Felipe Esparza

Felipe Esparza was born in Sinaloa, Mexico. He lived on his mother's family's ranch in Sinaloa before moving with his family to live with his aunt in Tijuana, where they lived for about two years. His father had left the family to go to the United States alone. Eventually, in the years prior to Reagan's Amnesty, Esparza illegally immigrated with his two brothers and his mother to the United States, traveling in the car of a "coyote" smuggler. During the trip, they were stopped at a checkpoint in San Clemente, California and he was held in a holding cell with his brothers, separate from their mother for a short period of time. The family was deported. They attempted the trip again, but were stopped and deported again. They tried a third time, using passports of cousins who lived in California. They changed cars twice and were driven to Carson, California. They were then moved to the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, where his father was living.[3] Esparza was raised in the Aliso Village housing projects of Boyle Heights.[4] He attended Theodore Roosevelt High School.[5]

Esparza began performing stand-up in 1994 after a stint in drug rehab.[1] He credits Greg Boyle for convincing him to go into rehab. Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang intervention and rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world. In rehab Esparza was asked to set five goals to focus on for his recovery. One of his goals was to be a professional stand-up comic. He checked out books from the library on writing comedy, and rented videotapes. He found open-mic nights through the LA Weekly to practice his comedy routine. He started at underground clubs and coffee houses.

He won Last Comic Standing in 2010.[2]

Esparza is married to Lisa Esparza.[1]

He has been vegan since 2011.[6]