You can't help but grin ear-to-ear when you're watching the actors and actresses of the Latino Comedy Project (LCP), and it's only rehearsal.
Long-time member Karinna Perez said, "It was made to give local Latino actors a voice and a chance to perform."
The group spent most recent nights running through lines and walking through acts. They do it all: writing the lines they run and blocking the scenes they perform.
Adrian Villegas was one of the founding members of the nonprofit.
"I've always been a writer since I was a kid. I've always been an
artist, since I was a kid," he said. "Getting into this was almost like a necessity."
Now, LCP is taking that hilarity and hoopla beyond Austin
city limits. It all started with a series of sketches they posted on YouTube.
"Before we knew it, it was weird, we started seeing the
numbers -- particularly for the 300 video -- and it was in the hundreds of thousands within a matter of days," Villegas said.
Those videos led to a partnership with MTV Tres to
shoot promos for the station.
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Latino Comedy Project
News 8's Crestina Chavez spoke with creators of the LCP to find out what their next step is.
 
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"We helped them create it, write it. We shot it here in Austin.
They brought their crew from New York to shoot all their pieces in Austin," Villegas said.
That campaign led to something big and unexpected. LCP was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Promotional Announcement.
"We didn't even know they had a category in the Emmys for that," he said.
Another long-time member, Nick Walker, explained they found out via e-mail and thought it was a joke.
"At first, it was like the seven stages. You know, denial, excitement, and fear ... 'Oh my gosh, really?'" he said.
The great ball of success just keeps on rolling for LCP. The troupe is taking its talents to the small screen, shooting a pilot for Spike-TV.
"They're realizing these guys are funny, but they're also hitting
a niche market that we all need to target. So, there's a business
aspect as well as a creative aspect that's coming together right now," Walker said.
That's part of the reason LCP is hitting the stage once
again with live performances this weekend and next.
"We're using the Live show El Channel to work out these
characters in front of a live audience to see what hits and what
doesn't hit," Walker said.
LCP started out with a simple goal: "To give a platform to Latino talent that otherwise wouldn't really be seen or get a chance to flourish," Villegas said.
The goal stays the same, it's just taking hold on a national scale.
