The curtain was closed; behind it, Chris “Crazy Legs” Fonseca was sitting in his wheelchair on stage. Despite the chaos surrounding him, the comic appeared calm and stated candidly that he was "feeling good" about the material the team would be filming soon.
"I've been doing comedy for forty years, so this isn't my first rodeo," Fonseca said. "For the past six months, I've been working on getting the material ready for recording. Obviously, I talk about my disability in my act. The elephant in the room is that I have cerebral palsy, so you must address it; however, I also have children and am a grandfather, so I will discuss that, as well as a couple of current events."
Chris Fonseca with his friend and former Denver Broncos quarterback, John Albert Elway Jr.
Courtesy of Chris Fonseca
Fonseca's comedy career has been nothing short of extraordinary. Born with cerebral palsy and facing the challenge of his mother's death at birth, his life began under difficult circumstances. Though he now resides in Westminster, Fonseca was raised in rural Fort Morgan by his elderly uncle and aunt, who spoke little English, and his path to success in the entertainment industry was anything but easy.
He was introduced to comedy during his years at Trinidad State Junior College, which he attended as one of four national winners of the Dow Jones scholarship for a minority journalist writing competition. The school's journalism department was on the third floor of a building without an elevator, so Fonseca had to climb the stairs every day. Following his graduation, the school installed an elevator named the "Chris Fonseca Elevator" in his honor.
He first tried his hand at standup comedy during his sophomore year, in 1984. Inspired by "many funny people on TV, including George Carlin and Johnny Carson," Fonseca says he began performing at open mics around the state.
"Colorado has a lot of great little spots in addition to the major club, Comedy Works, which is really fortunate," he says. "You can literally get on stage seven nights a week, which is something I do frequently. A few summers ago, I did 97 sets in ninety days."
Fonseca quickly established himself in the scene, touring nationally by 1987. The 1990s brought television fame, including appearances on The Arsenio Hall Show and The Late Show With David Letterman, as well as performances at prestigious events such as the Montreal International Comedy Festival.
"Doing The Late Show With David Letterman was a big highlight," Fonseca reminisces. "Most people are unaware that Letterman only had fifteen comics a year on his show, so that was a really coveted spot. It was an incredible honor to perform at the Ed Sullivan Theater, where the Beatles, Elvis and the Rolling Stones had all performed."
Another of the most memorable experiences in Fonseca's career was performing at the American Comedy Awards in 1997, where he found himself surrounded by comedy legends. "Literally, the whole cast of Seinfeld was at the table right in front of me," he says. "Behind them were Tom Hanks and Phil Hartman. Richard Pryor, Rodney Dangerfield and Jim Carrey were all in the back. Everywhere I looked, I saw A-list comedy stars. It felt surreal, and talk about pressure!"
From an appearance on Baywatch to performing for three presidents (Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush), Fonseca's life has been a series of remarkable events. He has even opened for his longtime friend and fellow comedian Dave Chappelle several times.
"I’ve known Dave since he was nineteen," Fonseca says. "It’s crazy, because he is arguably the biggest name in comedy, but I’ve known him since he was coming up in the club. We’ve stayed in touch over the years. People sometimes ask if I actually still talk to Dave; we text all the time. Now, many of our text conversations are about stupid stuff like sports or whatever, so it’s not always about comedy."
He opened for Chappelle's birthday party at Red Rocks in 2014, along with Josh Blue, another funny, famous Coloradan with cerebral palsy. While there was initially friction between the two comedians, the local show with Chappelle gave them the opportunity to bury the hatchet.
"I love Josh Blue, but it was weird at first because we were pitted against each other because we both have cerebral palsy — which was strange, because there is room in comedy for everyone," Fonseca says. "For a minute, we’d just been hearing from other people what the other person had supposedly said about the other. We finally got to perform together at Red Rocks with Dave and got to talk backstage. I remember we both just realized it was crazy that we weren’t friends. I wish I had made more of an effort to talk to him, but I’m glad we are now connected."
While Chris Fonseca and Josh Blue, two Colorado comedians with cerebral palsy, had some beef at first, they are now close friends.
Courtesy of Chris Fonseca
In 2019, Fonseca was inducted into the Arts and Entertainment Association of America Southern Colorado Hall of Fame. “It feels awesome to be inducted because I put all these years of work into my comedy," he says. "Sometimes you wonder what, if anything, your legacy will be. There are all these incredible performers that come out of Colorado; it is a real honor.”
As Fonseca's career now reaches its forty-year mark, Denver-based filmmaker Dave Franco decided to document the comedian's journey. Franco has conducted dozens of interviews over the past two years in an effort to bring attention to Fonseca's life.
"His life would be crazy if he were able-bodied, and the fact that he has done it with cerebral palsy adds another layer," Franco says. "Having gotten to know him, he's such an interesting cat. It’s interesting to see how he perceives himself; he hears a normal voice in his head, but there are these automatic assumptions that people make about him that aren't true. Despite the difficulties he has faced, Chris has the ability to transcend the world's expectations of him and create art that makes many people laugh and feel good."
The making of the documentary has been a labor of love for Franco. He says that you need to have either "a lot of money or time" to make a documentary; they're opting for the latter.
"When I first started in 1984, I was told I would never appear on network television or headline major clubs," Chris Fonseca says. "It was difficult to get there, but it was achievable."
Courtesy of Chris Fonseca
"Low-budget filmmaking is not an easy endeavor," Franco says. "We are filming this in between our day jobs to fund a passion project that tells this fascinating story. I've seen Chris perform in front of 5,000 people and in front of twenty people in a bar, so I've gotten to see the gamut of how people react to this really unique performance.”
The crew hopes to complete the project in about six months. Filming the live shows at the Eugenia Rawls Courtyard Theatre on June 15 was one of the final elements of the documentary. That live footage of Fonseca performing his jokes will be used in the film to set up stories from his life.
"Because his jokes reference his life, they'll give us little tidbits about him until we get to see a little bit of the backstory of how Chris became who he is today," Franco says. "In his act, Chris has one joke about how he has five kids because he’s Mexican, so that’s the minimum, which is a good jumping-off point to start talking about his family. We want to capture the audience's transformation from when Chris first appears and they don't know how to react to when they start laughing."
As the documentary nears completion, Franco hopes it will shed light on the comedian's sharp perspective and resilience. It aims to celebrate Fonseca's illustrious career as well as be an inspiration to anyone facing similar challenges.
"The most important piece of advice I would give is to not let anyone tell you what you cannot do," Fonseca said. "When I first started in 1984, I was told I would never appear on network television or headline major clubs. It was difficult to get there, but it was achievable. And it's not only people with disabilities who struggle. I remember talking with Roseanne [Barr] and people telling her that her act could only go so far, but she said, 'Watch me,' which I think is fantastic and has been my approach to life."
Learn more about Chris Fonseca at fonsecacomedy.com.
