On this day in comedy on February 24, 1969, Comedian and Actor Edwin San Juan was born
When San Juan was coming up in comedy there weren’t a passel of clubs catering to the Asian audience. So the Filipino funny man cut his teeth in Latin clubs and bars alongside comedians such as Gabriel Iglesias, Felipe Esparza and Jeff Garcia. It was the perfectly rough circuit to get good and he did. Soon he was doing USO shows and headlining nationally. So San Juan was a seasoned pro when he gained notoriety as the creator and Executive Producer of SlantED Comedy, a showcase of Asian American stand-up comedians televised on Showtime.
As a standup comedian, San Juan appeared on all available shows. He was seen on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham’s, BET’s Comic View, Live from Hollywood, Latino Laugh Festival, Que Loco, Inside Joke, Latino 101, International Sexy Ladies Show (ummm), Loco Comedy Jam, Comics without Borders, The Payaso Comedy Slam and Destination Stardom.
Edwin San Juan appeared in the 2010 film, I’m Not Like That No More with Paul Rodriguez and he was the grand champion on the UPN show, Talent Agency. He later moved to Nevada to become the resident comedian at the Las Vegas Live Comedy Club and in 2015 San Juan won Las Vegas Weekly’s “Best Comedian on the Las Vegas Strip.”
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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