Comedian Chris "Crazy Legs" Fonseca will headline a show at the Hotel Alex Johnson on Saturday, Nov. 7, marking his third return engagement to Rapid City after selling out the venue the past two years. The 7 p.m. show will feature guest comedian Ricky Ramos and be hosted by Maurae. Tickets and details are available online at www.fonsecacomedy.com, and fans can also text 719-377-2147 for more information. "I look forward to being back in Rapid City," Fonseca said. "I played there many times — there was a comedy club in the Radisson for years, and then this will be my third year back at the Alex Johnson. I sold out both the last two years too. I look forward to a great crowd again this time around." A 42-year career built on turning adversity into laughter Fonseca has spent 42 years in comedy, a career he says has always meant asking audiences to look past their assumptions. "It's always a challenge for audiences to get over their initial perceptions of what I'm going to do and what I'm capable of," he said. "We're brought up not to make fun of handicapped people, but there I am asking a crowd to find me funny." Fonseca was born with cerebral palsy after his mother died during childbirth. He was adopted by his aunt and uncle, who spoke broken English, and raised in the small farming town of Fort Morgan, Colorado. He used a wheelchair as a child, worked his way to a walker, and had ditched the walker entirely by his freshman year of high school. He attended Trinidad State Junior College on a Dow Jones scholarship after being named one of four national winners in a minority journalist writing contest, earning Collegiate Journalist of the Year honors along the way. He was later offered a job at Sports Illustrated, but by then his comedy career had already taken off, and he turned the offer down. Fonseca began performing comedy as a college sophomore, hitting open mics around Colorado before launching a national touring career in 1987. He credits comedy legend Sinbad as his mentor, calling him a guiding influence who remains a close friend to this day. Over four decades, Fonseca has appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show and The Late Show with David Letterman, performed at the Montreal International Comedy Festival and the American Comedy Awards on ABC, and made an unlikely cameo on Baywatch, where he rode a motorized wheelchair on the beach and, despite not knowing how to swim, was filmed on a boogie board in the ocean. On the brandoM Podcast he said, "I handcuffed myself to Pamela Anderson, and they paid me, god bless America!" He has shared stages and benefits with Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, former President Jimmy Carter and Amy Grant, performed at the Kennedy Center for both President George Bush Sr. and George W. Bush during the 15th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and continues to perform several shows a year alongside Dave Chappelle. He was recently elected to the Colorado Arts and Entertainment Hall of Fame. Travel has not always been easy — Fonseca said airlines have lost his wheelchair more than once. "I've lost count of the times the airlines have lost my wheelchair," he said. "It's not like I carry it around for fun." Fonseca, a father of five and grandfather of one, said his granddaughter doesn't see his disability at all — she simply calls him "Rampa." associating him with ramps. He lives in Westminster, Colorado, and is currently completing a documentary on his life and career. Looking back on more than four decades in comedy, Fonseca said his approach has never changed. "I'm not out there on any kind of mission to promote disabled people and demonstrate what they can or can't do," he said. "I'm a comedian, and I'm just trying to be funny." www.fonsecacomedy.com , and fans can also text 719-377-2147 for more information Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
