The world of stand-up comedy suffered the loss of an amazing comedic figure over the weekend as veteran stand-up comedian/booker Rudy Moreno passed away.
He was 66.
In late April, TMZ reported that Moreno was admitted into the ICU of a local hospital in Los Angeles, California, following a bout with pneumonia and receiving dialysis treatment.
The cause of death is still unclear. Still, news of Moreno’s passing began to spread on social media, with fellow comedians and admirers commenting on Rudy’s career and impact on the comedy scene over the years.
Notable stand-up comedian/actor Ken Jung would post on his X account a story about how his wife watched him perform stand-up comedy for the first time as part of Rudy Moreno’s iconic showcases inside the Ice House Comedy Club in Pasadena, California. The performance would later led to Jung recording his first netflix comedy special You Complete Me, Ho inside of the Ice House in 2019, along with scene-stealing roles in classic comedy film such as Knocked Up, The Hangover, and Crazy Rich Asians.
“My heart is truly broken. Rudy Moreno, the Godfather of Latino Comedy, was the first person to book me at the Ice House. In fact, the first time my wife ever saw me do standup was at the Ice House on Rudy’s show. All this ultimately led to me doing my Netflix special at the Ice House, thanks to Rudy Moreno constantly supporting me and letting me get stage time on all of his shows. There are countless comedians who owe their start to this man. And he was hilarious, the consummate comedian. I am laughing thinking of his East LA Santa bit right now. And he was an incredible actor, guitarist and singer as well. Just a brilliant artist. I am getting emotional as I type this, and I am sending all my love to his wife Arlene, his son Nathan, and the rest of his beautiful family. Love you so much, Rudy. I know you’re making heaven laugh.”– Jung captions on X.com
Rudy Moreno was born and raised in the tight-knit community of Lincoln Heights, a suburb of Los Angeles.
Rudy began his career at the age of 13 in garage bands with friends in his neighborhood, he attended Lincoln High School graduated at the age of 16 years old. Rudy went on to broadcasting school with a dream to work in radio; after several audition tapes, he received a call from a station in Santa Maria, California where he worked the weekend shift , Rudy continued to pursue his dream of broadcasting with stints in Santa Paula and then as an intern at LA radio station KLOS.
Rudy then worked in nightclubs as a DJ , and doing the typical DJ work at parties, social gatherings , weddings , etc
Eventually Rudy got married and decided to do the 9 to 5 thing and in 1991 was approached by band leader Rudy Salas of the famed rock group Tierra . “He said that I was so funny that I should be a comedian and if I wanted to , he would help me and let me open for the band ” which they did and after that it just snowballed .
By the summer of 1991, Rudy was approached by TV Producer Jeff Valdez he booked Rudy to his first TV appearance on Comedy Compadres. Since then, Rudy has appeared on over 40 television shows in his current career, including Jimmy Kimmel, Criminal Minds, Everybody Loves Raymond, Arrested Development, shows on NBC, CBS, ABC, Starz, HBO, Showtime
Besides TV, Rudy continues to open in concert for such stars as Smokey Robinson, Black Eyed Peas, Bobby Caldwell, Los Lobos, Natalie Cole, and many more.
Rudy has been a National Headlining Comedian for over 25 years with shows in Las Vegas, New York, and, of course, Los Angeles, and has worked all of the A-List Comedy Clubs across the country. He has the longest-running show in Los Angeles at the Ice House in Pasadena. This year marks his 20th consecutive year doing shows there.
Moreno has solid connections with comedians like Gabriel Iglesias, Sinbad, Craig Robinson, and many more.
Rudy is also an accomplished guitar player and has a working classic rock band
Rudy and his family are the creators of Komics for Kids, an annual fundraising event to help inner-city children.
Rudy is survived by his wife, Arlene, and children.
