ANDRES LOPEZ - LA PELOTA DE LETRAS

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Andrés López Biography
Andrés López, (born June 25, 1971 in Bogotá, Colombia), comedian, actor and humorist, considered the pioneer of stand-up comedy in his country. Lopez gained notoriety in Colombia after releasing his show called La Pelota de Letras (The Ball of Letters) containing parodies about the different Colombian generations in a stand up comedy format. La Pelota de Letras DVD earned him a Double Diamond award from Universal Music.

Contents 1 Beginning of his Career
2 Theater Plays
3 Recent Career
4 Media
5 Other Activities
6 Scientology
7 References and Notes

Beginning of his Career
As a student of Systems Engineer and Anthropology 1990 he started performing in the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá
The University assigned a classroom for him to teach. Here he taught the art of stand-up to people interested in performing dramatic and comedic theater. He also created the University Newspaper 'El Mercurio' where there was room for people to place their stories, paintings, poems, photographs and express any type of art.
Later he went to Toronto to study "Experiential Education" and became a dedicated reader and researcher with the behavior of people. Lopez returned to Colombia to work at "La Mega RCN". A pop-music radio station which was aimed mainly at young people. There he became a creative force by developing many comedy skits such as 'Tratame Suavemente' (Treat me Softly) better known as 'Catalina y mi Andy', 'Juan Bracitos' (Juan Little Arms), 'Jason Libardo' and many others for the morning show also known as El Ma�anero.
Due to the rising popularity of the morning show it was given its own TV show by RCN TV. Pido La Parola, as this show was called was mainly based on sketches, spoofs and prank calls, many of which were led by Andr�s L�pez.

Theater Plays
López has also been performing in various venues as part of the cast. In 1998 he performed the Colombian version of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) 'Las Obras de William Shakespeare'. Teatro Colon de Bogotá, (Colon Theater Bogotá) Director: Juan Angel; Co-stars in 1999: David Guerrero, Fernando Solórzano. He played Juliet, Desdemona, Lady Macbeth, Ofelia and other Shakespearian women on this work.
In 2003 the show changed the names for 'The Royal Shakespeare Criollo' and 'Shakespeare para locos'. The original version by the Reduced Shakespeare Company was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1987 and is London's longest-running comedy.

Recent Career
L�pez's most recognized show The Ball of Letters-La Pelota de Letras consists of a subtle sociological analysis of life in Latin American families between the 1960's and the 2000's. In the first two years More than 900,000 people attended his shows since his first appearance at the Hard Rock Cafe Bogotá in the beginning of 2004. In August 2005, when he opened a concert with 44,000 guests, he was given a standing ovation after the show.
More tham 400 sold out shows at the National Theater, Teatro Nacional, 5 tours around Colombia and more than 350 private shows for companies. Andres has been performed in many cities in Colombia and internationally.
In 2005 he won the �HOLA� Award for the "Outstanding Solo Performance" after his sold out shows in New York and Miami
In December 2005, he launched, La Pelota de Letras on DVD in the Hard Rock Cafe Bogota under the Universal Music Colombia label .

On March 2 of 2006 Andrés López was presented with a Diamond DVD from Universal Music.[1] [2] Attending this celebration was the singer Wilfrido Vargas. By the end of 2006 Lopez had sold more than 100,000 DVDs, and the Ball of Letters is now the best selling DVD in Colombia.
López began his international tour in July 2006 performing in the cities: Los Angeles at the Alex Theater[3]; Panamá at Teatro Balboa; Quito at Teatro Nacional; Toronto at the John Bassett Theater[4]; New York at the Town Hall[5]; Miami at James L Knight Center[6]; Greenville at the Peace Center[7]; Madrid at Teatro Gran Via and Palacio de Congresos de Madrid; Houston at Stafford Center[8]; Orlando at Osceola Performing Arts Center and Atlanta at the Center Stage Theater. An average of 1,500 people attended these shows.
On April 23, 2007 Andr�s launched a new DVD called Me Pido La Ventana (I have the Window!, as he translates it). On the same day Andr�s L�pez was presented with a Double Diamond DVD from Universal Music.
From May to June 2007 Andr�s performed in Spain, the biggest Latin comedy tour after the famous Les Luthiers
On July 2007 Andr�s was presented with another Diamond DVD from Universal Music. Andr�s L�pez sold more than 70,000 DVDs of "Me Pido la Ventana", his second DVD, since its launching on April 2007.
On September 2007 Andr�s toured USA with Me Pido la Ventana: Orlando, FL at Bob Carr Performing Art Center [15]; Queens, NY at Colden Auditorium Queens College; Elizabeth, NJ at The Ritz Theatre and Performing Arts Center; Atlanta, GA at Center Stage [16]; Houston, TX at Stafford Center Theatre [17] and in Boston, MA at The Symphony Hall[18] where he performed "La Pelota de Letras".

Media
According to Revista Semana, López is one of the 40 Most Influential People in Colombia under the age of 40 year. [9]
The most important newspaper in Colombia has also described his recent show The Ball of Letters-La Pelota de Letras thus:
"The performance portrays the customs of recent generations of Colombians, which is better than any sociology study".

Other Activities
López has created a motivational speech product for employees which includes parts of his shows and these products have been used by businesses to bring about radical internal change.
Companies using López include: Hewlett-Packard, Alquería, Oracle, Roche, Microsoft, Merck, IBM, Coca-Cola Company, BAT, Unilever, Banco Santander, Porvenir, ETB, Pharmacia, Pfizer, Intel, Purina, Nestlé, Avantel, Alpina, Bavaria, Philip Morris, Colsubsidio and more.
López has also taken part in numerous talk shows, hosting TV programs as well as a multitude of interviews on TV and radio; he has also written for newspapers and various magazines.

Scientology
Andres became a Scientologist in 2003. Today he performs conferences about the booklet "The way to happiness", written by the founder of the Church of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard.
Lopez is an active member of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, CCHR. In Colombia he fights against the use of Psychiatric Drugs on children.
In August 2006, Andres Lopez attended the 37th Anniversary Gala at the Celebrity Centre International in Hollywood, California. [10] He also visited the headquarter office of The Way to Happiness in Glendale, California.
In October 2006, Andr�s L�pez attended a meeting of the IAS, International Association of Scientologists, in the United Kingdom. He was presented with the plaque of Patron.
Since Andres began speaking of Scientology in Colombia, the media has been conducted many articles and interviews about this belief. [11][12]

References and Notes
1. http://www.universalmusic.com.co/artistas-ver.php?ID=279
2. http://www.colombianitos.org/english/pelota_letras.htm
3. http://www.alextheatre.org/
4. http://colombiaencanada.ca/lapelotadeletras/
5. http://www.the-townhall-nyc.org/
6. http://www.jlkc.com/
7. http://www.peacecenter.org/show.asp?ProductID=768
8. http://www.staffordcentre.com/
9. http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=87076
10. http://www.scientology.org.za/articles/608082142532.vm
11. http://www.canalrcn.com/noticias/index.php?op=info&idC=29696&idP=119&idS=749
12. http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=88464

You can find Andres Biography on es.Wikipedea.org. The Author of this biography is the creator of the original text in Wikipedia. The differences are due to the participation of the Wikipedia community. GLF Venture Inc.