Comedian Carlos Alazraqui has returned to Reno, even if he didn’t get back on Comedy Central’s hit show “Reno 911!”
Alazraqui played Dep. James Garcia on the series, a mockumentary about fictional cops ineptly fighting crime in Reno.
He arrived late Wednesday for a weekend of stand-up shows at Catch a Rising Star in the Silver Legacy. There are two shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
In the past, Alazraqui has done stand-up at the University of Nevada, Reno and at the Grand Sierra when it was the Hilton, as well as hanging out with a fan and the rest of the “Reno 911!” cast at the Eldorado for a contest a few years ago.
He was dropped from the sixth season of the show, which premiered this year, but if he’s bitter, it doesn’t show.
“[It was] not my choice, you know,” Alazraqui said from his Silver Legacy hotel room. “I would have liked to have done season six, but that’s the way it goes.”
The change gave him more time to write, and in addition to stand-up, Alazraqui has had a packed voicework career before and during “Reno 911!”
Jobs have ranged from his ubiquitous stint as the Taco Bell Chihuahua to Peter’s boss, Mr. Weed, on “Family Guy” and the title role of “Rocko’s Modern Life.”
He’s had recurring roles on “The Fairly OddParents” and guest-starred in 2008 on “The Boondocks.”
So most people have heard Alazraqui, even if they didn’t know it. Even on Pixar’s “A Bug’s Life,” where he was part of a group that each read many lines, he has the opening cry of “I’m lost!”
Alazraqui has similar upcoming projects, such as reprising his penguin role in “Happy Feet 2,” “but it would have been nice to stay on TV,” he said.
And Alazraqui doesn’t know why he was dropped from the show.
“All I know was that Wendi [McLendon-Covey, Dep. Clementine Johnson] and Mary Birdsong [Dep. Cherisha Kimball] and I did not come back … we got an e-mail,” Alazraqui said.
“But you know, I get the benefit of the five seasons that did happen and the movie and syndication … I’m pretty thankful for that opportunity,” he said.
And even though Alazraqui was ready for more, he thinks his character had a good run.
“There’s not much more I could have added to my reel — I slept with a dead hooker, I was in a car with Kenny Rogers.”
Recognition from “Reno 911!” has already helped him land more work.
In a 2008 episode of “CSI,” he even played a Reno cop.
“That came about because of ‘Reno,’” he said. “If I wasn’t on the show, I wouldn’t have been so prominent at the audition … and I liked playing it straight.”
During his stand-up, Alazraqui weaves his voice talents into observations, with lots of dialects and characters peppered in.
“I kind of hide the impressions into points of view, and they come out in commentary on “Idol” or Dr. Phil. … I toss them in there in a non-Vegas-y casino way.”
But he also does a “geek pass,” rapidly performing cartoon voices fans might recognize, and he has topical jabs ready for Christian Bale and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
And as for Dep. James Garcia, “sometimes I’ll have fun and put on the fake moustache.”
Alazraqui is supported at his stand-up shows by Jill-Michele Meleán, who has guest-starred on "Reno 911!" He also will be appearing at the Siena Thursday for their pre-Aces game party
