“It’s a cliché, but rock stars want to be actors, and actors want to be rock stars,” says Omar Herrera, who knows a bit about all this as he was with Live Nation before becoming Director of Post-Production at Icon Concerts. “Well, comedians want to be rock stars too. So, we bring that rock and roll sensibility, style, and vibe to comedy— but also the efficiency.” Supporting that ‘rock and roll sensibility and efficiency’ is 3G Productions. Herrera has had a long relationship with 3G and its Executive Vice President, Jay Curiel. When it came time to mount major arena-sized tours by comedians Jo Koy and Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, Herrera didn’t hesitate to turn to the 3G team.

3G handles major tours, festivals, sporting events, and corporate gatherings, and today is a turnkey operation for any live event. “We supported Jo Koy’s last few tours with Omar, then when Fluffy became an Icon client, he turned to us as well to reimagine the production for his arena tour,” says Keith Conrad, CEO of 3G Productions. Koy was the first comedian to sell out the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in November 2022, and 3G Productions was there. “That was a cool event to be a part of, in both Jo’s and our hometown; then to continue the relationship over the last couple years was special,” Conrad says. “We don’t take these relationships lightly.”

Conrad started with 3G in 2012, becoming its CEO in 2021. 3G started as an audio production and rental company. “During the pandemic, we reimagined what the company was going to be, and we determined we needed to be a full-service production company,” Conrad says. “We had the clients and relationships, but not enough equipment.” They quadrupled their gear and became a one-stop shop. With Curiel’s connection with Herrera, and because they were able to take care of all aspects of production and do it better than Herrera’s previous experiences, the relationship between 3G and Icon grew.

Conrad says the two biggest components to supporting comedians in arenas are audio—“You’ve got to make sure it’s very clear, right?”—and video. When Conrad says it’s a “one-stop shop,” he means it—3G’s Andy Ruiz designed the shows with Herrera and is a long-time employee. So is Martin Ruiz, Andy’s brother, who serves as a 3G Production Manager. One advantage of having an in-house design is that they can provide that service at no additional charge. 3G provides the complete crew, so there is a consistent, experienced team that is sent out on the road for all the acts they serve.

Andy Ruiz has been in the business for more than 25 years. “I was touring the world, and in 2017, I got pulled in by 3G to help them expand further from just being a sound company,” he says, while also moving further into production design as more comedians started doing arena tours. “They have been moving up to bigger spaces and wanting more production, especially video,” he notes. “We weren’t super into comedy until a few years ago when we supported a George Lopez show, and as big as that was, it doesn’t compare to what we’re doing with Icon now.”

In addition to being Director of Production for Icon concerts, Herrera functions as the Tour Manager for each artist. The process for these two shows (and all Icon productions) is that he starts imagining how the set could look and conceptualizes it, relying on his years doing shows along with additional research. He then brings Andy Ruiz in, who goes to work on the design aspect, infusing his creativity in it as well. “We like to present two choices to the artist,” Herrera explains. “Further discussions and changes are made, and then something comes to fruition promptly, and Andy has done a stellar job taking care of them.” The process is putting together a three- or four-truck package and “giving the artist the best possible show we can, and that means doing it rock and roll touring style,” Ruiz adds.  

Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias

While the 3G team had supported the earlier (and somewhat smaller) comedy tour for Koy, the tour for Gabriel “Flu y” Iglesias marked the first big arena comedy tour for the 3G team. “Fluffy always has had big productions with a lot of scenic, so he wanted another big show, but to be smart about it,” Ruiz says. He wanted a 90s theme with an old school feeling, and a giant VHS tape recorder set piece emerged as the key focal point for the production design. “But in making a massive VHS set, we knew it had to be done with LED, and something that loaded in under four hours and out in under two hours every day. So, it became a matter of how we can be aggressive; build a massive show for his comedy tour with production at the level he’s used to, but go in and out and up and down faster.” The team was able to make it happen and met Iglesias’ expectations within the budget and time constraints. “It looks great, and people love it—they think this is a 20-truck tour, but we’re rolling it with just three.”

Once that set piece was in place, they had a new challenge: Since the set is so close to the downstage edge, the lighting had to be chosen wisely. “It had to be rock and roll, but [we had to] make sure the framing on the fixtures worked and that there was no bleeding out into areas, blinding audience members.” So, they settled on the Elation Proteus Maximus “for the brightness to create that downstage wash which we’re really happy with,” says Ruiz. Robe MegaPointes brightened it all further, creating that eye candy while also making the stage look bigger. The design also includes some MegaPointes to cut through the haze provided by two Antari F7 Smaze Hazers.

The Gabriel Iglesias production is also an especially video-heavy show, with content created by Brian Enterline. “Brian just killed it with the 90s graphics and really made that giant TV authentic,” Ruiz says. “You really think you’re watching an old show on VHS, but it’s in 4K and looks awesome.” All set components were designed and built by the 3G team. (They also lit Iglesias’ Net ix special a few months ago.)  

Jo Koy

For the current Koy tour, 3G invested in additional automation and a Kinesys tracking system that moves the video walls during the show. While the two shows share a lot, there are some differences with Koy’s. He has a DJ package, for example, and his style of really interreacting with the audience affected the lighting design.

“Jo wanted some specific items, and Omar and I had some ideas,” Ruiz says. Koy specifically wanted a different approach to what arena comedy tours have done with video. Taking all the ideas, Ruiz then rendered design ideas in Vectorworks. Different versions of the show came and went until they were all excited about what they landed on. “Jo really took a different direction and wanted automation, curved screens, [Robe] RoboSpots, and more lighting [effects] that aren’t typical to comedy shows. He and his team also came up with some great video content.”

“We had to choose fixtures that had some punch,” Ruiz says. “In a situation where you’d normally have four lights, we had to pick one that could do the work of four. So, we chose the rig that we did because it gave us either the best eye candy or it covered the crowd best; Jo really loves to light up the crowd so that was always an important consideration. We really had to go with something big and bright to cover it all.” He landed on 30 Robe Tetra2s, which “are great eye candy plus gave us the backlight we were looking for.”  

Solutions to Challenges

“Jo and Fluffy are super enthusiastic about all aspects of their shows,” Ruiz says. “They love to interact with us as much as they love being on stage. There is no ego—they are just cool people. They do the work and aren’t above doing sound checks every day. They just really care.

”The challenge with both tours is that they are arena-scale but sometimes must be able to fit into smaller theaters (Koy a bit more often than Iglesias—sometimes going from an 18,000-seat arena one day to a 2,000-seat theater the next). “It’s difficult when you’re traveling with an arena rig and you start loading into a theater, because right away you have to be selective about what you’re taking off the truck. It’s a matter of figuring out on the fly how much you can hang, etc.” Ruiz credits his brother Martin with being especially astute at this task.

Herrera says he’s worked with 3G for most of his career, citing Curiel as “a mentor, a colleague, a confessor, and a confidant. That’s something that is invaluable in this industry.” He trusts the 3G team and values their work ethic and appreciates their ability to handle situations and challenges expeditiously.

Herrera again emphasizes the importance of bringing the rock and roll approach to comedians. But there are differences—pleasant ones. “I will say this in regard to both mediums: comedy is much more civilized,” he says with a laugh. “The egos are less, the entourages smaller, and you can get at least six hours of sleep out on the road if you want. But our rock and roll adaptability and onsite problem-solving skills are just as critical in comedy as in music. In that respect, Andy and I are a great team. There’s a fluidity that we have from rock and roll which translates to comedy well.” PLSN