Comedic icon leaves lasting impression

(Courtesy photo/Victor Tizoc Treviño)

COMMENTARY

By VICTOR TIZOC TREVIÑO

Victor Tizoc Treviño is a Rio Grande Valley-born, San Benito native who has been working and attending comedy shows across Texas for over 20 years.

On the evening of Saturday, July 26, 2025, comedy legend George Lopez performed in the Resaca City for the first time for an excited crowd of more than 5,000 at the San Benito Fairgrounds.

If you think the crowd size was exaggerated, I want you to know that this was in the Rio Grande Valley, not Washington, D.C.

For his 2025 tour, the comic scheduled four dates in Texas: Austin, El Paso, Houston, and San Benito.
His most recent standup special, Muy Católico, is available on Amazon Prime.

For over four decades, George Lopez has been bringing his singular voice and point of view to audiences around the world, whether on stage or on television shows such as “The George Lopez Show,” “Lopez Tonight”, and “Lopez vs. Lopez” which co-starred his daughter Mayan Lopez alongside her father.

Every tour, standup special, or taping of these shows created jobs and incomes for the cast and crew, many from the Latina/o community, as the entertainment industry went through massive changes, most notably the explosion of streaming online in the mid-2000s, the COVID pandemic and its aftermath, and the Hollywood writers’ strikes of 2023.

When George Lopez and fellow cast members joined the picket lines in Los Angeles to support the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA), he was asked, “What would you say to the studio executives?” He replied, “I would say… every art is important… whether you get coffee, whether you send emails, whether you do whatever, everybody’s important to the overall. (Can we) Celebrate 100 years of movies? Not without those people that are out here, you’re not, and that’s what they need to remember on the other side (of the picket line).

Money’s money, but the people that matter the most aren’t the ones that drive their luxury cars through that gate.”

George Lopez has been making many positive impacts beyond the overall spectrum of his career: he once had the rare opportunity to interview Prince on television as a host on “Lopez Tonight.”

He even helped rockers Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen mend their rift before Eddie’s passing in 2020.
In 2024, George Lopez was honored by “TIME” Magazine as one of that year’s Latino Leaders for changing narratives with his comedy.

So when it was announced that Lopez would be performing as part of The Soul of South Texas summer concert series in San Benito in the summer of 2025, the news received a massive response.

Fans from all over the Rio Grande Valley purchased tickets and brought their families, friends, and lawn chairs to the fairgrounds.

They bought tour “merch,” supported homemade goods made by local vendors, and traded purchased tickets for drinks at the beer tent.

After a performance of a mariachi orchestra and an opening comic, Lopez came onto the stage to War’s “Low Rider” and thunderous applause.

He talked about being in San Benito, telling jokes and stories interspersed with his takes on ICE, immigrants, and the Latino people, which inspired shouts of solidarity and support from the crowd.

The laughter provided catharsis for those who have known someone or have been directly affected by the measures the government has permitted ICE to unleash on working people and families across the country.

Across the country, and especially in border communities like the one I grew up in, immigrant rights and advocacy groups such as LUPE continue to answer phone calls and share know-your-rights materials with concerned businesses and members of the community.

La Union del Pueblo Entero has offices in Cameron County in San Benito and San Juan, where LUPE board member and comedian Cristela Alonzo is originally from.

Despite the controversial immigration policies and decision-making made in the nation’s capital, back in San Benito, the fairgrounds became a shelter from the storm of political polarization and strife, as Lopez poked fun at some of the sensitivities and privileges of today’s youth.

As I walked through the crowd at the fairgrounds, Tio George also told stories of how he had to learn certain things the hard way when he was a child.

On my way to the back of the audience, a man whistled in agreement, and an older woman shared an enthusiastic “YES!”

Many audience members looked at each other, smiling and nodding in agreement, collectively laughing at his trauma.

In a time when some comedians are pandering to the Right of the political divide and others take creative lengths to avoid certain words that can offend some in marginalized and vulnerable communities, Lopez delivered his material, remaining true to his authentic self and point of view.

He tackled sensitive topics with ease, provided his commentary to the attentive audience, and highlighted absurdities and injustices on personal, cultural, and political levels.

Seeing this caliber of a comic perform in my hometown was historic. There is no denying that at this part of his journey, he is funny, sharp, sincere, and irreverent, taking the stage with a bit of a swagger that comes from his years of experience as a performing artist, yet still humble enough of a man to say yes to display his humanity and comedic talents to the city of San Benito.