showcase of the Just for Laughs Festival inMontreal . [http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2008/06/27/hes_starting_over____again/ "He's Starting Over – Again," "The Boston Globe", June 27, 2008] ]In 2003, Madrigal successfully auditioned for a starring role on "The Ortegas", a comedy series for the
FOX Network . The series, which was based on theBBC comedy "The Kumars at No. 42 ", cast Madrigal as the son of aMexican American family in California who hosts a TV talk show from a studio he operates in the backyard of his parents' home. [ [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117892338.html?categoryid=1681&cs=1 "Al Madrigal: 'The Ortegas'" "Variety", September 11, 2003] ] However, the network dropped the series from its schedule before broadcasting any of its six filmed episodes. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CE3D7133CF935A35753C1A9659C8B63 "Fox Drops 'The Ortegas' but Insists the Show Has Not Been Canceled," "The New York Times", October 6, 2003] ]Madrigal won a jury award in 2004 for best stand-up comedian at the
U.S. Comedy Arts Festival inAspen, Colorado . After winning the award, he signed a talent holding deal withCBS . [ [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000797090 "Comedy ice," "The Hollywood Reporter", March 1, 2006] ] However, he would not appear on a CBS until January 2008, when he was cast as a building attendant named Jesus (pronounced “Jee-sus”) in the CBS comedy "Welcome to the Captain ". [ [http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ettel0204,0,1956874.story?track=rss "'The Captain' not welcome on my television," "Newsday", February 4, 2008] ] The series was cancelled after six episodes. [ [http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/cbs-announces-their-2008-09-schedule-whos-been-cancelled/ "CBS Announces Their 2008-09 Schedule. Who's Been Cancelled?" TVSeriesFinale.com] ]Madrigal was the star of a 2005
Comedy Central special, and has been a guest on "Jimmy Kimmel Live " and "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ". He is set to co-star in the CBS series "Gary Unmarried" (originally titled "Project Gary"), which is scheduled to debut on CBS in September 2008.References
External links
* [http://www.almadrigal.com Official web site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/almadrigal MySpace site]
*imdb name|id=1371339
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