‘Loco’ Hopes to Hit Grand Slam for Latinos

Coming in June, in the raunchy, X-rated tradition of “Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam,” is more ethnic humor with some real spice.

The producers of HBO’s “Loco Slam,” the Latino version of the African American comedy show, are crossing their fingers that the show will be as big a boost for Latino comics as “Def Comedy Jam” has been for black comedians.

Comedian Paul Rodriguez, one of “Loco Slam’s” executive producers, said he shopped the idea around to various cable outlets for 3 1/2 years before he could persuade HBO to take a chance.

“I saw how I could draw crowds in cities where there were hardly any Latinos,” he said. “I just kept telling them it was like ‘Field of Dreams’--if you build it, they will come. The success of ‘Def Jam’ was very much responsible for us finally getting this through.”

The format of “Loco Slam” is almost identical to that of “Def Comedy Jam.” Host Carlos Mencia makes jokes and pokes fun at audience members while trying to keep the energy of the club pumped up. A deejay scratches disco and Latin tunes while a woman plays congas.

Four installments of the show, which will air in June, were taped earlier this month at the Mayan Theatre in downtown Los Angeles with comics from around the country. The raunch level of Mencia and the other comedians matched that of “Def Comedy Jam” host Martin Lawrence and any “Def Jam” performer: Routines were filled with references to oral sex, John Wayne Bobbitt and orgasms.

One of the coarsest comics--and also the one to make the biggest splash with the audience during one of the tapings--was Chris (Crazy Legs) Fonseca, who has cerebral palsy. Fonseca scored points with a routine that made a rather far-fetched connection between sex and a bag of Chee-tos.

“I wasn’t born handicapped,” Fonseca said as he moved around in a chair. “I was once an Olympic figure skating champion. That (expletive) Tonya Harding!”

*

Nely Galan, another executive producer of “Loco Slam,” said the show is part of the programming slate of HBO Tropix, a division of the network that is involved in developing business opportunities in the English- and Spanish-speaking Latino markets in the United States and Latin America.

“We want to get Latinos into the system, to let the children of the immigrants see ourselves as we are,” she said.

Said Mencia: “This show will cater to a certain audience, but in the end I hope it appeals to everyone. There’s a lot we all have in common, and I hope someday we won’t have to have shows like this that separate one culture from another.”