South Padre – No matter what time of year it is, on Thursday nights, most of South Padre Island ends up at the Isla Grand, to head to the Quarterdeck for some South Texas comedy. Comedian Mario Salazar is only one of the highly entertaining and high energy acts you’ll see here.
Raymond Orta leads the charge at the Isla Grand as the host and resident comic at the Thursday night show. “From what I’m learning, I’m the actual first comedian in South Texas to ever establish a residency on South Padre Island,” Raymond said.
Each week, he invites comics from all over the valley to come and perform at the Isla Grand and so far, folks have latched onto the laughter. “If they like us, they’ll keep us going and if they don’t, they’ll run us out with the dogs. Get on out of here. Get down out of here. Now,” joked Raymond.
Walking, well actually chasing his dog, is exactly how I first met Mario. Something I will never forget. “Oh hey, yes. I wouldn’t either,” said Mario with a chuckle. I pulled into the parking lot of the Isla Grand in our TBL truck and here’s this guy chasing his dog in pajama pants? “That’s what I was going to say, I have…” Pajama pants and Crocs. “Yeah. I think it was these old basketball shorts with Crocs and a muscle shirt,” said Mario.
After that encounter, Mario invited us to the show, and we got to meet the man who actually used to be a Marine. “Mario being a marine is comedy in itself,” Raymond said.
“I got out honorably, barely, but got out honorably,” Mario said. “Truth be told, I wasn’t the greatest Marine. So now that I’m a veteran, I try to be a better veteran than I was a Marine. I try to talk to my veterans. I try to do a lot of veteran shows. I try to do a lot of veteran activities stuff for the community with veterans. Cause I wasn’t the best Marine.”
During his time in the military, Mario knew he wanted to be a comic so when he came home, he honed his ability with Raymond at Cine El Rey in McAllen. “He is one of the funniest dudes,” Raymond said. “A lot of comedians, when they go on the road, they don’t want their featured comedian to be funnier or even funny at all. They want to look better by proxy. I’m the opposite bro. I want the stage to be on fire.”
In the early years of Mario’s comedy career, he fell into dark times and abused hard drugs and alcohol almost costing him his life. Mario said, “Even when I was going through my darkest days and even when I was incarcerated, I never gave up. I knew I had to change myself because I knew I had a purpose. And that’s what my comedy is to me. It’s purpose and it’s inspiring.”
Not wanting to go down the same road as comedy greats John Belishi, Chris Farley, and Mitch Hedberg, Mario decided to get clean. For Mario, it’s been a band of brothers that has gotten him through. The one he served with and the ones he laughs with. “The camaraderie of the fellow man being there for somebody that’s saying, you’re not heavy, you’re my brother. I got a lot of close relationships with Marines, with my brothers and sisters that are to this day we’re still super tight and I would have their back and I know that’s how it is in a lot of units and that’s kind of how it is in standup because we have that bond. We have that unity of being a standup. And it was kind of the same thing when we were in the Marine Corps: that brotherhood, that sisterhood just having somebody’s back. And it’s how it is in comedy, too.”
If you ever find yourself in South Padre, checking out one of Mario Salazar’s shows is well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List. Just be sure you leave the kids at home.