Comedian George Lopez joins NEW 102.7's John Mingione this week for a little therapy session, helping our host through some of the trials and tribulations of being -- in his own words -- “a lot,” and how to manage relationships in his career and personal life.
LISTEN NOW: On the Phone with John Mingione | George Lopez
“You know, I was always kind of a little bit uncomfortable with myself my whole life,” George admits, “and then at some point, man, you just gotta be like, ‘Hey dude, just relax man, just enjoy it.’ I mean, you worked hard for it.”
“I feel like I'm going through that right now,” Johnny says. “I don't know what it is, I'm trying to figure it out. I'm a lot as a human being, but I'm trying to realize not everybody's gonna like me. I've gotten this far in my life being myself.”
“I think anybody that's listening -- that is the whole thing,” George says. “I think once you're able to not be concerned about whether somebody, what they think of you… I think you can live. You know, you go to a fast food restaurant, you don't go to a certain place because ‘That person is there. That person doesn't like me.' We live our whole lives just thinking about who's concerned with us, when nobody's concerned with us.”
Getting to see George perform on stage when he was on the West Coast, Johnny remembered how it took a few minutes for his crowd to settle down, and how that must feel on the receiving end of an ovation.
“I think it's recognition for one,” Lopez acknowledges. “But also, you know, a lot of times in anything, your hype precedes a person, and things diminish as you get older, you can't help it. But I think, I've always been a real fan of stand up, and my writing is not that intricate, but it does connect. If you went to a boxing match and a dude threw punches for seven minutes, you'd be like, ‘This guy is the best fighter I've ever seen.’ You just kind of chop at it. They're not long stories.”
“I got in trouble with the Secret Service for some remarks and then it was all over the news. I walked up on stage, and because they said I put a bounty on a leader and then I said, ‘Well, that's the last time I give anybody an estimate.’ You never really know what’s gonna happen.”
You never really know what’s going to happen if you get stuck in a bathroom with Johnny either. He told his story of finding himself at the urinal in the Laugh Factory next to The Office star Craig Robinson, deciding not to fan-boy over him while they were shaking it off.
Though George says he doesn’t have anything that awkward to share, he does remember one occasion being in an adult bookstore in Vancouver when the person behind the counter looked up from his newspaper and recognized him. “I think at a certain point, the bathroom is just like… everybody's going to recognize you," he laughs. "It's pretty bizarre, the idea of that. There's more media now, and I'm not that savvy on social media. I enjoy it, and also it's a blessing to be back on TV and still do stand up -- and then to work with my daughter is something that's just beyond whatever my imagination was. And then you have to be good!”
“We're so excited for season three of Lopez Vs Lopez. It's a really, really great time in our lives," George adds. "We're on NBC, which I've loved my whole life, and people are coming back and finding broadcast TV.”
Listen to Johnny’s full conversation with George Lopez above.
Follow the new Audacy podcast On The Phone with John Mingione, featuring hilariously riveting conversations from A-List celebs, chatting on the phone with Z-List radio host and TikTok star -- NEW 102.7's John 'Johnny' Mingione.